Adding MORE VALUE: My two-bits on childhood developmental educational

2004 was the year my parents risked my academic career by taking me out of an ICSE school in Mumbai, India. (ICSE is a national Indian board extremely popular in Mumbai.) Anyway, it was almost as if I was plucked like a puny pebble and plummeted into what was newly known as an International School. My excitement lay in the fact that I would make new friends and we would go to school with central air conditioning.

I was one of the first batches for the IB PYP programme run at my school. Joining in grade 2, there was no grade 3. A risk. My parents worked extremely hard to build their careers and ensure I had the best education life could offer.

This set me on my journey switching from an Indian curriculum to one that was international.

As you can see, I mentioned the IB PYP programme. Let me break this down for you. The IBO is the International Baccalaureate Organisation, they have 3 levels; the PYP (Primary Years Programme) running from Grades 1-5, the MYP (Middle Years Programme) running from grades 6-10, and the IBDP (IB Diploma Programme) running through Grades 11 and 12. However, my school integrated the IB ways from grades 1-8, but we studied the IGCSEs through grades 9 & 10. Now, this seems odd, but it’s very popular in India. The standard Indian gives two board examinations in their lives: in Grades 10 and 12.

Now, I wear multiple hats at work.

I am first and foremost a teacher, my first form of childhood roleplay was playing a teacher to my stuffed animals. I have been teaching English Language & Literature to children studying these international curricula since I was 16. Teaching was my first love. 

Counselling students for their education is my second hat. I prioritise being able to offer easy tools that enable a child to be more confident and successful, in their own capacity.

The third hat is that of a family counsellor. Spending years working with individuals of all ages and their families to promote healthy relationships, I chose to focus on working with families who have the same goals. I found deep comfort in working with families that are neurodiverse, i.e., children having neurodevelopmental issues, ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities, and children struggling with bullying, lack of confidence.

These hats have taken me on a journey to understand education and its effect on a child’s life. Education by default, is ALL the learning a child experiences, processes, and inculcates right from the time of birth. What they learn at home is education, what they observe, and mimic is education. A curriculum is not the end all and be all.

Factors I think really affect the academic pedagogy:

- Teachers: Teaching is actually, just a job. There are very few teachers who teach for the love of the subject, for the love of the act of teaching, and for the love of influencing a better youth.

- Management: Is your school well-managed?

- Extra-curriculars: For ideal development, children need more than simply classroom activities.

- Aptitude & Intelligence: Each child is made uniquely; so what works for your child WILL DEFINITELY NOT work for another. Your child's apititude which lies in the kind of information and educational material they absorb is different, and your child's emotional and mental intelligence also varies.

- Foundational teaching: Any inconsistency in teaching and practice leads to a shaky base. Imagine a building being built on a weak, and poorly cemented and constructed foundation.

2022 taught me this principle I use daily. The “Add More Value” principle. As a counsellor and fellow human, I noticed we tend to succumb to restriction as a subconscious impulse. To simplify this, if we notice a change in how our bodies look, we eat less, if we notice our children eating too much sugar or processed foods, we stop them from doing so. What this leads to is a genuine increase in these behaviours with an additional unhealthy thought process towards body positivity.

So, the "ADD MORE VALUE" principle focuses on ‘what can I add> what can I reduce/restrict’. Using the same example as above, if I notice my body change, I would increase my protein intake to satisfy my hunger, automatically leading to no cravings. If I notice my child eating excessive sugar or processed foods, I would firstly ask myself why, second I would check in with them and how they feel as these cravings are the body’s response to emotional dysregulation, and third I would also work around their diet and increase their daily protein intake, and offer healthier, sweet alternatives.

So, using this principle in choosing the right educational style for your child. Add more in these ways:

1. Choose a curriculum that is holistic. The IBO prides itself in having the most holistic curriculum.

2. Pick a school where teachers & management are more child-centred than number-centred. You want a school that offers more than simply academic value. You want supportive teachers and staff, security, activities, wholesome development, similar-minded parents, etc.

3. Now after this, work with a study coach or an educational counsellor, or a counsellor who integrates academics + wellbeing, to check how your child is doing in school and beyond, to know what reinforcement (ADD MORE VALUE moment) your child requires.

4. Next, include extracurriculars – music, art, sports, expression, robotics, etc. Understand your child is learning what they like and what they do not, which means you owe it to them to support and applaud them for wanting to drop/change these classes and try more things rather than forcing consistency. When they enjoy something, they will wholeheartedly excel at it.

5. Allow independent play/expression

6. Encourage comfortable socialisation. Children are honest and know their boundaries, when we get pushy about how we're conditioned to behave socially, we unconsciously teach them to not listen to their gut, this is dangerous for them in the future.

7. Encourage activity classes that could turn into something more permanent. For example: cooking, pottery, painting, sketching, animation, writing, programming, etc. Children look at parents for validation, if you deny them this because you believe school is important, they perceive this as them not being enough.

8. Empower kids having careers in school.

9. Workshops, Courses & Summer/Vacation Programmes

10. Social Service

Kids are sponges of the best quality when supported, they can grow and push themselves to their true potential. Only they know what their potential entails. Aim at offering them the most supportive learning environments, where mistakes are a road to success, and where adding more value leads to true consistency and achievement. They are perfectly capable of fitting the pieces to their own puzzles.