I started traveling with my kid when he was six months old and that time I never thought that a Trip can be such a multi-talented teacher. But in due course of time when my son started talking, I slowly realized that through a continuous dialogue I can be a link between this wonderful teacher and my kid. I started playing this role when he turned 2 years and then started involving him from pre-planning process. After deciding a place I always talk to him about that place and show the holiday destination on map to introduce the concept of geography in such an early stage. And next is mode of transportation, as he is very fond of airlines his first question is always which airline mom? After Discovering his interest one day I showed him some major airlines on computer and we also revise same whenever we are on airport. If railway is our mode of transport we always open a small railway time table to understand the railway system in India. Once we reach our destination two things always struck him first the time zone difference and language. And The Trip teacher starts teaching two new concepts one is our solar system to understand the time zone and culture to understand the mystery of languages through the parents' mouth. On our family holiday trips we always pick up some small local words and use these words after understanding the meaning of same from natives. Next element is food, trying out the new local foods, fruits and cuisines help our kid to know about agriculture pattern, weather and geographical conditions. Then it comes to tourist places which includes monuments, historical places, temples, bleaches or any men made miracles, as the type of places are varied learning is also wide...as visiting Ashok vatika in Srilanka helped me to tell him the story of Ramayana, a memorial monument in Bali helped me to tell him the story of wars and while visiting ruins of Hampi I could give him the glimpse of our rich history.
During a visit to a volcano in Bali I had to show him a video on volcano on google and was amazed to see how this experiential learning is doing wonderful job. Then one more talent of this teacher was yet to be reveled and that was a mathematician, yes ….. from money exchange to room numbers to counting floors to remembering the number plates of vehicle all were teaching him a lot. And last but not the least basic civic sense such as following traffic rules in various countries, following do and don’ts of various places as well as following the cleanliness. So this teacher is performing wonderfully and at the end of each Trip I feel satisfied for playing the role of an inter mediator.Slowly in passing years this teacher is becoming more and more knowledgeable and I am happy that I was able to understand the importance of this teacher few years back. But I need to remember only one thing that this teacher can perform only when at least one parent is involved in continuous dialogue with him and that too in a way he likes……..So be ready to be a link between this teacher and your kid/s. So keep smiling ……….Keep learning and Happy Travelling.