A mind that is learning

What do we mean by learning? Is there learning when you are merely accumulating knowledge, gathering information? As a student you study maths science and so on ; you are learning, informing yourself about the subject. You are accumulating knowledge in order to use that knowledge in practical ways. Your learning is accumulative, additive. Now, when the mind is merely taking on, adding, acquiring, is it learning? Or is learning something entirely different? I say the additive process that we now call learning is not learning at all. It is merely a cultivation of memory, which becomes mechanical; and a mind that functions mechanically like a machine is not capable of learning.  Learning is something quite different. A mind that is learning never says, “I know” because knowledge is always partial whereas learning is complete all the time. Learning does not mean starting with a certain amount of knowledge, and adding to it further knowledge. That is not learning at all; it is a purely mechanical process. Learning is never cumulative. It is movement of knowledge which has no beginning and no end. 

The Hunger Games: A Gladiatorial conquest?

NOTE: I wanted to share something about a book I had read of late, and compare it to a movie that I have always loved. I shall also say that there is a spoiler alert, since I do mention events in The Hunger Games that might ruin your read if you haven’t yet managed to lay your hands on it! So, if you have read the book, or if you don’t mind the spoilers read on…

For a short preview, you might want to watch The Hunger Games Trailer and the Gladiator- the trailer.

The Hunger Games, a book by Suzzane Collins, tells the story of a seventeen year old girl named Katniss Everdeen. Katniss lives in a world where there is an anarchic rule by the Capitol over twelve districts. The districts had originally rebelled and this led to the Capitol reinforcing their rigid authority by introducing something called the hunger games. Here, two children from each district between the age of 12 and 18 (one boy and one girl) are chosen to compete each other in an arena until only one survives while the rest of the country watches the televised version. Katniss, a girl from District 12, which supplies coal to the Capitol, offers to participate in the hunger games in her sister, Primrose Everdeen’s, stead.

Through the three novels that Suzzane Collins spins, we see an act of rebellion against the reign of President Snow and the Capitol. What is interesting about this novel is the comparison between a future that Collins creates and a Roman past. After reading the books, I happened to watch the movie Gladiator (2000) by Ridley Scott and I was struck by the similarities. It is true that Collins herself has acknowledged the influence of Roman history in writing her book- Roman senators, the idea of the arena and the weak pitched against each other or other natural forces (in the gladiatorial games it would be other animals, while in the hunger games it was also weather and other natural phenomena), and the people watching the entertainment.

The gladiatorial games were for the entertainment of the masses. However, in the movie, Maximus (a Roman general who becomes a slave and is compelled to enter the arena) proves that he will not obey the command of his emperor. He, at every possible chance, throws dirt at the face of Commodus’ reign. Maximus, through three vivid instances (his three games in the Colloseum), defies the crown causing Commodus to retch with anxiety and eventually leads to his death in the extraordinary finale between him and the erstwhile general. Similarly, Katniss, through three different instances (the three novels), defies President Snow leading to his overthrow in the end.

It is fascinating to see the similarities between the appearances of the commentator and the senators in the film and the gamemakers in the novel. The clothes are similar: the gamemakers wear purple robes, while the senators don white. The people of the Capitol are said to dress ‘differently’- with plastic surgery and plenty of makeup.  This is akin to commentator Cassius in Gladiator.

 - Cassius

  

It was really curious to see that only the people from the Capitol were named after Romans: Cinna, Portia, Caesar, Cato, Octavia, Flavia, Plutarch, Seneca etc. While Katniss, Prim and Gale and elements of nature in them. Even Rue (meaning compassion) and Thresh (related to the agricultural ‘threshing of the corn’) have more ‘humane’ names. This could be percieved as a nature-culture shift.

Finally, there is an amazing similarity between Haymitch Abernathy who trains Katniss and Antonious Proximo, a gladiator trainer who buys Maximus. Both men primarily look out for themselves, and yet they accomplish so much more for their chosen candidate. Both of them have a rather antagonistic and yet protective approach to the people who go into the arena.

I found a lot of similarities between the story and the movie. And for those who love the arena, both the book as well as the movie are a must read/see.

Reading for Young Kids

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” 

― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Ika completely focused on her book and nothing else! 

Group reading session in PP - 2

Spoorthy and Sharon enjoying their book in the Tree House

Praval engrossed with his book under the tamarind tree

In the cool breeze, under the tamarind tree. A tree house that invites all. Plenty of books for children's interest in the library, and a small library in the class itself, for their easy access...

In such an environment, who wouldn’t want to read?

Here at Sancta Maria, we understand how important reading is for younger children. We have specific times when we all sit down to read, kids and teachers alike. We read Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss, Bright Sparks Series, Ladybird Series and various other titles for the children to choose from. 

Believe it or not, all the kids read them, and they seem to do it all so easily.

I often see children tell me the names of their favorite chocolates, how do you think they read it out from the wrappers? Obviously, it is something that comes to them naturally. Reading is something that children can do without any prerequisite knowledge; Of course, I don’t mean that reading doesn’t need guidance, but you’ll notice that reading, is very different from writing. While the procedure of writing involves teaching them about the strokes and letters, reading will just take place by seeing the structure of words that they see in their everyday lives, for example, the aforementioned chocolate wrappers, and advertisements in the television.

Reading is very important to our lives. To learn anything new, the most basic skill required is reading. Thus, it is often impressed that children be taught to read from a young age itself, as this also helps to cultivate the habit of reading in them.

Festival of COLOURS

When I was asked to write a blog, I had no idea as to how to start it and from where... went through a couple of blogs and thought of many topics. But it was a pleasant surprise to note that tomorrow is the  festival of COLOURS and there is lots that I wanted to share.......

The colorful festival of Holi is celebrated on Phalgun Purnima . Holi festival has an ancient origin and celebrates the triumph of 'good' over 'bad'. The colorful festival bridges the social gap and renew sweet relationships. On this day, people wish each other 'Happy Holi'.At Sancta Maria, we celebrated holi today.. The kids were geared up since morning, waiting eagerly to splash colours and to play HOLI.. They played till their hearts content and the teachers equally enjoyed..... Wow!!!!!! it was such a fun to see everyone drenched in coloured water from top to bottom, thoroughly enjoying this wonderful day.... The grade 1 kids were so excited since morning, that they were hardly interested in any other activity till they went to the play ground with their friends......  My heart filled with joy and happiness to see the kids and staff having so much of fun!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of the Grade 1 kids asked me when we went back to our class-" Maam, when would be the next holi?" when I replied , after 365days, the obvious answer from them was-Ohhhh, after sooooooooooo many days!!! Like them, even I wish that this wonderful festival of COLOURS come very often, may be once in a month.......... I wish 

Sancta Marians, with a splash of colour

The celebration of an explosion of colours

The rainbow comes to life

Grades 1-9 begin their celebrations...

Mr. Sai plays with the children: "Who will get drenched next?"

Looking for more water to throw

Calling out to others to come join in the fun

The Pre-Primary celebrations begin with great verve and enthusiasm...

"Painted" pink!

Can't wait to get their hands on the colours...

And I wish you a happy Holi!

The children gather after their game of Holi!

Pros And Cons Of Childhood Television viewing

Matter of debate in every household - television viewing especially by children. It is not unusual to find children glued to the television screen when they ought to be playing outdoors in the crisp and clear evening air. Parents have varying viewpoints regarding this issue.
One school of thought labels the television as an idiot box and abhors having children exposed to it. They insist that TV viewing is a very passive activity and does not require the child to use his mental faculties at all. Besides, it restricts physical activity and may stunt their physical growth not to mention the fact of dulling their intellectual capabilities.

Well, those who hold this opinion are not altogether wrong. They are in fact right on both counts. However peer pressure is one reality that needs to be taken into account here. The child interacts with several others in school and while at play. He has to take part in conversations that more often than not center around popular TV shows. Not being able to participate might give rise to an inferiority complex. So it is not advisable to ban the television altogether.
Some amount of involvement by parents is also a good idea. Maybe parents and the child can put their heads together and agree on certain shows. At times watching it with your child and enjoying it at his level might also be a good idea. A few good laughs are great for relieving stress.
A few parents feel that their children have every right to watch whatever they want on television for as long a time as they want to just because it is available. They want to give their children all that they could not have in their own childhood.
Stop and think - are you not spoiling your child? Would you feed him mangoes throughout the day just because he loves it? Certainly not. He would suffer from indigestion, wouldn’t he? Well, watching too much of TV would have a similar effect on the mind. As mentioned earlier, it would stunt physical growth and mental alertness.
Go ahead and indulge them, but within limits, or else you will be doing them a disservice. Weaning a child away from television is not an easy task. You will need to use all your ingenuity to make an alternative task more interesting and stimulating for him to willingly take it up. The best bet would be to encourage the child to take up an outdoor sport along with other children of his age.
Never use the television as a tool for keeping your child quiet when you have some important tasks to wade through. Spend some time with the child and gently guide him towards informative programmes. Sit through a few of them yourself. When he sees you preferring an informative program to ones that merely entertain, chances are that he will emulate you. Enhancing your general knowledge would not be a waste of time either.

It would also be a good idea to make news hour a family viewing time. This will automatically cultivate an interest in and an awareness of current affairs.
Television is here to stay. Whether we turn into the TV’s slaves and plan activities around TV schedules or we turn the TV into our slave to be at our beck and call to amuse, inform and hone certain skills, is totally in our hands. Television is going to have some impact on your lives and the secret of channelizing this impact in a beneficial way lies with you. So go ahead and take charge of both the television and its effect on your life.

Grade 9 PE students get their Yellow Belt in Taekwondo! Congratulation!

Before the exam. All excited and a teeny weeny bit tensed.

Proud moment !

Grade 9 Physical education students get their Yellow Belts.... a start but a great road ahead !