Schools moving online has worked very well for some families but unfortunately it has not been so good for others therefore many families are considering how they can put a supported learning framework in place over the summer so children can consolidate their learning from the previous term, limit learning loss whilst away from academia, and ensure the foundations are laid for the best foot forward in the new academic year. Our Director of Studies, Clare Preston, and Head of Operations, James Alexander, offer their thoughts on this topic and their top tips for supported learning at home.
If you would like more information on this topic, please watch our Webinar on Supported Learning at https://www.carfax-education.ae/webinars.
1. Know your Child’s Individual Learning Style
What is the secret to the success of tuition at Carfax? Among other factors, we tailor learning to the students individual learning style. Everyone learns differently and when you can identify what your child will respond best to, you can tap into their full potential. Is your child a kinesthetic learner? Or maybe more of a visual or auditory learner? If you are unsure, observe their natural tendencies or complete one of the easy quizzes online, such as https://www.scholastic.com/parents/family-life/parent-child/quiz-whats-your-childs-learning-style.html
2. The Four Pillars of learning
According to “How We Learn: The New Science of Education and the Brain”, there are four Pillars of Learning, all of which are crucial to optimize supported learning at school and at home:
Attention - Keep distractions to a minimum and offering regular breaks can really help to amplify your child's learning.
Active Engagement - Sparks curiosity and this encourages our brain to constantly test new hypotheses. Try practical activities and putting information into a real-life context and discussing topics as a family.
Error feedback - Many educators claim that error correction is where most of the learning takes place, but it needs to be done in such a way that it does not affect the child’s confidence, whilst also ensuring the correct information is replacing the misinformation.
Consolidation - Practice makes perfect! The more familiar the information becomes the more it becomes embedded in the long-term memory. Interestingly, sleep is key to transferring learning into a more efficient part of memory, so good sleep habits will be a valuable tool in supported learning.
3. Utilize the resources available to you
One of the benefits of the current situation is that many previously paid for resources are now freely available. To check your child’s learning level look at https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum, or similar websites for other curriculums.
For exam level students there are plenty of past papers available online, https://pastpapers.co/ with the mark schemes, so students can self review. For younger children, there are some great websites for online games, presentations, videos and worksheets that are fun, targeted to different learning styles and age groups in line with what is done in school, or resources purely for summer learning. Some of the websites we regularly recommend include www.ixl.com , www.twinkl.com, www.mathplayground.com
4. Structure your days
Once you have identified your child’s learning style, and are utilizing the Four Pillars of learning, you can support learning at home with a structured routine, make a timetable and set goals with rewards, take lots of breaks for both parent and child, and most of all make it a fun experience.
With our top tips for supported learning you should find that learning together is a fun way to bond, keep children’s minds engaged and provide structure and mental stimulation in these uncertain times.
We are currently helping many of our Carfax students and families with supported learning and organising their summer tuition. To find out how Carfax can provide support to you and your family over the summer, then please contact our Director of Studies at enquiries.uae@carfax-education.com