Early curiosity can boost maths, reading skills in young kids
New York, April 27: Let your child be curious for learning new things as it may help him or her to grasp basic math and improve reading skills from an early age, a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher suggests.
Curiosity in young children was defined as a trait for the joy of discovery, and the motivation to seek answers to the unknown.
But, the current early learning interventions just focus on improving a child's effortful control which includes their ability to concentrate or control impulses, the researchers rued.
The findings, published in the journal Pediatric Research, suggest that even if a child manifests low effort control, high curiosity can lead to higher academic achievement.
This is why children who have developed a wide range of socio-emotional skills such as invention, imagination, persistence, attentiveness to tasks, as well as the ability to form relationships and manage feelings, are generally more successful when they start school, the researchers said.
"Our results suggest that while higher curiosity is associated with higher academic achievement in all children, the association of curiosity with academic achievement is greater in children with low-socioeconomic status," said lead author Prachi Shah, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
For children from poorer communities, curiosity is even more important for higher academic achievement, because it can help them close the achievement gap associated with poverty, the researchers added.
For the study, the reading and math skills and behaviour of 6,200 children in kindergarten were measured.
Their parents were interviewed during home visits and the children were assessed when they were nine-months and two-years-old, and again when they entered pre-school and kindergarten.
"Our results suggest that after controlling for other factors associated with higher achievement, curiosity continues to make a small but meaningful contribution to academic achievement," Shah explained.
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Allahabad HC orders police protection to married couple apprehending 'honour killing'
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has granted protection to a married couple who expressed fear that they may be killed by the woman's family.
The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena on March 25.
"No individual can make an 'honour issue' out of a consenting adult marrying a person of their own choice. It is the state's duty to protect the life, limb, and property of such persons even against their own family members," the bench said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Prachi Agrawal and her partner, who sought relief in connection with an FIR filed under Section 87 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for kidnapping, and abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage.
The couple submitted that they married at an Arya Samaj temple and possessed a marriage registration certificate issued under the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rules, 2017.
The petitioners alleged that the woman's family members were averse to their marriage and lodged a bogus FIR against them.
The couple further submitted a joint affidavit expressing apprehension of an honour killing by the woman's family.
The court said that a prima facie case was made out and issued notice to the private respondent and granted two weeks to file a counter-affidavit.
Meanwhile, as an interim measure, the court granted the petitioners protection from arrest.
The court also explicitly ordered the woman's family members and relatives not to harm the petitioners, enter their matrimonial home, or establish contact with them directly or through any electronic means.
The bench directed the Aligarh senior superintendent of police to ensure that no harm comes to the couple and posted the matter for hearing on April 8.
