Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Five Tips To Successful Children's Education


Being a modern day parent is so much different and more difficult than the past. Don't you agree? While working hard in the day and spending whatever time left with your kid, parents go through so much hardship for one of the most important reasons: to give their children a proper education which would open up avenues of success for them in the future. In a fast paced society where time is of the essence, we tend to assume that children will absorb and understand whatever we throw at them and make sure they learn as much as possible because we believe that it will be beneficial.

It is said that the brain of a child is like a sponge and it'll absorb anything, everything and this is why they tend to ask endless amount of questions and if we want our children to be well mannered and learn the right stuff, must we cater something different just for their curious minds? I believe we do.

I'm not a parent nor a child educator myself but I've been a kid once, well, in fact everyone was a kid once but as we age and mature, we lost touch with our kiddy behavior and mentality because it is not acceptable in the society and when we communicate or teach our young, we often lose our patience resulting in undesirable outcomes. Now, the below 5 tips are what I've observed, read, studied and gathered from child educators and I personally believe that if you teach yourself to have these qualities while educating your young, it will definitely lessen your burden and at the same time bring a whole lot of fun and joy to you and your kids! I understand that you're all grown up and mature now but let's all hear what the younger generation has to say, shall we?

Tip 1 - Always assess the ability of the child before proceeding to teach something new. It is important to understand the learning capabilities of the child (i.e. strengths, needs) before you begin to educate them. As every child is different and possesses different IQ levels, it is essential to find out what their pace of learning is especially for children with intellectual disabilities. Children with such disabilities will take a longer time to learn or pick up new skills as compared to a normal child. Therefore, it is very important to teach the child things that suit their cognitive level.

Tip 2 - Conducive learning areas. To enable a child to learn effectively, a child is best placed in an environment that allows them to fully concentrate on whatever they are supposed to learn. Set up areas for play and learning separately, this is also useful in letting them know that there is a different time for studying and playing.

Tip 3 - Create a safe environment for progressive learning. For instance, you can encourage inquisitiveness and allow them to make mistakes in order to learn. Allowing your children to learn from their mistakes is more effective than spoon-feeding them. Progressive learning also helps in building a solid foundation for the child and not giving too much information at one time which can result in them losing interest.

Tip 4 - Be consistent in setting your expectations. You have to expect that the child is able to learn and each time, set an expectation slightly above the child's ability so as to push them to achieve greater heights. However, this will only be effective by doing it consistently.

Tip 5 - Have care and patience towards the child. You have to be genuine in wanting the child to learn. Teach the child for the sake of his/her learning and not for the sake of teaching. One way will be to care for the child constantly, and this will gradually help you in building a bond with them, thus enable the child to respond effectively and readily to you.

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