Understanding what's inside your child's head
Understanding what's inside your child's head
By Novita Tandry
JAKARTA (JP): Understanding how your children's minds works
will help you teach them at home, says Dr. Richard Woolfson, a
child psychologist working for the headquarters of Tumble Tots
Preschool in London.
If you want your children to learn at home it's useful to
understand more about how they learn and the basic skills they
need to develop, he adds.
There are five skills every child needs to master to learn
properly: listening, language, memory, concentration and problem
solving.
For example, if you ask them to fit a triangular shape into a
jigsaw, they will need to listen to what you want them to do,
have a good knowledge of language to recognize the word
"triangle", remember which shape a triangle is, concentrate while
studying the shapes and solve the problem of matching the shape
to the hole.
Understanding how these skills develop will help you formulate
the approach to teaching your child.
Memory
A good memory is essential for your child to learn and store
facts, but the memory needs to be trained to work efficiently.
Children have five different types of memory: a store for sounds
(auditory memory), one for sight (visual memory), another for
words and meaning (semantic memory), one for smell and taste
(olfactory memory) and one for body movements (kinesthetic
memory).
The more types of memory that are involved in remembering
something, the easier it is to recall. For example, if children
are learning the alphabet, showing them the letters in an
alphabet book or frieze helps them associate them with the name
and picture of familiar objects. Give them plastic letters so
they can feel the shapes, and sing the alphabet song so that the
child associates each note with a letter.
When learning to count, use actual objects they can see and
feel; so that the child can pick them up and put them down while
memorizing the numbers.
Children are also more likely to remember facts if they can
link them to something they already know. For example, if you say
"o" is for orange, they will immediately associate the round
shape of the letter with the shape of the orange. But if you say
"o" is for orangutan, they won't make an immediate association,
and will probably forget it.
Listening
The ability to listen ensures your child is good at receiving
instructions, and is essential when learning to read and spell.
Children must bee able to identify the different sounds that make
up words.
To encourage children to listen, you need to get their
attention. The best way to do this is to come down to their eye
level and look at them while talking. Afterwards, ask them to
repeat what you have said. This will ensure they have heard and
understood everything, and the repetition will help commit it to
memory.
When reading stories, discuss what's happening so the child
thinks about what they are hearing. Let them sit quietly with a
story cassette, so they can concentrate on the tale. Play nursery
rhymes and song cassettes, and get your child to sing along so
that they listen carefully to the notes.
Talk about other sounds around you -- one good game is to sit
quietly in the garden and name the sounds you hear: cars, birds
singing, bees humming and so on.
Language
The more time you spend talking to your child, the faster
their vocabulary will expand. Talk about what you are doing as
you go about everyday tasks and they will soon begin to absorb
new words and concepts. Even if your child is slow to talk, they
will be 'filling away' the words you use and understand far more
than what the child can say.
Once talking, encourage them to describe their thoughts on
things: "Did you like that story?" "Why?" "What are buildings?"
"A castle?" "Who do you think lives in the castle?" By listening
to them, you'll give the message that their ideas are valued,
which in turn will encourage them to voice their thoughts and
expand their vocabulary.
Concentration
Young children often find it hard to concentrate for more than
a few minutes, but concentration improves with age and practice.
Children who are naturally quiet and enjoy passive activities
often concentrate better than those who are constantly on the go.
If your child finds it hard to sit still, begin giving them an
enjoyable task -- such as painting or drawing -- in a quiet room
with no distractions. Let them spend a few minutes on it. When
the child tires, let them do something else, but next time
encourage them to spend just a little longer doing an activity.
But remember, children are far more likely to concentrate if
they are motivated. The task must be enjoyable and rewarding, or
they will quickly lose interest.
Problem Solving
Most children enjoy problem solving, but are often thwarted by
grown-ups who insist on doing things for them. While it may be
expedient to help children with tasks, like dressing when you're
in a rush, try to make time to let them tackle as many new
challenges as possible, and be patient while they learn by their
mistakes.
If they really can't manage something, like opening a
container, show them how it's done -- in stages. Then give it
back to them to try. Children who confidently tackle new problems
have a head start when they start school.
Confidence
Even after children have developed the five key skills, the
may still have troubles learning if they lack confidence. If they
are anxious about failing, they won't be able to concentrate when
trying to learn.
This is illustrated by a recent study involving a group of
five year-olds who had just started school. They were split into
three reading groups: one group was made to feel anxious by
ensuring they failed a word-reading task, another group was made
to feel good by succeeding at the same task, and a third group
wasn't given the task at all. Then all the children were given a
general educational test. Researchers found that those who were
made to feel anxious scored the lowest.
You can increase children's' confidence by tackling one
learning step at a time, and giving them plenty of practice at
each stage. When choosing a new learning activity, pick one that
is more difficult than the one they have completed, but not so
difficult that they will need a lot of help. Praise them and
avoid comparing their progress with other children's; if children
feel they aren't keeping up they become anxious or lose interest.
Novita Tandry is director of Tumble Tots Preschool for
children from six months to seven years old, Blok M Plaza, South
Jakarta.