tare zameen par

http://www.taarezameenpar.com/

This is a movie that provides quite a few critiques on the pressures imposed by the Asian education system. This is told through the story of an Indian boy who has dyslexia and his struggles through formal schooling until a teacher finally diagnoses his condition and builds his self-confidence through encouraging him to express his artistic talent.

Although it lasted for 2.5 hours, it is beautifully shot, so it's rather bearable. I don't deny it's a good movie, but I wished I had lower expectations of it. Some parts of the movie were a little predictable and the dialogue felt too scripted at times.

Watching the movie made something of a light bulb go off in my head though. The movie illustrates a few methods to teach kids about numbers and reading which I found very interesting.

Using a box of sand as the drawing medium instead of pen and paper

I guess this works as kids have lesser motor control, so usage of fingers are encouraged through this method.

Using a grid to teach handwriting, then slowly shrinking the grid

The boy in the movie was able to express himself quite adequately through drawing or painting, but had atrocious handwriting. The teacher drew a grid on a chalkboard and used it to teach tracing of numbers. I guess this is a common technique adapted from teaching illustration, where you reproduce shapes using a grid. The boy increasingly drew a finer and more well-defined number with more practice.

Usage of movement to teach

Another interesting method was getting the boy to do simple arithmetic by giving maths sums and getting the boy to jump the correct number of stairs.

Usage of audio tapes

Lord of the Flies - Kids can be so cruel to their peers. Parents, even more.

Quotes from the movie

"Caring.. is a hug, is letting him know that you will always be there."

"Glad to know that you think you care." - Aamir Khan has some of the best lines =)

"Oscar Wilde - The price of everything and the value of nothing.."

Thanks Jay for the great introduction and team Moolah for the movie invite! =)