Pausetive Model In Action → Teachers of Pre-adolescent Children
Children of ages 3-12 years beam with exploration and innocence. Our model helps teachers put themselves in their
shoes and see them as they are: young human beings with rich emotional, social and motivational needs.
Understanding Their World
We often meet teachers who notice something deeper than what’s visible in report cards.
In early childhood, development doesn’t follow a clock. And development does not happen only on academic domain. It happens also of sensorial skills, fine motor skills and gross motor skills.
And often academic development lags because some other development is behind. Here is a case of lagging fine motor development.
A Story from the Mind Gym
We met Rachna, a kindergarten teacher in a semi-urban school, during one of our sessions. One of her students, Parth, was bright and curious—but struggled to write.
At 5½ years, he still found it difficult to hold a pencil for more than a few minutes. While his classmates were writing letters and drawing shapes, Parth would scribble, then give up.
His parents were anxious. They feared he was ‘falling behind.’ They began pressuring him at home, forcing extra worksheets. But nothing worked.
Rachna, too, initially felt concerned—until she decided to slow down and look deeper.
We invited Rachna to pause—not the lesson plans, but the assumptions. She began observing Parth’s daily movements—not just writing.
She noticed he struggled with tasks involving fine finger control. He avoided threading beads. He dropped crayons more often than others.
She realized it wasn’t about writing. It was about underdeveloped fine motor strength—which many urban kids share, due to less physical play at home. On the other hand, rural kids develop fine motor skills well because they play with mud and marbles.
This understanding gave her clarity. She didn’t need to push harder—she needed to support better.
Step 2: Identifying the Mind Muscles
Three mind muscles became relevant—hers and the child’s.
Emotional Muscle: Rachna had to manage the anxiety of expectations of parents so that their reset expectations help Parth to take his own time and space.
Cognitive Muscle: Parth’s fine motor skills needed playful strengthening, not pressure, so she involved parents in helping Parth. This further made them feel that they are involved in the growth of child.
Motivational Muscle: Unable to make choice of anxiety, child stops choosing to write. This does not give him the necessary practice. Child falls in the vicious loop.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
Rather than adding drills, Rachna changed the approach—starting with a conversation.
She also held a meeting with Parth’s parents. Instead of blaming or rushing, she explained the science behind fine motor development. She reassured them: “He’s not behind—he’s just growing at his pace.”
Rachna told her parents to introduce playful motor activities at home—clay shaping, buttoning shirts, grain pouring of fine grains, pouring water from a jug to glass.
This shift helped release the pressure and brought play back into Parth’s world.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
Over the next two months, small changes appeared. Parth’s grip improved. He began drawing full shapes. Writing became less tiring.
More importantly, his confidence returned. The fear of being “less than” faded. He smiled more, tried more, and gave his best.
And there was another shift: the parents changed too. They stopped pushing and started playing. They started helping, instead of interfering.
Rachna, too, changed. She started utilising other parents too. She understood that if parents participated, they can become active partners in their child’s growth, instead of passive onlookers.
From Pressure to Playful Progress
Here’s how Parth’s experience changed:
When we met him…
Now, he shows…
Struggling to write, giving up quickly
Writing slowly with joy and patience
Parents pressuring with worksheets
Parents engaging with playful motor tasks
Parent instruction
Parent participation into child’s development pace
Child feeling ‘behind’
Child feeling seen and supported
Understanding Their World
In our work with teachers, we often find that it’s not lack of ability, but misdirected emotion that stalls a child’s progress.
Children’s academic performance doesn’t depend on ability alone. It’s shaped by emotional development too. Emotional brain is developed at a very young age. So child uses emotions unknowingly. But often adults unknowingly ‘hamper’ the emotional development by asserting that “jealousy is bad,” or “One should not cry.”
Often the biggest bottleneck of learning is not academic understanding—it’s a misuse of emotional development. Here is one case.
A Story from the Mind Gym
We met Ajay through his teacher, Ms. Anita, during a discussion on peer dynamics in classrooms.
Ajay was 8 years old. He loved group work and enjoyed solving puzzles. His best friend, Samay, was especially good at arithmetic.
Recently, Samay had topped the class in a math test. Everyone clapped. Ajay smiled too—but something had changed.
Over the next few days, Ajay avoided Samay. He stopped sitting next to him, stopped asking him doubts, and even worked alone during math sessions.
Ms. Anita noticed this subtle shift—and sensed that something emotional was getting in the way.
Ms. Anita didn’t jump in with solutions. She first paused to observe. During recess, Ajay seemed withdrawn. During group activities, he avoided eye contact with Samay.
So she gently asked Ajay what was bothering him. It took time, but eventually, he said, “Samay is good at everything. I feel ashamed.”
Ajay wasn’t angry at Samay. He was sad. And ashamed of his sadness.
He was suppressing his jealousy—and it was holding back his learning.
Step 2: Identifying the Mind Muscles
Two mind muscles became visible.
Emotional Muscle: Ajay needed to process jealousy, not hide it. Suppressed emotions distort perception.
Social Muscle: He needed to see friends as resources, not rivals. Academic strength grows in safe peer connections.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
Ms. Anita helped Ajay name his feelings: “It’s okay to feel a little jealous. It means you care about being good too.”
Jealousy can help a child compare and learn from peers. But when not acknowledged, it turns into quiet isolation. And that can silently derail a child’s growth.
They talked about how everyone has different strengths. For instance, she pointed that Ajay had got more marks than Samay in English, although Ajay was not a topper in the class.
Slowly, Ajay resumed conversations with Samay. Ms. Anita also began celebrating collaboration—not just individual success—to restore emotional safety.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
Ajay’s arithmetic improved—not just because he studied more, but because he sought help again.
His friendship with Samay deepened. His shame reduced. And his performance rose naturally.
And Ms. Anita saw it clearly: real academic growth follows emotional clarity. When children are supported in feeling their feelings, they unlock their potential.
From Suppression to Expression
Here’s how Ajay’s experience changed:
When we met him…
Now, he shows…
Avoiding a friend due to comparison
Rebuilding friendship by honest comparison
Withdrawing from group learning
Actively asking for help from peers
Suppressing emotions, feeling ‘less’
Processing emotions and using them as motivation
Teacher worried about isolation
Teacher seeing growth through emotional openness
Understanding Their World
We’ve seen it happen many times—young children start off full of wonder, and somewhere along the way, they fall quiet.
Curiosity is natural in young children. They wonder about stars, rivers, machines, and animals—and ask questions endlessly. But somewhere along the way, especially in conventional school systems, that flame begins to fade.
Often, it’s not deliberate. Rhetorical questions like “Who made the earth?” are dismissed. Honest ones are deferred. Children slowly learn that questions are inconvenient—and they stop asking.
But without questions, there’s no real learning. Only memorization. One teacher decided to change that.
A Story from the Mind Gym
This story came to us from Suman, a teacher who moved from teaching Class 1 to Class 4 and noticed something unsettling.
When Suman was transferred from Class 1 to Class 4, she expected older children to be more curious.
Instead, she found silence.
The children listened and followed instructions—but asked almost no questions. Not even the usual “why” or “how.” Concerned, she asked herself, “Where did their wonder go?”
Looking for inspiration, she reached out to a Montessori educator who introduced her to the idea of the ‘Five Great Stories’—imaginative narratives that nurture curiosity.
Suman decided to wear the Montessori lens. She paused her usual teaching and began listening closely—noticing the subtle, almost whispered questions children asked.
One child asked, “Why do we write 2 like 2?” Another, “Why are some animals born in eggs and others in stomachs?” In geography: “Why are some mountains taller than others?”
She saw that the curiosity hadn’t disappeared. It had just gone quiet.
Step 2: Identifying the Mind Muscles
Two mind muscles stood out:
Cognitive Muscle: The children’s curiosity hadn’t vanished—it had simply gone unnoticed. Their questions were specific, not generic.
Emotional Muscle: Their curiosity was emotional, not academic. Their questions came from inner wonder, not textbooks.
Step 3: Developing the Right Skills
Suman realized that standard subjects like history and geography were too abstract for a child of this age. What the children needed was story—because stories speak to emotions.
So she began telling short 5–7-minute stories, complete with names, photos, and visuals.
She told the story of numbers—how different cultures wrote “2” in different ways.
She turned rivers and mountains into characters in geography.
She made languages come alive—why people in Gujarat speak Gujarati, and in Tamil Nadu, Tamil.
She rewrote history as narrative. She retaught geography as journey. And something started shifting. Questions came back. Wonder came alive.
Step 4: Reflect and Iterate
Within three months, the classroom had transformed.
Children stayed back after class with new questions. They explored maps and ideas with renewed eyes. Discussions grew livelier. Curiosity wasn’t dormant anymore—it was alive and joyful.
Suman learned a powerful lesson: it’s not full-answers that spark curiosity—but half-answers that fuel deeper exploration.
From Zero Curiosity to Igniting Curiosity
Here’s how the classroom changed:
When we met them…
Now, they show…
Giving correct answers of questions
Giving half answers that will raise more questions
