Kensington’s Pollywog Playschool founder, Aliye Britz said learning should be an adventure.
“Education, learning and knowledge are power. It does not always have to be a book, but a simple thing such as a newspaper or magazine makes learning fun because we discuss what we see in the magazine,” she said.
“I take the children to the library and that is giving them an exciting, different environment of learning. Learning needs to be exciting and you must also look at the various way to keep it interesting for the little ones.” Britz said children get more interested when you keep it exciting and engage them in the lessons.
Here are five strategies that can assist teachers and parents to make learning fun:
- Offer choices: Children go through most of the day without choices. To make them feel involved offer them a choice of picking which homework they would like to do first. For example, give an option of choosing whether they want to do numbers or learning the alphabet. That way they feel in control.
- Make it a game: Turning a lesson into a game can make learning fun. Create a song that can help them remember the alphabet easily.
- Tailor your lessons to a child: Attention span differs from child to child, so structure your lessons accordingly. Breaking down a lesson can help the child enjoy learning and concentrate better. For example, take 30-second breaks every six minutes to get a drink of water or take a walk.
- Make learning practical: Help the child understand the purpose of the lesson. Give an example of what you are teaching. Give them a task to research about what you were teaching them so that they can understand the purpose better. If they ask a question, try your best to explain.
- Pay attention to their interests: Ask a child about fascinates them. Find a way to incorporate tit into the lessons. Give them some sort of reward after they have learnt what there were taught.
Britz added that it’s important to find new ways of helping a child learn and also monitoring their progress will help you tailor lessons according to their needs.
Details: Aliye Britz 011 615 0719; 072 521 5001
Read: Learning about others
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