The searching look!

This Imperial green Pigeon is a regular visitor to our garden when the nutmeg fruits are plenty in the trees. Now, that it is not the season for nutmeg fruits, the visit of the pigeon is only occasional. The above is the photo of one in the pair of pigeons. The other was behind, hidden in the foliage. 

The imperial pigeons feed on fruits, nuts and legumes. It's tilted neck indicated that it was intently searching for a nutmeg fruit as it was the tree that pigeons visited during the fruiting season. Its ability to see at a distance is one of its special features. 

The pigeons are often well groomed and have an aesthetic appearance. The green imperial pigeons live in forest areas and come to gardens searching for fruits. 

I remember showing to three pre-school children photos of different species of pigeons, sometime early this year. One question they asked me was, 'who combs them'?  What a searching question. They being used to be assisted by their mother to get ready, including grooming the hair, had a legitimate question when I pointed out the well groomed body of feathers of pigeons. 

I was fascinated by this question. It was a spontaneous question of a pre-school child. I realised that as adults such a question might appear redundant. A pre-school child is not used to have his or her groomed unless someone else did for him or her. These are like other first time questions that a pre-school child might ask. One child saw water pooled in the courtyard during rain. When the rain stopped the courtyard was dry. The pre-school child's question was, 'where did the water go'?

I feel encouraged when two years old or three years old children ask such questions as those questions are linked to their observation, thinking and enquiring process. 

The responsibility of adults towards pre-school children is to expose them to different experiences to stimulate them to observe, think and raise questions. When the adults can stay ready and the lead children to an observant habit, children would evolve to think  and ask questions. That is active learning, which would be natural to what we would like to see pre-school children develop. 

While reading from books or narrating experiences or sharing our observations to them would be necessary, it is of greater importance to turn our pre-school children to be thinkers and enquirers by making them to see, feel and experience. 

That is the way to turn our pre-school children to be original in thought and authentic in pursuit of making associations!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)