Kids go online to learn languages, calligraphy

Pune: From arts and craft to map-reading and coding, children from the city are being exposed to an assortment of extra-curricular activities. Moving away from the offline ritual of attending school, completing homework and playing outdoors, many children have now adapted to an online ritual of schooling and extra-curricular activities as playing outdoors is still limited.

According to parents, fewer school hours are leaving children with more time and they are on a constant lookout for things to keep the kids occupied, even help them upskill.

Coding has struck the chord for thousands of families across the country. Children as young as six years of age are attending online coding classes at the behest of their parents.

According to Sonal Patel, who teaches coding, her classes are more about improving logic and developing a problem-solving ability than actually coding to develop softwares or games.

“We teach children about interacting with computers, using logic in different situations, using code to solve puzzles and other such activities. The activities are for improvements in thinking abilities. It is not necessary that the child will grow up to become a programmer or a software engineer. I generally encourage children over nine years to enrol but I teach six-year-olds too,” she said.

Music has caught children's attention. Pranita Bansode-Kamble from Graciaa Musicals said, “I conducted weekend classical singing sessions before the lockdown and had about 8 to 10 students. However, when we started online classes during the lockdown, the demand doubled. I am teaching classical singing to 20 students at the moment. Among the instruments, keyboard and guitar are the most sought after options by children and their parents. Earlier, our students were restricted to Pune but now we have students from across the country and from overseas.”

Abhilasha Bang, who is associated with My Playdate, said children are learning yoga, dancing, arts and craft,

calligraphy

, Rubik’s cube solving, phonics, storytelling, digital art and much more. Many others are learning Hindi or foreign languages.

Counsellors warn that parents must enrol their children into extra-curricular activities without any plans for the future.

General activities like singing, dancing, calligraphy and art are a good way to engage children, but more rigorous avenues must be avoided, they said.