need suggestion reg son participating in competition....

Tough one! 15 sayings of Vivekananda is too much, really for that age group! Will he be participating with kids of same age? Does he have to recite all the 15 of them, have you checked with the school? If so, is there a way you can put them together as a song for him? It might be little easier for him to memorize with a little tune. Else I think you should see how many he remembers and help him tell only those - if it is the same age group, chances are no child will remember all the 15! And you should not let him feel bad for not memorizing all of them but at least encouraging him to do well what he knows! Honestly, kids at that age are still trying hard to memorize "I now know my ABC's song"! If he is even trying, he is doing so well!

I know I couldn't help you much but couldn't help putting out there what I felt! Best wishes for the competition!

 

Hey! I remember doing this many years in a row when I was a schoolboy! I enjoyed it since it meant that I could play hooky from school to go participate in the contest and the ashram where they held it was a very pleasant place too! In my time we had to recite parts of Vivekananda's speeches. I was older than your son though ... maybe 8 or 9 when I started? It's a good exercise, believe me. Yes, it is hard for a 5 year old!

I would be amazed if your 5 year old could read the quotes by himself, let alone memorize them !! What are these teachers thinking?!

My suggestion is the following:
Since he can remember it if you provide a prompt, first teach him the 15 sayings with 15 prompts. You prompt with the first word - he comes up with the quote. This will build his confidence.

Then, in phase two, teach him the 15 prompt words in order, using some mnemonic.

Phase 3 would be integrating the two, so that he provides his own prompt + follows up with the quote.

In the long run, your son will profit from these exercises. Help him gently, don't give up. The benefits to me were quite considerable, I remain grateful!

 

We are highly visual animals. You could take advantage of this with another strategy.

Write the quotes on 15 pieces of paper, different colors if possible. Ask your son to stick them in different spots in the house, but with a system as follows:

He should pretend he is walking through the house. So, the first quote would go somewhere near the front door. Let him pick the spot. The next one could go .. hmm say where takes of his shoes, the next one where he drops his school bag ... and so on. Pretend he is coming home from school. Then he takes a mental walk along his 'route' in the house. This map acts as a trigger for each saying.

Alternate strategy would be to place these things along his 'morning' wake-up routine. In front of his bed, on the mirror where he brushes his teeth, in the shower ... I'm sure you get the drift.

This mental walk will anchor the quotations and make it easier for him to remember them in order. All he has to do to recall them is to take this walk in his mind and the sentences will pop up. If you make a game of it, then he will enjoy it too. Moreover, these memory techniques are useful later on as well, to learn anything worth memorizing.

 

An additional trick, just record those sayings in a voice recorder and play them whenever you can and let him listen,even whilr he is doing other things like playing etc.Other than that you could buy a book about Swamiji's life and teachings, with illustrations and read it for him and explain the great man's life from childhood till end.Kids love stories.Our children in India need such inspirational reading to motivate them and realize the full potential of our culture.

Finally don't pressurize him to perform well or get the prize, for the exposure to the teachings of great people as well as the competition are in themselves good for the kid to get over his/her shyness as also to get motivated by great personalities.

Good luck!

 

Let us not be judgmental here.It is the duty of the parents and the school where the child spends most of the time in a day to inspire and motivate.A small seed which holds a giant tree of the future...who knows what the seed of the sayings will do to inspire the child as an adult!If the child doesn't like food we don't just ignore him/her, but coerce the child to eat lest he/she doesn't go hungry or malnourished.Likewise these exposures are necessary but without the pressure to aim the top prize or any prize at all.