Parents day: Toddlers take their parents on a magic carpet ride
Children perform various activities on an Arabian Nights-themed parents day.
ISLAMABAD:
Bright-eyed little thieves, princesses, fortune-tellers and genies scanned the audience to locate their smiling parents during their performance of “Aladdin and the magic lamp” at Beaconhouse School’s Annual Parents Day on Thursday.
First and second graders enchanted parents by putting on an impressive show on the first day of the two-day event at the school’s F-7/4 Kindergarten Branch. Poetry recitals, classical songs, belly-dances, mini Urdu and English play performances and Taekwondo moves helped to sweep the audience away on a magic carpet ride, to the tune of the event’s Arabian Nights theme.
A queue of pink-ribboned young girls practiced their belly-dancing moves backstage with their dance teacher, Saima Khushnood who said that because “most people have a negative perception of the dance, there is a need to change this image”.
She added that dance teaches young girls grace and flexibility and is a means of artistic expression. Her young students, clad in pink Arabian costumes conquered the stage with poise and grace, delicately swaying to the Arabian-themed music.
Renowned linguist and former head of the French Language Department at the National University of Modern Languages, Dr Bushra Sadiq, served as the event’s chief guest. She commended the efforts of the teachers, students and parents in putting together the show of talent, hard work and discipline.
“We are teachers and parents at the same time,” she stressed, saying that the learning process does not stop in school. According to Dr Sadiq, the first five years are most crucial and formative in a child’s development.
“We should teach our children to be independent thinkers,” she urged, adding that religious, cultural and linguistic values must be inculcated in children to encourage them to “observe, learn and discover”, while understanding that each child is unique.
Towards the end of the show, the young participants were recognised for their academic and artistic brilliance in a prize distribution ceremony.
When asked why they were lined in the back, the children proudly stated, “We are all prize winners.” What these prizes were however, the children did not know.
“I really hope it’s a toy,” one of the boys exclaimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2012.
Bright-eyed little thieves, princesses, fortune-tellers and genies scanned the audience to locate their smiling parents during their performance of “Aladdin and the magic lamp” at Beaconhouse School’s Annual Parents Day on Thursday.
First and second graders enchanted parents by putting on an impressive show on the first day of the two-day event at the school’s F-7/4 Kindergarten Branch. Poetry recitals, classical songs, belly-dances, mini Urdu and English play performances and Taekwondo moves helped to sweep the audience away on a magic carpet ride, to the tune of the event’s Arabian Nights theme.
A queue of pink-ribboned young girls practiced their belly-dancing moves backstage with their dance teacher, Saima Khushnood who said that because “most people have a negative perception of the dance, there is a need to change this image”.
She added that dance teaches young girls grace and flexibility and is a means of artistic expression. Her young students, clad in pink Arabian costumes conquered the stage with poise and grace, delicately swaying to the Arabian-themed music.
Renowned linguist and former head of the French Language Department at the National University of Modern Languages, Dr Bushra Sadiq, served as the event’s chief guest. She commended the efforts of the teachers, students and parents in putting together the show of talent, hard work and discipline.
“We are teachers and parents at the same time,” she stressed, saying that the learning process does not stop in school. According to Dr Sadiq, the first five years are most crucial and formative in a child’s development.
“We should teach our children to be independent thinkers,” she urged, adding that religious, cultural and linguistic values must be inculcated in children to encourage them to “observe, learn and discover”, while understanding that each child is unique.
Towards the end of the show, the young participants were recognised for their academic and artistic brilliance in a prize distribution ceremony.
When asked why they were lined in the back, the children proudly stated, “We are all prize winners.” What these prizes were however, the children did not know.
“I really hope it’s a toy,” one of the boys exclaimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2012.