Saturday, November 22, 2008
My Story at National Musuem of Singapore - 21st Nov 2008
Dear Parents, Here are some photos we have taken during the HandsonLearning Workshop, "My Story" at the National Museum of Singapore. For more information on the workshop, please visit us at http://www.handsonlearning.com.sg/ or email us at info@handsonlearning.com.sg.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Practical Tips for Positive and Joyful Learning (Part II)
During our previous issue, we talked about how to create a positive learning environment. Today, we will share with you some tips on how to encourage your child to enjoy learning and become a lifelong learner.
Ten Tips for Encouraging Joyful Learning
Parents can make learning into a truly joyful experience. By injecting some creativity and thoughtfulness into your child’s learning experience outside the classroom, you can develop your child into a self-motivated and engaged learner.
a) Making your child’s study more inviting: Adding more colourful murals, changing colour of the lightings, putting comfortable chairs and hanging colourful curtains could transform a sterile study room into an inviting space to learn and study.
b) Finding pleasure in learning: Once you have redecorated your child’s study, you should learn more about his/her interests. Your involvement and efforts to tailor his/her learning to these interests could motivate an entirely different kind of learning, where motivation comes from within and no outside force or coercion is required. For instance, if your son loves cars, think about how to weave cars into his learning process. One way is to use the speed of his favourite car and your family car to teach him mathematic concepts of speed, distance and time.
c) Creating things: Children like to make things – By allowing them control over their work and creating something original using their minds and hands, they achieve a tremendous sense of pride and achievement. It also empowers and encourages the child. For instance, if your child likes drawing and painting, get him/her to paint a picture or make a craft as a gift for family members or friends. To build your child's imagination further, you can encourgae him/her to write a story or poem based on his/her artwork and include them in a gift card. Whether it’s a painting, a model or a powerpoint presentation, you should inspire and encourage your child bring his/her own ideas and creations to life.
d) Showing off good work: When your child has done good work, don’t be shy to ask him/her to share it with your family. If he/she has drawn a beautiful picture, you may want to put it up in the wall in the study room or in the living room. If he/she wrote a touching story, you may want to ask him/her to recite it to your family after dinner.
e) Taking time to experimenting: By keeping students at their desk most of the time, listening to lectures, reading textbooks, filling out assessment books, schools sometimes stifle the grand ideas that are innate in young children. You can help your child re-ignite his/her creativity by allowing him/her experiment with hands-on activities or encouraging him/her to try different methods to solve the same problem. Using different objects or work of arts to explore different perspectives will also help your child expand his/her learning capacity and willingness to experiment. During this school holiday, try surfing the web and look for simple experiments to conduct together (one good idea will be to build a solar-powered microwave oven).
f) Letting your child choose: You can help your child by allowing your child to pursue his/her interests outside classroom. It is possible to promote joy in learning when there is some ownership. Instead of planning what activities he/she should take up, try listening to his/her interests and allow him/her to pursue these interests. Similarly, during holidays, instead of packing him/her off to memory enhancement programmes or more tuition, try letting him/her decide the topic. You can then help shape his/her ideas into purposeful inquiry-based learning. This sense of ownership will not only motivate him/her to learn, but also help nurture his/her curiosity and find joy in learning.
g) Reading good books: Everyone loves a good story - by immersing your child in a culture of good books, you can surround him/her with joy. Students today already have tons of reading to do from school. You can help your child pick up reading by encouraging him/her to read books just for pleasure, including not so serious genres, such as action-adventure books, fantasy, or even non-fiction on topics he/she loves.
h) Going outside: Students today spend an inordinate amount of time in school, tuition centres or enrichment programmes. Sometimes, your child may need to take a break and take in some fresh air. During weekends, instead of packing your child off to his/her tuition classes, take a field trip and bring him/her outdoors. The botanical garden is a good place to get close to nature and at the same time, learn about science and biology. For younger children, Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is a good place to visit. For older children, it is not inconceivable to let them plan a weekend trip out for the family, allowing them to learn about responsibility at the same time.
i) Offering different activities outside the classroom: Professor Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences has illuminated parents and educators on the uniqueness of each child and the need to provide opportunities to use their varied strengths and interests. Unfortunately, in our efforts to improve test scores and to get into good schools, we tend to de-emphasis non-academic activities, such as physical education and humanities. If your child has a special affinity for visual arts, music, theater or sports, remember to leave some time for him/her to participate in these activities and let him/her experience some joy.
j) Having fun together: Being a parent is a tough job, but if you can create a joyful learning environment for your child, you can also experience the joy in teaching them and learning with them. You can also create a stronger bond by having fun learning together.
By Ms Angeline Tong and Ms Brenda Yeow
Ten Tips for Encouraging Joyful Learning
Parents can make learning into a truly joyful experience. By injecting some creativity and thoughtfulness into your child’s learning experience outside the classroom, you can develop your child into a self-motivated and engaged learner.
a) Making your child’s study more inviting: Adding more colourful murals, changing colour of the lightings, putting comfortable chairs and hanging colourful curtains could transform a sterile study room into an inviting space to learn and study.
b) Finding pleasure in learning: Once you have redecorated your child’s study, you should learn more about his/her interests. Your involvement and efforts to tailor his/her learning to these interests could motivate an entirely different kind of learning, where motivation comes from within and no outside force or coercion is required. For instance, if your son loves cars, think about how to weave cars into his learning process. One way is to use the speed of his favourite car and your family car to teach him mathematic concepts of speed, distance and time.
c) Creating things: Children like to make things – By allowing them control over their work and creating something original using their minds and hands, they achieve a tremendous sense of pride and achievement. It also empowers and encourages the child. For instance, if your child likes drawing and painting, get him/her to paint a picture or make a craft as a gift for family members or friends. To build your child's imagination further, you can encourgae him/her to write a story or poem based on his/her artwork and include them in a gift card. Whether it’s a painting, a model or a powerpoint presentation, you should inspire and encourage your child bring his/her own ideas and creations to life.
d) Showing off good work: When your child has done good work, don’t be shy to ask him/her to share it with your family. If he/she has drawn a beautiful picture, you may want to put it up in the wall in the study room or in the living room. If he/she wrote a touching story, you may want to ask him/her to recite it to your family after dinner.
e) Taking time to experimenting: By keeping students at their desk most of the time, listening to lectures, reading textbooks, filling out assessment books, schools sometimes stifle the grand ideas that are innate in young children. You can help your child re-ignite his/her creativity by allowing him/her experiment with hands-on activities or encouraging him/her to try different methods to solve the same problem. Using different objects or work of arts to explore different perspectives will also help your child expand his/her learning capacity and willingness to experiment. During this school holiday, try surfing the web and look for simple experiments to conduct together (one good idea will be to build a solar-powered microwave oven).
f) Letting your child choose: You can help your child by allowing your child to pursue his/her interests outside classroom. It is possible to promote joy in learning when there is some ownership. Instead of planning what activities he/she should take up, try listening to his/her interests and allow him/her to pursue these interests. Similarly, during holidays, instead of packing him/her off to memory enhancement programmes or more tuition, try letting him/her decide the topic. You can then help shape his/her ideas into purposeful inquiry-based learning. This sense of ownership will not only motivate him/her to learn, but also help nurture his/her curiosity and find joy in learning.
g) Reading good books: Everyone loves a good story - by immersing your child in a culture of good books, you can surround him/her with joy. Students today already have tons of reading to do from school. You can help your child pick up reading by encouraging him/her to read books just for pleasure, including not so serious genres, such as action-adventure books, fantasy, or even non-fiction on topics he/she loves.
h) Going outside: Students today spend an inordinate amount of time in school, tuition centres or enrichment programmes. Sometimes, your child may need to take a break and take in some fresh air. During weekends, instead of packing your child off to his/her tuition classes, take a field trip and bring him/her outdoors. The botanical garden is a good place to get close to nature and at the same time, learn about science and biology. For younger children, Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden is a good place to visit. For older children, it is not inconceivable to let them plan a weekend trip out for the family, allowing them to learn about responsibility at the same time.
i) Offering different activities outside the classroom: Professor Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences has illuminated parents and educators on the uniqueness of each child and the need to provide opportunities to use their varied strengths and interests. Unfortunately, in our efforts to improve test scores and to get into good schools, we tend to de-emphasis non-academic activities, such as physical education and humanities. If your child has a special affinity for visual arts, music, theater or sports, remember to leave some time for him/her to participate in these activities and let him/her experience some joy.
j) Having fun together: Being a parent is a tough job, but if you can create a joyful learning environment for your child, you can also experience the joy in teaching them and learning with them. You can also create a stronger bond by having fun learning together.
By Ms Angeline Tong and Ms Brenda Yeow
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