Children's days are structured around the various skills adults feel they should learn. As students they attend school for most of the day. The rest of their day children spend in some extra classes that parents feel help build skills children need. These are formative years and learning is key. So we have built education systems around effective ways for children to learn. But how effective are our ways of teaching if they do not take into consideration how children learn naturally? Is it really logical that adults teach children how to learn rather that teach in ways that match how children's minds work?
In her experience as an educationist, Mridula Saria sees this contradiction clearly. She feels that if we teach in ways that children naturally learn from the world around them, the learning will be more effective. And children, she shares from her experience and research, do not work well when they have to focus on one thing or learn from listening constantly for long periods. Children need to explore and experience to understand and learn. She feels that most of our structured teaching is counterintuitive to how children learn.
Saria is a software engineer who stumbled into teaching children when she decided to do a ‘codemasters’ workshop for children to make learning how to code fun. She realized that if more concepts were made fun to learn when she was a child, she would have learn much more and would have widened her horizons in so many ways. She and her friend Aayushi Kedia started with a few more skill based classes which grew into Grooming Tales that offers workshops and camps to foster children to be confident, skilled and knowledgeable individuals.
In this episode of Here's Why, Saria talks about what her experiences with children have taught her about misconceptions and mismanaged expectations that adults have about how children learn. In her experience children learn naturally almost like creative scientists. They test their hypothesis and make conclusions from their experience. But our existing structures of learning may be impeding learning simply because we are teaching children how we would like them to learn rather than how they like learning.
Article Published on myRepublica: https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/
School-Parent Partnership is essential to children's well-being. As a school, we are trying to develop a shared understanding and awareness of child development, and practice a common response to challenging behavior so that the world of school and home are not considered worlds apart by the child.
Ms. Mridula Saria's session for our parents, teachers, and leaders from early childhood education centers was interactive, thought-provoking, and insightful. Ms. Saria's way of weaving stories and personal anecdotes connected the audience to her and created a safe space to ask questions and share concerns as well. Her session was a perfect blend of theory and practical application, and the participants learned something new and cleared their doubts about the best way to approach challenging behaviors such as temper tantrums. It was a wonderful session to enhance our school-parent partnership vision!
Principal (Uniglobe School)
Mridula’s sessions are very well covered and in a very simplified way. I got a chance to do much self-reflection. I am taking the techniques I learnt from Mridula’s sessions like the CALM technique, the Traffic light rule, the Adrenaline Play and myself as a frontal lobe substitute for my children until they grow older.
Doctor
The session for teenagers was really helpful . I specially got to learnt a lot about our brain functioning and different chemical reactions that takes place in us, which we were unaware about. I will definitely try the techniques and mirroring as well.
Today’s session has truly changed my perspective and the way I look at my teenage child
I got to know a lot about the reasons why kids react in a certain way, and how I have to be the guiding force and their guardian, in spite of them growing. :) I learnt how I can work towards being a better parent and also keep myself calm. I will definitely implement all the techniques I learnt.
Parent
Despite knowing what I was doing, quite unexpectedly, my son started rebelling at age 10. He felt like I was too controlling and manipulative, hated it. He was angry all the time and wouldn't listen. There was always a “No” to everything. He intentionally tried to make me feel bad. I couldn't figure where I went wrong, as I was doing everything as per my knowledge. I used to be so proud of my parenting. Now the theories that I read were not working. I was desperate. I thought I should seek help.
The first person who came to my mind was Ms Mridula Saria.
My husband and I met her in mid of march, 2021. I poured out all my heartfelt sorrows and she completely understood my situation. Mridula explained child psychology and development to me. She also gave us simple tools to cope with the situation. I was amazed that it worked like MAGIC. Everything is like it was earlier and I cannot thank Mridula enough for giving our life back. It hasn’t just improved my relationship with my son but also with everyone else I am connected with. My husband who was skeptical earlier, now swears by what we have learned.
Parent
I am a firm believer in the vast difference between children growing up and children being raised. 'Raising' children requires conscious parenting that involves lot of introspection and understanding of human behaviour which is not always easy. In my on-going journey as a parent, Mridula has tremendously helped me whenever I fall off the rail. Her techniques derived from extensive research on child behavior and human brain has helped me put my thoughts into action and see immediate results in the relationship between my son and I, making parenting even more joyful. Keep up the good work, Mridula.
Parent
Thank you Mridula for sharing your “food for thought” Session with us. It was nice to learn through your Presentation the connection between how our brain reacts and processes situations and how it translates when dealing with our children. It was indeed a pleasure to see someone as young as yourself having taken this road and the amount of knowledge you have mastered in the subject. Parent - Children relationship is one of a fragile nature and if the foundations as explained by you can be strong then the outcome is a win-win for all. As you continue to evolve in this journey, I am sure you shall continue to enlighten Parents and Children with your knowledge and practical examples!
Delhi Engagers, Entrepreneur’s Organisation
Mridula Saria is a keen learner and learns with the best minds available worldwide. She is a keen reader and a versatile professional.
Her sessions are remarkably focused and she adapts with elan to her audience's needs. The sessions she conducted with parents at Premier International IB Continuum School reflected her in-depth knowledge of the subject and the wide range of knowledge she has garnered as a Parenting Coach and Mentor.
As a mother, she practices what she preaches. Therefore it is with remarkable first-hand insight that she connects with parental isssues and provides easy-to-follow, bite-sized solutions.
Principal (Premier International IB Continuum School)
I wanted to express my gratitude for the invaluable guidance and support you provided as our school consultant. Your expertise in educational strategies and your keen understanding of our school's unique challenges were evident throughout the consulting process.
Your recommendations were practical, actionable, and tailored to the specific needs of our school.
I highly recommend your services to any educational institution seeking a knowledgeable and dedicated consultant. Thank you for contributing to the continuous improvement and success of our school.
Director Mother's pride Ravibhawan
The sessions with Mridula has truly guided me to become a better version of myself, so I can be better parent to my toddler. It has also provided me with tools as a mother, as a spouse, in how to better handle situations that are uncertain in the moment. These sessions are powerful, even months after I’ve left the conversation with Mridula, it stays in the subconscious- practicing these habits and mindset which comes up to the conscious as situations arises (not only while dealing with my toddler, but just life experiences).
It is beautiful to learn and grow as we journey through different phases of life, and even better that we have expertise to support us through the way.
Thank you !