Public Speaking. The moment you read these two words in the context of a child, it appears to become a heavy concept. After all, why should this be important for a 2 year old, or even a 5 year old, fundamentally speaking? Agreed that in due course these are important skills to acquire, but why should that be the case at this age?
Bear with me, as I put across my point of view here.
When Morning Glorie's physical premises were open (I am talking about both our preschool and daycare in South City 1, Gurgaon), we prided ourselves on being absolutely screen free for the children. No smart boards, no tv viewing, no mobile videos! Notwithstanding the fact that this could be extremely tough for us caregivers and educators at times, we felt that this was crucial for the development of children across all ages.
For the toddlers, this facilitated language development, and for the older ones, it ensured that social skills and communication were the focus points. After all, when there were no screens to distract them, children ended up making friends, making games and playing together, navigating tough inter personal situations, and expressing their problems. Therefore, we were working both on oral communication and social interaction. For children across age groups, this was very crucial for all round development.
Which brings me to the concept of public speaking. Our focus here was, that children should be so comfortable in their own skin, that even something like public speaking should end up just being another form of communication. The focus has been that, not your conventional concepts of stage fright and performance etc. And where they do feel uncomfortable, you just let them be. Repeated exposure, without adding any pressure, more often than not, leads to increase in self confidence.
Then came the pandemic, and everything appeared to go for a toss. Parents who would send their kids to preschools for peer group interaction primarily could no longer do so. Older kids coming to daycares or meeting friends at home could no longer do so. Social interaction and development seemed to be getting lost as children had no choice but to be confined at homes.
And then came a whole slew of online classes to cater to children across all age groups. We ourselves set up our online preschool classes (across India), right at the outset. Honestly, day 1, even week 1 and month 1, we did not know how they would pan out. Exposing kids to screen time has always been anti our own mantra, and we just did not know if distance learning could even pan out with small children. Add to that the fact that parents now had to do the grunt work, and as educators us having to relearn everything, we just did not know what the future would hold.
But our classes have really surprised us. Rather, it is the children who have surprised us. They have taught us that they are more than capable of forming, and holding social interactions virtually. They have made friends, formed bonds with their teachers. They look forward to meeting every day, speaking to one another, talking about their likes and dislikes, what they did the day before, wishing each other on their birthdays, even asking for the cake that was cut.
And what is perceived as public speaking is working wonderfully as well. The order of things remains the same - they first learn to communicate with us and their friends orally. In the meantime, they also get used to seeing themselves on camera. And when we ask them to then recite rhymes, or any other solo speaking project, over time, they grow comfortable with the group and are able to "perform" with a lot of confidence. Just today, our kids shared their favourite books with us, and also interacted with their friends, including setting up playdates across state boundaries 😊. So in a way, even on this medium, they have begun to perceive the "public speaking" as an extended form of communication, and are able to do it without feeling the pressure.
In due course, this has also given us the confidence to start off a set of sessions for the older lot (we call these sessions MG's Eggheads), and what one of our children said made us really think - she said that she does not feel apprehensive in speaking out in our classes, even though at times she does feel scared when speaking to other people. Which really tells us that the whole focus has to be in making the children feel so comfortable in their own skins, that everything else is just secondary.
So whether it is physical spaces like our preschool, creche, daycare in South City 1, Gurgaon, or our online preschool in India and activity classes (anywhere in India), we fundamentally believe the focus has to be oral communication and social interaction, and public speaking will end up just being an outcome of that, rather than the scary prospect it has typically been. Witnessing such interactions, and growth in the children has made me realize how true that is. I have personally always been scared of speaking in a public forum. But the kids have taught me that need not be the case. Maybe I can also learn to treat public speaking as social interaction and communication. Like they say, child is the father of the human being..
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