contents
july 2013
9 parenting 10 14 16 20 22
24 34
FEATURE Ad
Factor PARENT EXPRESS Teen Tales UPCLOSE Athlete Shiny Wilson ASK THE EXPERT Disciplining Your Child TEEN CIRCLE 18 Tips to Get College-Ready
23 wellness 24 FEATURE More than Child’s Play 30 NUTRITION Shake Off the Salt Habit! 32 TIPS Kitchen Cures for Tummy Troubles
33 learning
34 FEATURE Raising Creative Kids 42 CAREERS Raising the Bar 46 EDU SPEAK Teachers as Change Agents
47 family 48 52 54 56 58 60 62
On the cover 7 ways to raise creative children
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TV Ads: How they affect your child
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How much free play do you allow your kids? To spank or not to spank
Law: Why it’s a hot career option 42 18 tips to get ready for college
in every issue
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Athlete Shiny Wilson interview 16
22
Rajasthan FEATURE Think Before You Tweet SNAPSHOTS My Favourite Sport UPCLOSE Celebrity Chef: David Rocco PARENT CHEF Versatile Red Sauce VALUES Story of Valmiki OUR PICKS Of Giggles & Laughter TRAVEL
COVER PHOTOGRAPH S VENKATARAAMAN COVER MODEL AVNEET SHARMA
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Editor’s Note MailBox NEWS YOU CAN USE GOOD STUFF TALKING POINT
www.parentcircle.in 1
editor’s note
Creative Play
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Nalina Ramalakshmi EDITORIAL Managing Editor Nitya Varadarajan Assistant Editor Chitra Satyavasan Senior Editor-Copy Desk Shashwathi Sandeep Content Coordinator Asita Haq
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ~ Pablo Picasso
DESIGN Creative Head Rangashree Srinivas Senior Designer G Swarupa Graphic Designer M Ravisankar Production Consultant S Venkataraaman
A
few years ago, in order to keep my then 11-year-old daughter and 8-yearold nephew entertained and busy, I gave them some blank sheets of printer paper, cellotape, poster paints and brushes in different sizes and left them to ‘create’ on their own. I didn’t really pay any attention to what they were doing and they were completely occupied till dinnertime. The next day, I found this rolled up large sheet of paper lying in a corner. I unraveled it, and lo and behold, there was this most beautiful piece of artwork lying in front of me – just what I needed to fill up the large blank wall of my dining room. I immediately had it framed and displayed, and even today, it is always a topic of interest and conversation among the visitors to my house. What does ‘creativity’ actually mean? How can we continue to preserve this creative instinct in our children? Read our set of featured articles on creativity in our Learning section to find the answers to these questions and more. ‘To spank or not to spank’ is sometimes a dilemma facing even the most patient of parents when faced with the task of disciplining a wayward child. Get tips from an expert on how best to handle such situations in ‘Disciplining your child’. Our Wellness feature, ‘More than Child’s Play’ focuses on the importance of ‘free play’ for children and how it promotes the physical, emotional as well as the intellectual and creative development of children. As your child starts preparing for his school’s sports events, let him be inspired by our famous Olympian, Shiny Wilson, who talks to us about her passion for sports and the importance of participating in sports. Before the rigours of school begin full-fledged, enjoy a ‘play’ful month with your child!
Would love to hear your feedback. Mail me at nalinar@parentcircle.in
Administration Office Manager Sheeja Sasindran Office Assistant S Thirumalai SALES & DISTRIBUTION Vice-President M R Jayakkar Advertising General Manager S Visalam Manager G Suresh Kumar CIRCULATION Manager C Ganesh SUBSCRIPTION Officer S Saravanan MARKETING Executive Dolly Preethi Martina M Published by Nalina Ramalakshmi, Director, Shri Harini Media Pvt. Ltd., (A Ramco Group Associate), 8/14, First Cross Street, Karpagam Gardens, Adyar, Chennai 600020 Printed by Canara Traders and Printers Pvt. Ltd., Type II/33, V.S.I. Estate, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai 600 041 Parent Circle is published by Nalina Ramalakshmi, Director, Shri Harini Media Pvt.
Nalina Ramalakshmi, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Ltd. All editorial material including editorial comments, opinions and statement of facts appearing in this publication, represent the views of its respective authors and does not necessarily carry the endorsement of the publishers. Information carried in Parent Circle is gathered from sources considered to
FIND US ON 2 ParentCircle / July 2013
be reliable, but the accuracy of all information cannot be guaranteed. The publication of any advertisements or listings is not to be construed as an endorsement of the product or service offered.
parenting feature
Ad Factor HOW TV COMMERCIALS IMPACT YOUR CHILD by Shashwathi SANDEEP
Marketers are spending billions of rupees on ads targeting children, selling them products, and eventually attitudes and lifestyles
A
boy and a girl are sitting on a bench. The girl asks the boy if they are ‘girlfriend-boyfriend’ and the boy says no. He says that girlfriends are very demanding and that does not suit him. The girl coos that all that she needs is an Aloo Tikki. Then a very tempting and ‘affordable’ Aloo Tikki of a well-known fast food chain flashes on the screen. The boy suddenly changes his mind and tells the girl that they are ‘boyfriend-girlfriend.’ The boy and girl in this ad are 10-year-olds! This ad may seem cute and innocent to watch, but the message it conveys is not that innocent. Ten-year-olds talking about a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship is not the kind of message that parents want their children to absorb. 10 ParentCircle / July 2013
ACCORDING TO A STUDY, Children in India watch about 28 hours of TV per week AND are exposed to 20,000 ads a year.
wellness feature
MORE THAN
child’s play by Valsala Menon
More and more parents are depriving their young ones of unstructured fun and playtime by enrolling them in other activities after school. Is this really good for children? 24 ParentCircle / July 2013
I
magine this. A tiny tot happily squats on the ground, in her mom’s kitchen garden. She wields a wooden ladle and several empty coconut shells rescued from her mom’s kitchen bin. While her mom is busy cooking, the little one is also busy, engrossed in making mud pies. She happily scoops the mud that is slightly damp due to a drizzle earlier in the day, into her coconut shells. Once they are full, she inverts them and gives a light tap with her ladle. Lo and behold! Beautifully shaped mud pies line the tiny patch in the garden. She laughs and claps her hands in glee. While the child is happily making mud pies, she is also in touch with nature, getting to feel the mud and smell the damp earth. Not only is she indulging in free play, but her sense
learning creativity
raisingcreative kids by CHITRA
SATYAVASAN
In the second part of our series, we explore why children need creative thinking and imaginative play
T
he word ‘creativity’ always sounds magical. Immediately, you picture an Einstein or a Picasso or think of breakthroughs in medicine, and then shrug it off, thinking – ‘I am not creative’. But the good news is that everyone is creative, and in these modern times, creativity is not restricted to outstanding achievements in the realms of science, technology or arts.
As Alane Starko, a professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Eastern Michigan University and author of Creativity in the Classroom, says, “On a large scale (sometimes called ‘Big C’ creativity), creative thinking is what allowed Einstein or Ramanujan to have new mathematical insights, Mozart to compose, or inventors to create everything from the first wheel to the latest smart phones. These are discoveries that change the world, or at least some part of it. On the other hand, ‘small c’ creativity can occur any time we have a new idea or solve a problem in an original way— thinking of a new story to entertain a child on a long trip, or an improvised repair around the house.”
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