Talk with Shweta at the Hippocampus Library:

• Shweta is the parent of two children one boy aged 6 and a girl aged 9. She is a full time mother.
• She came to the Hippocampus Library to read a book with her child.
• Her kids study in a nearby school in Koramangala. Her daughter had earlier been studying at the Valley School. She had been happy there. Shweta was pleased with the system of education there and had been especially happy with the long art classes they had where the children were allowed to paint and draw freely without fear of judgment.
• In their free time her kids like to play sports, take classes and do homework. They also play pretend games and often invent their own games. They usually always play together and she attributes this to the fact that they live in a joint family.
• Shweta does not allow her kids to watch TV on weekends. She prefers it f they play on their own be it sports, playing pretend games or drawing. She has enrolled her children in classes like swimming and tennis to keep them occupied.
• She claims that both her children, especially her daughter loves to draw. One thing that baffles Shweta however is the fact that her children usually draw the same thing over and over again, they have fixed subjects (like airplanes and cars for the boy) and they tend to repeat them over and over again.
• Shweta says she lets her children be completely free when they are drawing. She does not offer her judgment or any guidance by telling them what to draw.
• One thing Shweta laments is that her children do not enjoy reading. She has stocked up her house with many books, many of which she used to read as a child but her children rarely ever pick up a book unless they are forced to. Her motivation for buying books for her children is not so much the content of the books as it is getting them into the good habit of reading, which will improve their skills.
• Shweta is quite picky about the books she buys. She feels that the language should be appropriate and the spellings and grammar correct. She does not like to buy books with American spellings.