Let's remember how the mother has been considered as the child's first educator since the beginning of the civilization. Conventionally Indian women have been stay-at-home moms and been instrumental in educating children. But also, till just half a century ago, most mothers were not very highly educated. As a result, their educating roles were more focused around morals, behaviors, domestic life rather than school, curriculum, career etc.
That said, our socio - cultural and socio-economic patterns have changed a lot over the last 50 years. More ladies have an access to higher education and consequently also better working conditions than before. However, it also means that mothers now have lesser time that they can spend with their kids, specially the working moms. As a result, moms now are very frequently working double duties at their work places as well as homes.
With the circumstances changing, their roles as educators have changed. Now they are also capable of mentoring and educating their children about work cultures, professional choices, and decisions related to higher education, along with everything else. However, there still are a lot of moms who do face challenges with teaching their younger kids.
These challenges are existent not because of the academic incompetence of the lady, but more because of the way school curriculum now changes frequently. The syllabus these days is focused more on mandatory practice and project-based approach. It is very different from the way the mums studied themselves. Hence, the current approach to education becomes a challenge for mothers and makes them wonder about their roles as educators.
Luckily, mothers are not alone in their quest for helping their children learn. After all, every problem is an opportunity to create a solution. So, academicians often come up with practical approaches to resolve these issues. For example, activity-based curriculum is fun to do, but difficult to execute; since sourcing raw material can be a challenge at times.
Usually science enthusiasts and freelance professionals try to support mothers in teaching their kids through projects and submissions. Of course, the teachers try to help too. However, with the realization that the need for support mothers to be better educators is more than the existing support, even enterprises have now started looking for how to make education easy for younger ones.
Websites like www.projectsforschool.com are coming up with simple DIY kits that mothers can use to develop the interest of their children in studies. These kits specially cater to science subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology since these subjects are specially challenging for mothers. The beauty of these kits is not just that they are simple, but also that they are fun and cost efficient. As a result, they empower the modern working / stay-at-home mom, to be a more relevant educator.
Let's celebrate all mothers and the way they educate!