Before she turned two and half year old, my daughter Dhriti started attending school for Playgroup standard. I and my wife were very much excited with the idea of her going school and playing with other kids for hour long or so. We reached school on time and playgroup teacher requested us to stay in school because it’s first day and in case she starts crying they will call us. Dhriti liked the place initially and was playing with toys, wallowing in sand pit and dancing on baby rhymes. I quietly left the place and was waiting outside the school. She was enjoying the music and was dancing. All of the sudden she started looking for me and even when my wife's presence didn’t stopped her crying then there were no other options left. I had to go there and take her back to home. Even in my lap, she was holding me tightly like I should not disappear again. Back at home, the whole day she was bit silent and appeared to us that she is thinking something. We usually never observe her sitting silent and thinking. All of my enthusiasm of sending her school suddenly vanished and I started feeling bad for my little daughter.
I was five year old when I started attending school and I still remember even at that age I was feeling very bad and was feeling like going too far from my parents, family and home. Dhriti is not even three year old and so naturally she is not very mature to digest the concept of school (even for playgroup standard). At this age, putting pressure of a routine of attending school everyday is really not a good idea. But we need to do that to keep her upbringing on good track. When I was a kid, the social structure was not like of now. Families were mostly grouped on combined principles and were bigger in size so the initial learning of kids was very much possible within the family with highest quality and ensured safety. Now the things are very different. Concept of nucleus family has slowly arrived. The family grouping is mostly on tune of the western culture and usually size of families is very small. Now the family just constitutes Wife, Husband and kids. The families in the colony, society usually don’t interact much with each other. But the society is yet not fully transformed and the transition is still happening. In this transition period most suffered lot are the kids. Whole day at home they don’t see enough faces and persons to keep on playing and they get bored. They just interact with parents and don’t get a chance to interact with many people so the learning curve is also not very healthy. That’s the one of the primary reason people started sending little kids to schools at very tender age. The idea is to let them mingle with many kids there and also let them allow learning small things while being in school. The concept of playgroup, nursery and kindergarten in schools are well seen everywhere now and were not easily seen 25 years back in every school.
