Peace be to all...
I have always been interested in looking for ways to help children learn, especially those who has difficulty in learning. From the beginning of my teaching career...my interest has always been to help children enjoy learning and it saddened me to see some children are neglected because they are "slow" or because they do not learn the "normal" way as a result they loose out in getting high marks because the assessment of students here is mainly through summative assessment as a result even though these students are bright they loose out because they do not have the preffered learning styles.
When we have children, I was determined to help them learn the fun ways. By the time I got my 1st child I had attended various courses on early childhood and knew that the 1st 6 years r the crucial years in child development. I tried various ways of making learning fun for them. So there was always something for them to play with; sand, water, songs, building blocks, toys and lots of books. Yes books are fun play items too!
I was also giving tution at that time but I struggled to teach these children, because the only way that parent's preferred were to help their children finished the assessment books. I included games and activities but parents only believed that we can get better results if their children could do more assessment books. Eventhough the children improved in their results...I stopped giving tution because we were not enjoying ourselves and learning become stagnant and so unmotivating.
By then I had already chanced upon some study skills and was teaching some children voluntarily on the use of mind mapping, mnemonics and fingers multiplications. I still gave tuition at intervals and it usually last from 6 months to a year. During that time I will train the children to be independent learner and taught them whatever study skills I could. I usually quit because of other commitments but at the back of my mind I knew I was not enjoying myself. There was some form of satisfaction, when I saw them improved but that was not enough.
As my children grew up I make sure they had the skills needed when they started primary school. The struggles were mainly due to time management and my attitude towards making them independent from young. I had high expectations on wanting them to be independent in their studies. Tuition was not an option... both of us taught them when they had problems. At times we lost our temper because we set high expectation. We learned and lowered it down. As more children came, we matured and set appropriate expectations.
Eventhough we did not spend on tution, we did send them for study skills workshops. I knew some, but it was different when a paid trainer and a class of peers learned together. They enjoyed the sessions and benefitted from it. When frens asked, I could not give much feedback because honestly out of the 3 girls only one of them truly benefitted from it and used the skills taught. Parents were not allowed to attend it and I was not very sure how to help them. Thus, I was quiet reluctant to recommend to other parents because it was costly and secondly, they told the children not to share with others what they learned - that include parents! As a result, they forgotten what they had learned if they don't use one of the skill.
Until one day, I sat for the seminar by Learning Discoveries, I found what I wanted to share with other parents. Finally an institution who are willing to share with all the benefits of giving your children the right tools to make learning easier for them regardless of their learning styles. Not only was the price of the workshops reasonable, parents of primary school children are allowed to sit-in the class and learned the skills along with their children so that they can help their children along. These are the principles that i believe in!
My children had benefitted from applying the right study skills and had successfully been able to do well without tution. I am sure many more of our children will be able to do so. As parents we want what is best for them, thus equiping them with the right tool for learning is very important. Think about it - have we given them the right skill to do well not only in their primary education but a skill that can be use in secondary, post secondary, university and beyond! It's a life time skill that they can even pass it down to the next generation!!
Resources:
How to Study, 6th Edition
SOAR Study Skills
Learning to Learn: Strengthening Study Skills and Brain Power
How to Study and Teaching How to Study
How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less
First posted in http://ssaria.multiply.com/ on Sep 20, '10 7:57 AM
I have always been interested in looking for ways to help children learn, especially those who has difficulty in learning. From the beginning of my teaching career...my interest has always been to help children enjoy learning and it saddened me to see some children are neglected because they are "slow" or because they do not learn the "normal" way as a result they loose out in getting high marks because the assessment of students here is mainly through summative assessment as a result even though these students are bright they loose out because they do not have the preffered learning styles.
When we have children, I was determined to help them learn the fun ways. By the time I got my 1st child I had attended various courses on early childhood and knew that the 1st 6 years r the crucial years in child development. I tried various ways of making learning fun for them. So there was always something for them to play with; sand, water, songs, building blocks, toys and lots of books. Yes books are fun play items too!
I was also giving tution at that time but I struggled to teach these children, because the only way that parent's preferred were to help their children finished the assessment books. I included games and activities but parents only believed that we can get better results if their children could do more assessment books. Eventhough the children improved in their results...I stopped giving tution because we were not enjoying ourselves and learning become stagnant and so unmotivating.
By then I had already chanced upon some study skills and was teaching some children voluntarily on the use of mind mapping, mnemonics and fingers multiplications. I still gave tuition at intervals and it usually last from 6 months to a year. During that time I will train the children to be independent learner and taught them whatever study skills I could. I usually quit because of other commitments but at the back of my mind I knew I was not enjoying myself. There was some form of satisfaction, when I saw them improved but that was not enough.
As my children grew up I make sure they had the skills needed when they started primary school. The struggles were mainly due to time management and my attitude towards making them independent from young. I had high expectations on wanting them to be independent in their studies. Tuition was not an option... both of us taught them when they had problems. At times we lost our temper because we set high expectation. We learned and lowered it down. As more children came, we matured and set appropriate expectations.
Eventhough we did not spend on tution, we did send them for study skills workshops. I knew some, but it was different when a paid trainer and a class of peers learned together. They enjoyed the sessions and benefitted from it. When frens asked, I could not give much feedback because honestly out of the 3 girls only one of them truly benefitted from it and used the skills taught. Parents were not allowed to attend it and I was not very sure how to help them. Thus, I was quiet reluctant to recommend to other parents because it was costly and secondly, they told the children not to share with others what they learned - that include parents! As a result, they forgotten what they had learned if they don't use one of the skill.
Until one day, I sat for the seminar by Learning Discoveries, I found what I wanted to share with other parents. Finally an institution who are willing to share with all the benefits of giving your children the right tools to make learning easier for them regardless of their learning styles. Not only was the price of the workshops reasonable, parents of primary school children are allowed to sit-in the class and learned the skills along with their children so that they can help their children along. These are the principles that i believe in!
My children had benefitted from applying the right study skills and had successfully been able to do well without tution. I am sure many more of our children will be able to do so. As parents we want what is best for them, thus equiping them with the right tool for learning is very important. Think about it - have we given them the right skill to do well not only in their primary education but a skill that can be use in secondary, post secondary, university and beyond! It's a life time skill that they can even pass it down to the next generation!!
Resources:
How to Study, 6th Edition
SOAR Study Skills
Learning to Learn: Strengthening Study Skills and Brain Power
How to Study and Teaching How to Study
How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less
First posted in http://ssaria.multiply.com/ on Sep 20, '10 7:57 AM
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