This mom blogger is making home-learning easy for kids and their parents
On her blog 2monkeysandme, Shraddha come up with activities for kids. These are in line with the topics of the school, but are more practical in nature.
As a parent who is taking care of two boys aged five and two, Shraddha says she has been taking one day at a time in lockdown, planning their schedules and spending time with them. (Picture courtesy: Shraddha Fogla)
Around the country, many parents have been home-schooling their kids for a while now, because the schools are closed due to the pandemic. While curriculums are being set and discussed, parents are still apprehensive since kids are spending more time sitting in front of the screen, as opposed to going out and play-learning. This, many parents feel, could be counter-productive to their child’s growth and overall learning.
Then, there is the problem of really young ones — five years and younger — sitting with heavy headphones and nodding away to their teachers on the other side of the computer screen. Early exposure to the digital world, short attention span, and lack of physical activities have been worrying parents night and day. But they are helpless because there are more pressing chores to take care of, like work deadlines.
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As such, many adept minds are trying to steer them towards finding just the right resources that are tailor-made for them, and can make them understand their child’s educational needs better. One such platform is called ‘2monkeysandme’, which was started in December 2018, by a Kolkata-based blogger and mother of two, Shraddha Fogla.
A digital professional parenting platform, 2monkeysandme has homeschooling modules for kids between the ages of two years and nine years, comprising various activities, experiments, worksheets, and printables for effective and easy learning.
“I have always loved reading, and would read many research papers. My friends and family often asked me questions on the correct way of teaching things to kids, etc. And that is when I realised I should start a platform from where I can help other parents out, who are not very informed. I wanted to reach out to mothers who were looking for answers related to parenting. I randomly started the blog one fine day. There was no planning as such,” Shraddha tells indianexpress.com.
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As a parent who is taking care of two boys aged five and two, Shraddha says she has been taking one day at a time in lockdown, planning their schedules and spending time with them. “I give them more time than I do to my husband. Thankfully, he does not complain, yet. While online classes for my older son are going on, the younger one is being home-schooled. I have schedules that I plan out a day in advance, before I go to bed — things I need to do with the boys, and things for the blog. When my sons are in a happy mood, I take up teaching them, and when they are a bit down, I let them play and I work on the blog,” she explains.
Apart from what he’s learning at school, Shraddha says she plans many science experiments and DIY activities for her older son. “I am teaching him things which are not related to his grade. He’s being taught things from grades 3 and 4, and he is grasping things according to his own pace. I base new concepts depending upon how many challenges they can take up.”
Homeschooling versus conventional schooling
Shraddha says if she had an option, she would home-school both her kids. “In the US, there are modules for homeschooling, and kids can take up tests that can promote them from one grade to the other. But that is not the case in India. And that is why my older one is still taking up his classes online. Whereas with my younger one, I decided to teach him everything that he needs to know at his age.”
About the blog
On her blog 2monkeysandme, Shraddha keeps coming up with activities for kids. These are in line with the topics of the school, but are more practical in nature. If students were to read on different types of soils and rocks, for instance, Shraddha would plan activities such as their collection.
Shraddha says she divides her weeks between posting modules and activities for different age groups. Any parent can access the website and get an understanding of age-appropriate activities for their children. “Initially, it was a bit tough to come up with modules, because I was not doing it professionally. I used to look up on the internet for inspiration. But, when you start doing something out of passion, you keep thinking of ways. I would say it is a mix of ideas inspired and ideas that come from my own head,” she says.
Early childhood education
Shraddha says most schools teach nursery and pre-nursery goers in a repetitive way. And these are things that can be taught at home. “Making such young kids go through separation anxiety of leaving their parents and letting them cry their lungs out it is absolutely not required. Keeping that in mind, the topics that I include in the blog are all the topics you cover in montessori. I started working on activities which I would want to teach my young ones. The modules have more than what the montessori would teach, and in a fun way. And for early childhood education, I do not have any activities which are screen-related,” she concludes.
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