What can a parent do at home to inspire the desire to learn and awaken that passion for knowledge?
Take a positive attitude about education. Does it sound simple? It does, in fact, sound incredibly simple but it seems to be the one thing that those exceptional teachers have in common. They have an amazing attitude about learning – their students’ learning and their own.
Here are some tips to get you inspired:
“The learning process has to be a fun and meaningful process for the child,” quotes psychologist Ms Miranda Mulyana*. “For example, parents or teachers can utilise visual aids such as pictures, demonstrations, and diagrams in demonstrating a new concept or idea. This holds true for practice work and review also. Drilling isn’t the only way to review lessons.”
Be a learning role model. Be excited to learn new things. Be interested in the information your children are accumulating. Talk about events and activities. Let the children teach you something new as well. You’ll be amazed at the curriculum in schools these days; it can be very fascinating. While you are at it, learn something new yourself. You could share study time and talk about the struggles and achievements with your young ones.
Pay attention to your child’s interests. Ms Mulyana* offers this encouragement, “Outside of academic work, also encourage the child to pursue his/her interests and cultivate his/her strengths so that he/she can continue to build up on his/her strengths and self-confidence.”
Find out how your child learns. Different children learn using different methods. Some learn visually through seeing and making pictures. Others are more tactile – they learn more through touch like building blocks and working with clay. Many learn from what they hear, which is auditory learning. Take time to see what works best with your child. Each person learns differently. They can be different from their siblings and even from you.
Schedule a regular reading time together. Reading out loud together will encourage even unwilling readers to start. For older readers, this allows them time to concentrate on sentence structure and the vocabulary. It is a great way to get information in as well as spend valuable time together.
Make learning part of your child's everyday experience, especially when it comes out of your child's natural questions. When you cook together, do measuring math. Talk about the weather and how it works. Mention some current issues in the newspaper and ask them questions about their thoughts. “Use higher-level questioning techniques. Ask questions that are open-minded and stimulate critical thinking and discussion,” suggests Ms Mulyana. “Also encourage the child to ask questions about things in his environment and common everyday practices, and answer his/her questions honestly and openly.”
Help your child take charge of his learning. The desired goal is for the child to be responsible for his or her own successes and failures. He must feel proud of the successes, with the motivation being the intrinsic interest in learning and not an external reward. Ms Miranda Mulyana adds, “Use as much affirmation and praise as possible for the child’s academic and non-academic achievements, so as to continue to build upon and maintain the child’s confidence level.”
Downtime is important too. While we all want to supplement school with outside activities, be cautious about how much you urge your child to do. Relaxation and thinking time is also important.
Moderate the viewing of TV. TV does not allow a child to develop their own thoughts and interests as information is being dictated to them. Playing with toys, reading books, doing craft and talking with friends are different. It allows for individual thought; it helps them to develop interests and skills.
*Ms Miranda Mulyana is a psychologist at Mount Elizabeth-Charter Behavioural Health Services, Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
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