Child Development and Pedagogy Mathematics and Science Language I (English) Passage For questions 97–103 Do children really need such long summer breaks, was a question posed by some experts recently. Apparently, such a long break disrupts their development and comes in the way of their learning process. “Let’s get them back to their books”, is perhaps the expert view. One would have thought the children are doing too much during their vacations and not too little, given the plethora of classes, camps and workshops involving swimming, art, personality development, music, computers and the like. Even the trips taken in the name of holidays seem laden with exotic destinations and customised experience packed into a short period of time. We can go Europe in 10 days and Australia in a week and come back armed with digital memories and overflowing suitcases. Holidays are, in some ways, no longer a break but an intensified search for experience not normally encountered in everyday life.
It is a far cry from summer holidays as we know them. For us, holidays every year meant one thing and one thing alone—you went back to your native place, logging in with the emotional headquarters of your extended family and spent two months with a gaggle of uncles, aunts and first and second cousins. The happiest memories of the childhood of a whole generation seemed to be centred around this annual ritual of homecoming.
Summer was not really a break, but a joint. It was the bridge used to reaffirm one’s connectedness with one’s larger community. One did not travel, one returned. It was not an attempt to experience the new and the extraordinary but one that emphatically underlined the power of the old and the ordinary. With the change of time, what we seek from our summer breaks too has changed in a fundamental way.
Today, we are attached much more to our work and summer helps us temporarily detach from this new source of identity. We refuel our individual selves now; and do so with much more material than we did in the past. But for those who grew up in different times, summer was the best time of their lives.
Passage For questions 106–111 Into the sunshine, Full of the light, Leaping and flashing From morn till night! Into the moonlight, Whiter than snow. Waving so flower-like When the winds blow! Into the starlight, Rushing in spray, Happy at midnight, Happy by day! Glorious fountain! Let my heart be Fresh, cheerful, constant, Upward, like thee!
Language II (English) Passage For questions 127–134 There was a king, Shibi Rana, who enjoyed immense power. Even gods in heaven were jealous of him. They feared that Shibi might one day take away their kingdoms. They devised a plan to test his sense of justice. So they decided to reach Shibi’s kingdom in disguise. One day, Shibi Rana was sitting on his throne. His courtroom was surrounded by majestic gardens. There came a scared dove flying to him and it was followed by a fierce looking eagle. The king gave shelter to the dove and saved her. The eagle argued that the king has taken away his food—the dove. It would starve. The king assured the eagle that he would give equal quantity of any other food. The eagle asked for king Shibi’s flesh. The magnanimous king agreed with a smile. A balance was brought in the court. It was soon found that with each addition of the king’s flesh the dove grew heavier. The equal balance was not arrived at. But the king remained calm and unperturbed. The gods in the guise of the dove and the eagle were assured of Shibi’s righteousness. The forms of the eagle and the dove soon disappeared. In their place stood Indra, the king of the gods and Agni, the god of fire smiling and blessing the king for his benevolence and greatness.
Passage For questions 135–141 Fitness is zero percent investment with infinite returns. There is a surge in diabetes and hypertension cases and other lifestyle diseases. Fitness is the only thing that can help. But with technology, physical activity has reduced. It has become fashionable to talk about fitness rather than act on it. Several factors are cited to explain why fitness levels in school children are constantly declining. Children now walk far less than they used to. Instead of walking to or back from their school, they use a school bus, or get dropped and picked in a car. Once back home, they sit glued to the idiot box for several hours or keep playing computer games. Excessive screen time can negatively impact a child’s physical and mental health from increasing the risk of obesity to disturbing sleep patterns. There is neither place nor inclination to play outdoor games. Children’s diet consists mainly of fast foods, fried foods, chocolates, crispies, sweets and fizzy drinks. These foods may be delicious and, therefore, tempting, but they are highly deficient in vital nutrients. Parents are often aware of this, but out of misplaced love for children, they hardly ever discipline their eating habits. Girls, usually keen to remain slim, keep dieting unnecessarily and deprive their bodies of vital nourishment. It is important that children spend plenty of time playing in fresh air and exercise even more than the grown-ups in order that their muscles develop and their bones grow properly. If they can go for a regular swim and walk down to the swimming pool, it would combine the benefits of both walking and swimming. In addition, they should be encouraged to take healthy and wholesome food rich in nutrients to avoid what may be described as convenience foods.