The Anywhere Door

22/11/2021

Welcome to another diary-writing program designed for teenagers. Diary-writing is a wonderful habit for clarity and purpose in life. You can know more about it in the PDF link.

The 10-day program is free of cost with an option to enrol for 3 months if your child finds it useful.

Program dates: December 1 - 10, 2021.
Last date to enroll: Nov 28, 2021.

08/11/2020

Many of us wish to journal regularly. Why is it then that we are not able to do it?

Most often, it is because we feel there is nothing to write. That mental block comes in the way of letting our thoughts flow freely on to paper.

I had been journaling sporadically since childhood. There was no routine or structure to it. I wrote in my diary whenever I felt the need to put my thoughts and feelings on paper. It was like having a conversation with a confidant. I did not understand the significance then, but as I looked back - I realised that in difficult phases of life, journaling had given me the courage to withstand them. It also gave me perspective as I read my pages in later years, on how my thought process had become more stable.

As a parenting coach and an educator, I believe journaling is one of the best habits parents can help their children develop. The ideal time to start is adolescence (12 - 18 years) because teenage is a very special period of transformation in the life of children. While physical changes are one part of the transformation, psychologically teenagers are in an introspective mode – trying to understand the world which they are soon going to join in their own standing.

By simply writing down our thoughts, labelling our feelings and acknowledging events, we understand them more clearly and free up our mind from the taxing job of processing them in a loop. We become calm, sleep better and our immune system improves. We go to work/study feeling refreshed and perform better. Our relationships improve. Journaling can be one of the most useful and cost-effective tools we have, to live a fulfilling life.

In order to bridge this gap of the need and the mental block towards starting it, I am thrilled to share that, I have published a warm-up guide to initiate beginners into journaling. The language is easy and the prompts paced to kindle clarity and intention.

Designed primarily with teenagers in minds, this guide will help them cultivate this habit at this crucial age of transition in their development. This 30-day exercise of self-discovery will set them on a habit-building path of journaling.

You can buy/gift this Kindle eBook at the link below:

Journaling Made Possible: 30-day prompted journal to kindle clarity and intention eBook: Jain, Vimi: Amazon.in: Kindle Store

26/10/2020

Productive weekends is a community of enthusiastic learners, explorers and hobbyists who believe that a lot can happen over the weekend!

Feeling encouraged to have my workshop featured on their page!

Productive Weekends

years are characterised by feelings of doubt, hesitation, swaying emotions, insecurity, uncertainty, jealousy, ambition and lofty dreams. But, can get the strength to handle these bubbling emotions with a simple habit - of Journaling. Journaling helps us get comfortable with our own self, and is a release to our pent-up emotions and thoughts.

Deciding to initiate their child into the world of journaling is one of the best gifts parents can give their children.

Enrol your child for this 21-Day Guided Journaling Workshop to build a wonderful habit in these uncertain times in the company of their peers.

Find details of the program at the below link:
https://rzp.io/l/mindfuljournaling

23/10/2020

Teenage years are characterised by feelings of doubt, hesitation, swaying emotions, insecurity, uncertainty, jealousy, ambition and lofty dreams.

You must have seen your teenage son or daughter grapple with some of these emotions.

It is a natural part of the growth process. But, they can get the strength to handle these bubbling emotions with a simple habit - of Journaling.

Journaling helps us get comfortable with our own self, and is a release to our pent-up emotions and thoughts.

Deciding to initiate their child into the world of journaling is one of the best gifts parents can give their children.

Enrol your child for this 21-Day Guided Journaling Workshop to build a wonderful habit in these uncertain times in the company of their peers.

Find details of the program at the below link:
https://rzp.io/l/mindfuljournaling

Enrol today for a special price of just 499/-.

. Why are teenage years delicate?. Teenage is a very special period of transformation in the life of children. While physical changes are one part of the transformation, psychologically teenagers are in an introspective mode – trying to understand the world which they are soon going to join in the...

12/10/2020

Nature - the sublime, the harsh, the beautiful offers something that the street or gated community or computer game cannot. - Richard Louv. How does a life deficient in encounters with nature affect children? Read on...

https://www.theanywheredoor.in/post/what-is-nature-deficit-disorder

02/10/2020

This year began with some setbacks due to Covid. I planned to start my Montessori house of children, but had to shelve it.

But the time on hand gave me the opportunity to enroll for the one year Elementary course (6-12 yrs) which I wouldn't not have been able to pursue otherwise. I decided to homeschool my 6yr old as I saw her physically present and mentally absent in front of the laptop. Applying my lessons with her has been the most satisfying experience.

Here is how we introduce land and water forms in Montessori - with clay and water models. Each pair like yin and yan. With the model, she realised that the isthmus is not a bridge with water flowing under but a landform that goes deep into the ocean bed. Picture cards and definition cards take the learning to an abstraction. From here on identifying them on a map is so intuitive! That's how real learning flows.

Children taught this way have a lifelong love of learning. Geography and history won't be subjects that they hate growing up.

As Edtechs look at monetising scale, if children lose out on hands-on experiences, then it's not a win after all. Scale has to come with the child at the center of the decision making.

29/09/2020

All living things operate from an infinite intelligence. A newborn baby knows when it is full and stops. Animals also are deeply clued into their food requirements. A goat will only eat particular types of leaves that is good for its body. A cow stops grazing as soon as it is full, no more. Lions leave the meat of their kill when they are done.



Then why do we assume that a human child, as he grows up, would not have the same sense of what and how much he wants to eat?



When a the child says, “I don’t want to eat more,” why do we force another spoonful, saying “last bite” or “clean up your plate”?



Lack of control over one’s own diet has long-lasting consequences. It causes many issues in adult-hood like compulsive eating, obesity, erratic diets, etc. Eating and learning abilities are also connected. We use “spoon-feeding” in the learning context too.



I have written about choice in many previous posts. Choice in eating is critical.

- Let the child serve himself. In Montessori, even a 2-year old is helped to be independent to serve and eat by himself.

- When the child says he is not hungry, don’t force him. Allow him to listen to his body.

- Have conversations about healthy food choices regularly, but not at the dinner table – where it puts pressure on the child.

- Most importantly, involve the child in the process of cooking. Our relation to food is highly sensorial. Let the child experience the aromas while food is getting cooked. Let him help you in chopping vegetables and feel the texture. Let him see how ingredients get transformed when cooked. Soon you will see children OWN their food. Here is an adorable video shared by a parent. Can you see pure bliss? :)

26/09/2020

Pre-primary children (ages 2.5-6 years) have a heightened sensory level of absorption, which allows them to capture thousands of sensorial impressions in a day. They use their sense to build neural connections in their minds of touch, taste, smell, weight, texture, feeling with hands, shapes, temperature, sound, colours and not to mention size.

During today’s scenario of remote learning, the onus of a lot of child’s learning is on parents. How do you know that you are giving your child exposure on all avenues?

Here is a neat planner that I have designed for you to keep track of the sensory activities that you can do with your child on a daily basis.

What you get in this package:
- An A3 laminated planner, customized with your child’s name (sample in the picture)
- A fiber-point gel pen to write on this. The planner is reusable. You can take a picture of the planner once it is filled, erase and start with a fresh set of activities
- A set of 101 activities will be shared with this planner as a leaflet

The benefit of using this planner is:
- since you will put it up on a wall at a place that’s visible to you daily, you will do these activities consciously
- you will be able to see for yourself, which areas you have missed, and will bring them into practice
- the list of activities provided, will guide you through this effortlessly
- once you get into this practice, you will be automatically tuned in and will be thinking up your own activities
- your child will see the variety of activities he or she is doing, and as you write on the planner, they will start taking interest in doing more of them
- this also demonstrates adults writing to the child, and such practices develop the child’s own interest in writing

This entire package is for 499/-. If you are interested, please WhatsApp me at 9742274948. Shipping is free within Bangalore. If you live outside Bangalore, shipping charges at actuals will be levied.

07/09/2020

Purposeful work is the path to developing coordination between our thoughts, actions and feelings. Once children develop this, they work with focus, willingly sit for longer times to finish a task (grit) and are able to manage their emotions better.

It's important to initiate this within the first 6 years, when children have a deep urge to master certain skills. Those specific urges in 2.5-6 years (called Sensitive Periods by Dr. Montessori) slowly fade away after the age of 6 and are replaced by other sensitivities pertaining to the next developmental stage.

Here a parent has shared a beautiful picture of a 2-year-old helping her take out pomegranate seeds. Focusing on small objects, absorbing the details and doing purposeful work - you can see her full of intent. Just beautiful!

Children choose such work wholeheartedly and being given that choice is extremely important.

05/09/2020

To all the teachers and to all the parents (who are the first teachers in a child's life), Happy Teacher's Day. 🙏💝

04/09/2020

Nature walk: looking at shapes, colours, patterns, features in nature - an unmatched experience of wonder that no books and videos can bring. Conversations flow from one topic to another, dispersed with wonder and glee!

Don't worry if you don't know the names. A tip - Google Lens comes handy to look for names of creatures and flowers you see around, with some quick basic info. ☺

03/09/2020

Our customs and traditions make our minds conscious of many things. A pookkalam for example is ripe with symmetry and geometry. Holding flowers in our hands and looking at them intently makes us aware of their spirals, symmetry, perfection, variety, smell, etc.

Children learn through all their senses. And awakening of these senses is what these traditions make possible.

Same can be said for Rangoli, Kolams etc. Here, the Onam fever continues at home. And we made yet another one today. ☺