Little Feet

Take steps, take actions.
-Talisa Noor-

Monday, December 29, 2014

What My Elementary School Taught Me

Baru-baru ini beredar artikel curhatan di facebook tentang anak umur 6 tahun yang masuk rumah sakit jiwa gara-gara dipaksa les ini itu sama ibunya. Terlepas dari bener enggaknya berita itu, hal itu bisa kita jadikan pelajaran. Waktu saya cari thread itu di kaskus, ternyata malah banyak yang curcol tentang permasalahan serupa yang terjadi pada dirinya atau temannya. Intinya sama, mereka stres, merasa ditekan oleh orang tuanya.

Apa yang salah?
Apakah salah kurikulum kita? Atau orang tua kita?
Entahlah. Mungkin keduanya perlu diperbaiki.

Sepertinya jaman sekarang, seorang anak diikutkan les ini itu sejak kecil menjadi hal yang lumrah. Anak SD juga sekolahnya dari jam 7 pagi sampai jam 2 siang.

Tiba-tiba teringat jaman SD* saya dulu. Kayaknya hidup tuh lebih simpel. Kelas 1, masuk jam 7 atau 8 (aku lupa persisnya hahaha), pulangnya jam 10.

Menurut saya sih, masa SD adalah masa pembentukan kepribadian dan sikap. Jaman saya kelas 1-3 dulu, kebanyakan yang diajarin itu tentang perilaku. "Biasakan antre", "trotoar dalah tempat pejalan kaki", "menyeberang jalan di zebra cross atau jembatan penyeberangan", "jangan bersepeda berjajar bertiga di tengah jalan", "menyetel radio keras-keras bisa mengganggu tetangga", dan sebagainya. Jadi, anak-anak seusia saya tuh bisa tau mana yang baik dan nggak baik dilakukan sebagai bagian dari masyarakat. Hal-hal yang diajarin tuh simpel tapi penting banget untuk kehidupan, sebenernya.

(Anyway, setelah diinget-inget lagi, temen-temen SD saya juga nggak ada tuh yang suka bully atau ngegangguin temennya secara berlebihan. Mungkin karena didikan di sekolah berpengaruh?)

Waktu SD, saya tuh diajarin konsep toleransi, tenggang rasa, saling menghargai, saling menghormati. Saya dikenalkan bahwa agama tuh banyak, dan kita harus hidup rukun, makanya diperlukan toleransi. Terhadap orang lain juga kita perlu menghargainya, meskipun pendapatnya berbeda dengan kita, karena setiap orang memiliki hak bersuara yang sama (tuh ada di UUD 1945 juga). Simpel kan, tapi nempel banget. Sampe gede juga saya tuh lebih bisa menghargai dan menerima pendapat orang lain meskipun berbeda dengan saya. Kalo ga gitu, bisa stres, bahkan bisa berantem melulu kalo ketemu orang yang berbeda gaya komunikasi dan pendapatnya.

Pelajaran kayak PPKN (pendidikan pancasila dan kewarganegaraan), agama, dan bahasa Indonesia tuh dulu kelihatannya nggak penting, tapi setelah saya gede gini, baru saya rasakan manfaatnya.
(Saya tuh heran ya sama anggota dewan yang kalo rapat tuh gontok-gontokan. Masa perilakunya kalah sama anak SD. :| )

Anyway, balik lagi ke topik awal. My point is, anak kecil mah ga usah dipaksa jago matematika dan semua hal. Yang penting justru pembentukan perilaku. Di jepang, anak kecil diajarinnya tuh main, menggambar, tamasya, melihat museum. Mereka juga diajarin antre dan beli tiket kereta sendiri. Simpel, tapi sesuai dengan kapasitas dan kebutuhan mereka. Jangan berikan mereka beban yang terlalu berat.

Kalau sejak TK mereka mau belajar matematika ya hayuk diajarkan, tapi jangan ditekan. Saya memang belum punya anak sih, tapi banyak cerita dan pengalaman orang lain yang bisa dijadikan pelajaran. Yang saya tau, anak itu cuma titipan dari Allah. Orang tua berkewajiban memeliharanya, tetapi nggak bisa terus-terusan mengatur dan memaksakan kehendak.

Oh ya, jadi inget, temen saya pernah cerita kalo di SD sekarang, guru tuh ga mau menegur murid meskipun dia nakal, karena takut orang tuanya menuntut. Menurut saya sih, kalo soal perilaku, anak kecil itu justru tetap perlu diberi ketegasan. Bukan dengan membentak, tapi harus dibilangin kalo perilakunya tidak baik. Gitu sih menurut saya, hehehe, mungkin ada pendapat yang berbeda? :)


*Saya dulu sekolah di SDN Kertajaya XIII Surabaya (ngetop dipanggil SDN Pucang Jajar II waktu itu). Sekolahnya emang terkenal bagus. Guru-gurunya juga oke banget. Dulu sih. Gatau sekarang gimana. Wali kelas favoritku dulu tuh sekarang udah dipindah ke sekolah lain. Kalo ga salah, sekarang sistemnya emang rolling guru gitu.*


Monday, November 24, 2014

Rambling Thoughts 3

I guess everyone has their own ups and downs. Seeing my old posts in 2011 reminds me of how positive and spiritful I was. Well, not that I change much, but I should admit that something has changed. I think I somehow lost a little bit of my naive thoughts. The world for me now is darker and more bitter. I don't know since when I have this thought. But I guess I know why.

Maybe I just put too much expectation and not prepared myself for the worse. I thought I did prepare, but I repeatedly feel disappointed. I thought I could fulfill my standard, yet I have to accept that people, and myself, have limitation. I thought other reasonable people will have the same thought as me, but I was wrong.

Or maybe, back then in 2011, I just haven't seen the world wide enough. When some people were in a difficult situation, I thought it was not that hard to solve... Yet, my thought changed until I experienced it myself.

However, even though this accumulative experiences is not sweet, I'm happy to experience it. It opens my eyes wider and helps me get a more comprehensive view of life. (Even though it's still far from "comprehensive", hehe.) Hopefully, I could learn to become a more understanding and wiser person. :)


Saturday, March 29, 2014

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz


image from here

So, I've finished reading another book. It's a classic from Lyman Frank Baum, whose story about Dorothy and the magic land of Oz has been familiar to us, well at least to me, since we are still kids.

I read this book because I feel curious (and forgetful) about its details. The curiosity started last year when I watch Oz: The Great and Powerful -which is the prequel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- in cinema (James Franco looked really fine in the movie, by the way *wink*) and I tried to remember, how did the story of Dorothy go? What was the original story of Dorothy's adventure in the land of Oz?

Then, I managed to download the *free* e-book from feedbooks and read it during my spare time - while waiting in the line on my dentist, sitting in a bus, and spending my lazy days on weekend.

The story is cute, in a way that you can somehow see from the perspective of an innocent child about the extremely unrealistic -or, should I say fantastic? considering that it is the adjective of fantasy?- tale. The story is also very simple and easy to enjoy. Though, it has several depressing scenes, like the one that Mr. Tin Woodman, one of its character, had in his past times when he was still human and slowly changed into tin.

And, actually I wonder why Oz, the Great Wizard, gave Mr. Straw Scarecrow a brain made of pins and needles? I mean, why should it be made of pins and needles? They were so messy and it fell off easily. Why not making it from materials that can stick and stay together, like cotton and cloth mixed with glue?

Anyway, love this book. Gonna read the sequel soon. :)

Friday, March 28, 2014

Found These Old Notes


The time when I started to wear hijab was one of the most tough time in my life so far. It took courage and determination to continue wearing it, inspite of some negative comments which came from my family.

However, I guess, that's the best time of my life too. I'm happy I have to fight for what I really want. Because, the doubts took me to question myself, and made my determination stronger as my answer got firmer.

Faith. That's one of the thing I never expected that I'd enjoy it as much as now. Alhamdulillah.

 Hehe. Do I sound too cocky?

 

Little supporting notes from my friends back then

33 Pesan Nabi (Vol.3)

I've successfully read this book in tears...

image from here


The stories are just so touchy. Highly recommended. :')

Friday, March 7, 2014

Taking a break between the deadlines

And now... I'm dealing with new challenges, from my work place. This job starts killing me slowly. Heheheh. I mean, well, yes it's true that the tasks are getting more challenging with narrow deadlines and the massive amount of work that should be done. Yes it's true that there are still many things that should be improved from my office management, especially in the job distribution.

But well. For now, I just have to take all the pills. On the other side, I know I can do it. This is an opportunity for me to learn and to leap. Bismillah. :)

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

The Arabian Nights

Image from here

I just finished reading one of the popular classics: The Arabian Nights. Or, some of us might know it as One Thousand and One Nights (Kisah Seribu Satu Malam). It is a book telling 1001 stories in West and South Asia.

Overall, I think this book is quite interesting because it has a unique prologue. So, the story started with a sultan whose heart was so broken that every evening he married a girl and killed them the next day. One day, a girl named Scheherazade volunteered to marry him, and believed that she knew how to end this evil act. The next morning after their wedding, Scheherazade begged the sultan to let her tell a story, to muse her little sister before she died. Aaaand, it continued. A story after another. She told a story every morning, and let the story unfinished so she could tell the rest of the story tomorrow, and so the sultan spared her life one more day. It continued after 1001 stories (Hm,actually I didn't really count it heheh. Is it really 1001?).

The stories themselves are, in my opinion, exotic, in a way that they explored the culture of India, Persia, Arab, etc, and magical, since they often included some magic in the story, like the talking bird or witches or monsters. I think this is amusing. ;)