04 Agustus 2007 - 22:58   (Diposting oleh: Rumah Dunia)
LEARNING FOR THE CHILDREN
BY: Gola Gong – Translated by Wawan Husin

Dinner time, Thursday night, dated June, 14, 2007. Bella my eldest daughter shouted proudly happily ”Dad, I got total 100 for Maths. The materials from the Diknas”. My wife, Tyas, checked the headmistress of her saying. ”Yes, she got 100 for Maths. It is the highest among her schoolmates!” said kata Rahmiani Batubara, the head mistress. At her school, SD Peradaban, Serang – the school applies the multiple intelligence which is issued and pioneered by Howard Gardner - the resources of materials for the lesons are two kinds. First, school-based materials and the other are materials from Diknas.

TREASURE
There is something worried Bella, “ My (lesson of) Bahasa Indonesia is not fully correct. One mistake I made…”, she said. “The question goes ..berenang yang paling baik itu di mana? Di kolam renang, di laut, atau di sungai? Bella chose di laut (at sea). It was wrong. The teacher said the best answer is ”....di kolam renang”. For me, ..di laut is better. No chemical substance, where in the swimming pool there is, isn’t it?’ she continued.

I explained to her,”The teacher meant that when you wer swimming in the swimming pool than the risk is less. At sea, there could be big waves or poluution from industry”. I tried to cheere her up, and said to her not to think of just a mark. The important thing is to understand the meaning of the question.

Tias then phoned the the headmistress. ”Usually when the answer is ambigious, then it is considered as correct”. As a husband I felt happy. What happened to us, is really a valuable learning for our children, a kind of interactive larning had happened and been introduced from early years at school. At dining table, there is a discussion between parents and children. There is a dialogue definitely. Parents roles themselves as close friends who are willing to listen to children’s complain and try to search for answers to their critical questions.

For us, what happened to Bella is really exhilarating. Not on the mark, the 100 mark. But to the situation and condition that Bella can face the test or examination seriously and relaxed. She does not get tensed to face the test on the following day. Lessons at school, are participated at the school. Al home? Then we, the parents, have to teach her. This is our turn to improve her. At home we let Bella and Abi read comics, novels, involved theselves with computer and games, watching Television, play at Rumah Dunia plaza and yard, play cooking on her own version, and play robots in Abi’s version themselves. They keep socialized themselves with their friends. We want to make them happy at home. We never ever want to make our home a ”war ground” by them, because they made homeworks as ”difficult and copmplicated task” to be executed. Homeworks does not weight upon them.

The lesson we have tought at home can be in different mode. Once in a while, I give a present to them by creating kind of play to find the treasure. It is like on the movie ”Dora”. This kind of play or game is rellay expected by Bella and Abi. The most expected game for them and we give them a surprise on Sunday. We give a task in an envelope. ”Find en evelop in your cupboard’s drawer in your bedroom, children...! In the envelope there is another clue saying:’What makes the volcanic earthquake?”. When they are successful in answering the question, there is another envelop with clue or another task. Or even another question. The question can be a general knowledge or possibly a map of the treasure. We have a wide yard, and there is also Rumah Dunia’s yard on the same site. This wide yard of Rumah Dunia enable them to act and imagine just like the treasure hunters. Our third child (Jordy, aged 3 years) and the fourth (Kaka, aged 2 years) investigate their action and even they get involved and become their followers or partners to play ”treasure hunter”.

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