What is the Image of your Child?

A child is not an empty shell. She has a store of relationships and experiences of and with the world and continues to bring these experiences, feelings and relationships with her to the school. It is the same for adults and these experiences will influence the meetings and interactions between an adult and a child.

Children are naturally curious, have an inquiring mind and never predictable and hence we should not expect the school environment to remain status quo either. Although it is possible to plan and/or predict these changes, we need to be ready to change the plans to react to the needs of the child's experiences in the home and school. It is essential for a parents and adults to expect new ideas that can come forth from the child or from our own experience with the child.

The child needs to be assured of the adult's presence, to guide, help and support them. Just as an adult looks forward to being observed and receive attention from others, similarly, a child also long for attention and feel good if she is observed by an adult. However, the child expects the adult to appreciate them in the process, to see their effort and ability in executing the work, and not focus on the end result of the process, i.e. the product. The child desires an adult who isn't judgmental and who isn't distracted.

An adult's role in the world of children is to allow children to create relationships between people, between things, between thoughts and between environment with their own resources. The adult needs to be able to assume varied roles at different settings to help children to learn at their own pace. We should view the child as competent, intelligent and has their own needs and wants and this will result in a reciprocity image on the part of the child which will facilitate positive development.