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”.

Or we can also go to the beach and shopping center. For us, both places are like the treasure for learning. We teach them traffic signs, environment, economics, mathematics through transaction, function of pavement when they watch, goods seller at the pavements, taking care of social life when we pay the parking man, or givent a small change to beggars. Still there are a lot to teach.

TV FILMS

Having finished our dinner, Aby – our 2nd child– wanted to watch Tv. I chose a good program for him. It was from “Khazanah Cinta” (the World of Love) episode “Repentence When my Mum Got Insane” ofTrans TV. The director is a friend of mine, yes it is Solihin. While the script writer is Zack Sorga.

“O, Ian Kasela is just like that, what happened with him?” Abi who has just celebrated his eighth years on June, 30. I xould see that his expressionwas so tensed and sad. In that episode, Ian Kasela acting as a godless to his Mum (Jajang C. Noer). Ian stole her money, never prayed at all, gambled, and got drunk. And at last his mum got sick and inane. Then Ian repented and apolozised to her.

“Abi wants to cry, you know!” his voice choked. Our son is very sensitive. He is often absorbed by what he watches on TV.

Bella, stood out. Walked here and there, though watching the episode. I know for certain that Bella dan Abi felt hinted with the film. I tried to explain taht the film is an illustration of life for us, the family. “Daddy once did a bad thing to Dad’s Mum and Dad, and then Daddy apologized to them and never ever do the bad things again in the future”.

For us, the learning media for children can be from any resources. It is not necessary to make TV as our enemy. It depends on the parents to seek for good programs. I called them healthy programs. The resources can be from newspapers, books, and the closest environment. Environment of our own. We do believe that when the children are happy, by God’s willing, then they will also be happy when they study. That is our task as parents: to make them happy. What we have done so far, is a supporting action of ours to our children’s teachers at school. However our children is still our responsibility.

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE

To make choldren happy is one of the reasons why we – my wife and I – founded institution, Rumah Dunia, play group, and Kindergarten ” Jendral Kecil”, and Gong Media Cakrawala, that supports Multiple Intelligence. We would like to activate the children’s right brain as well as the left one in order to grow intelligent, critical and innovative generation.

In my reflection, I could really understand why my Mom and Dad never ever forced me – as their young, their son - to learn at home and go out of home playing outside. When I was a child, my Dad created a play ground in front of our house: a sliding, a pond for fish, a see saw, and of course: a library. Whereas in about a decade 1970 – 1980 they had never been familiar with the so called “Multiple intelligences” introduced by Howard Gardner. They even let me go everywhere. They facilitated my curiousity with arts, made newspapers, magazines, novels, available at home and even we had got special agenda to go to the movie together. The prophet Muhammad s.a.w. had suggested,”Teach literature to your children, since this (literature) can make people relented”. So..!(*).

*) The writer is a founder of Rumah Dunia, play group and kindergarten Jendral Kecil, that supports the method of Multiple Intelligences.
*) Photos: some moments when children of Rumah Dunia participated in “6th Children Party” held by Rumah Dunia, July, 28-29, 2007. (Photos by Langlang/ Awi/Shodiq)