CONCLUSION
As my essay has shown, I continued to grow and to change in amazing ways as I moved from toddlerhood to school-age and then from adolescence to youth and then from youth through middle age to the present age. My readers will be able to see that recalling a favourite childhood places and memories has not been an easy endeavour for a person of my temperament. Through a hazy memory, instances and occurrences were able to come fleeting through my mind like clouds floating across a coloured sky. However when that cloud of memories started raining, I tried to make the best stream to flow to show and tell all.
I could recall many of those happy memories and tried not to leave the sad ones behind. Both have been there; only their shapes differed as clouds too offer up different shapes. My problems lay in the actual choosing of the places and memories that I have called favourite. Many different places and memories came to mind but each one had to be either ruled out or included depending on my mood. Of course, there were always some glitches that appeared and floated across the foggy memories that had not yet been burned away by the hot summer sun.
My early childhood development has been crucial to how I developed to proceed to later part of my life. The reasons for a how I acted, behaved, and thought can be traced back to my childhood circumstances and environment. My parents and grandparents also played a very important role in my development. I was fortunate because they were involved and provided me a nurturing and rich environment which contributed in a positive way to all my later development.
The human brain is most impressionable in the first several years of life. This is why these years were so extremely important for me and impacted on my life even into adulthood. Good eating, sleeping, playing, reading and writing habits and all positive social interactions led me to develop in a proper way. As a teacher I know that the child who is raised under any adverse circumstances could suffer the consequences later on in life such as speech impediments or the inability to socialize in a proper and civilized manner. I was fortunate to grow up in an excellent environment free from all irregularities.
There are times when we just sit back and think about those happy and fruitful childhood reminiscences. It could be the memory about our favourite fruit or the first game of Gillidanda that we played on the dirt road and village playground or the ride on our fathers back while he ploughed the field. As a child, we remember how we used to climb trees and trouble our neighbours. That phase of our life will never come back and all we have are the cheerful childhood memories that we treasure..
However, parents can do many things to ensure that their children’s developmental process is successful such as, developing a positive bond with the child, surrounding the children with positive influences and encouraging family and friends to give tender loving care to all children.
Since children truly are the future of any nation or society it is important that each community recognizes the proper steps that need to be taken in order to ensure each and every child is given the opportunity to develop properly. Early childhood development programs are extremely effective and should strongly be considered by parents. Research has proven that those who attend early childhood development programmes benefit greatly. These children see better results in school, have better social and more stable emotional behaviour and develop stronger relationships with their parents, to name a few.
Overall, early childhood development is an extremely important issue which needs to gain recognition. Every parent needs to understand and be aware of how crucial is the first several years of their child's life. They should not hesitate to research or ask for help on this topic if need be. If there are any parents needing assistance in this area of development I as the former curriculum development and assessment personnel and human resource consultant am willing and ready to provide free consultancy to interested parents.
My age is supposed to be the age of maturity, wisdom, knowledge and a sense of achievement but I leave that decision on my readers after they have read the presentation. I am not as innocent as a young child and not as exuberant as a young man but I am at peace with myself after completing this Shadows of Childhood. My mind has not gone after material pursuits and that is why all my publications are online for the readers to enjoy. By publishing my ideas I try to become more religious, tolerant and even withdrawn from mundane affairs.
The biggest disadvantage of old age is that it brings physical weakness, disabilities and a number of diseases. Sometimes it becomes difficult to cope with them but I have kept myself occupied through my creativity and expressions. Had it not been for all these writing, composing and discussing activities, I may have felt lonely, ignored and isolated but I was glad to have the support of my family, friends and colleagues who kept encouraging me to remain engrossed in my pursuits.
My age is the time when people tend to get closer to God and spend more time in meditation and worship. I too have woken up with this realization and try to spend some of my time in conducting prayers and listening to prayer and similar songs to keep me soul and heart attain peace and calm. I am now satisfied that I have completed all my goals and am enjoying whatever is left of this life.