The journey of a 12yrs old, who grew up with a love for vehicles. As a child of 4yrs old, he would draw and draw jeeps and buses and trucks. He even started to save money to buy a bike when he would be 18urs old. Soon he grew out of vehicles and started making sandcastles. The play will go on with wars, enemies, bridges, and strategies.As a child of 5yrs old, he never sang nursery rhymes, nor wrote alphabets. But he would spend a lot of time with books and insist on us reading books daily for him.
His interest in books remained but he grew out of sandcastles and making bridges. His interest in Army grew as he grew up. He would buy dresses of different defense forces like Navy, Army and pretend to be like them. He visited a few army areas and got more inspired by their courage. Soon he grew out of that.He got into making models of ships and airplanes. He did not know when he got drifted towards planes and pilots. The visit to airports and airplane museum became part of our curriculum.
Need to know more about ships created a need to learn reading and he just did it.Soon he grew out of airplanes and got into cooking and sometimes baking. Meanwhile, he continued climbing rocks effortlessly. And also tried his hands with Kathak dance classes and learning Tabla from a master and joining Tennis coaching.
One sight of a beautifully written line in cursive writing sparked his soul to learn this art. He would practice cursive anywhere and everywhere.We don’t know how and where he developed the mathematical processes, but he mastered himself in basic mathematical calculations.Without us realizing he got into sketching. He would practice and learn more by himself.Meanwhile, he found himself fond of knowledge and he started reading about various topics to be able to know about various topics. This was also the time he got into quizzes.
He was into music and would know a lot about the singers. This also the time when didn’t miss a single chance to update himself with the world of sports, about players and records.He was also influenced by the wave of electronics, he made few scientific toys and boats. This was the time he got interested in making models. And tried his hands with photography and videography.He was not away from drama and learning musical instruments. He started playing African drums called djembe. In between, he would chase butterflies and go for bird watching.
He mastered himself into making eggs for breakfast and rolling chapatis. And he was often found on the topmost branch of any tree. And suddenly he found himself in love with science and it’s magic. Space was another topic that attracted him to it.He did not shy from dreaming about playing sports with all the accessories. His interest fluctuated from football to cricket. Chess and other board games along with video games and wakeboarding accompanying him in between the gaps.
He took several years to learn that perfect stroke of swimming. But when he did, he just learned it.He didn’t know that he will like challenges of skiing in snow in Gulberg. He finished his first structured course with pride and joy. He announced himself ‘made for skiing’. He is on his way to getting into the intermediate level of skiing. A dash into paragliding gave him glimpses in the world of flying. Meanwhile, Trekking in the Himalayas was just like that.
His love for books drew him into Mythology and reading more. The Greek mythology attracted him with their magical powers, courage, and heroism.Recently he found a love for writing and he started writing blogs and reading for hours.While he keeps himself alive with his various interest, he either leaves one interest or develops a love for more interest. Whatever he does he does with intensity, no matter how long does that interest lasts. He grew up chasing chocos and then pizzas and now passion fruits. He surprises us with his wide variety of choices.
He is not away from telling lies or teasing others. He is also closer to expressing himself and understanding our feelings ” I understand that you are feeling agitated”.Journey with him with his wide variety of choices have been very interesting. While he has not stayed with one passion for a long time but whatever duration stayed, he lived his every moment. As a guide, as parents, we were often thrown in our challenging zone to understand his moves. But the understanding happened by being with him, being together in this journey. Open learning allowed him to be himself while he continued to discover himself.
He didn’t have to prove to anyone, except himself. At each step, he set his own expectations from himself and assessed himself. At times he is disappointed with himself or pleased with himself. All are his moments, his choices, and his decisions.He is not scared of the future (what will I be?). He fearlessly works with his choices and dreams.He is not bound by any curriculum or limits of the systems, the world is his curriculum and life is his learning.
We are grateful to all those who traveled with us in this journey to make life wonderful for this ever-changing learner.We believe that kids don’t have to prove or show any desired results to others, all they need to do is continue to do. We add value to their learning journey just by creating experiences and the environment.
Today he is 15yrs old
Last three years voraciously working on developing his football skills
spending 6-7 hours a day, working on GAME INTELLIGENCE.
Some of the areas he works on deliberate practice, coaching, food, fitness, reading, active match viewing (through analysis), visualization, reading about the game, the players, and living football!