Putting children in an alternative school is like investing in mutual funds. Avoid checking their performance frequently.
In the first year of BeMe, one child worked on making a dinosaur model. Initially, he made a Didi work on his idea. Sometimes he pulled facilitator into this project. He had the idea but didn’t want to do hands-on work but got his hands dirty towards (so called) end of the project. His impulses to work on the project showed up once in a while. The project went on for over 5 months.
And then, there was an idea to build a snooker table. They got a parent mentor. They did measurements. They did estimation. They bought the particle board. And then the project got hibernated. A year later, the idea got rebooted and it turned into a table tennis table.
BeMe Cafe idea was brainstormed about 6 months ago. Now it is taking a shape.
Older children have started orienting to academics in their own way. Some are getting hang of it. Some are figuring their way out. Some are struggling.
Experts advise not to check often the performance of mutual fund they have invested in. (Google for more details). Like investing in mutual funds (or equity), children development is a long term game. Given a space of freedom, children take their time to exercise their choices. Every choice they make, they have a reason. Are we giving a listening ear to them? Maybe they have a reason that we as adults may not agree or accept or are not convinced. Can we be observers to the ideas they brainstorm, the ideas they bring to shape, the extent to which they work on their ideas, the number of times they come back to their unfinished projects or ideas (probably, from the adult’s point of view)? Can we listen to them with wonder? Can we participate in their excitement? Can we live with their unfinished ideas? Can we live with their unresolved issues? Can we live with their unacceptable behaviors? Can we give them space and time while they make their judgments, make mistakes and learn, make an undesired move and rollback? Meanwhile, be assured, they are in touch with their Sakha and are on continuous reflection.
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