Want better grades? Cut screen time

Extract from the The Straits Times:

Some parents believe that children should not watch television or play computer games at all. For me, I find that we should not take extremes. I think limited TV and computer time should be imposed but not banned at all.

Before Wen went to nursery, he was allowed TV times only on weekends, around 10 minutes of viewing time each time. From Kindergarten to Primary 2, he is allowed TV viewing time of around 10 minutes daily.

DVD

One of my friends, Penny, introduced me to this “You can Read” DVD years back when my Wen was just a few months old.  So, his learning journey begins at 7 months when he could sit and watch the DVD.  Every weekend, I will let him watch the DVD. By the time, he was 18 months, he was able to recognize and read out all the words presented in the DVD.

Other DVDs he watched are “Words World” series. Phonics are learnt in a fun way. You can borrow this series from National Public Library.

Computer Time

There are weekly computer lessons in the school since Wen was in Primary One. So, I have to let him have some computer time in order to avoid receiving complains from this IT teacher. However this is restricted to 30 minutes on weekends only.

He enjoys creating slides using powerpoint. ( I am surprise that he learnt powerpoint in school at such a young age!)

Recommended magazines

Primary School

• ASK (Art and Science for Kids) 

• Discovery Box ( you can subscribe through Nuturecraft)
• Young Scientist
• Whats Up newspapers
• +venture in Maths (you can subscribe through schools)
• 好朋友/知识画报 (you can subscribe through schools) 

Save for +venture in Maths, you can borrow the rest from National Library Board.

Recommended Books

If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads (Ralph Waldo Emerson May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882). 

We have always been told that reading is good. It opens up your world. However, do we need to spend a bomb to stock up our home library?

To me, no matter how big your house is, it will never be as big as the library. If you limit your children to only books you store at home, you are limiting their knowledge.

Singapore’s public libraries are quite well-stocked although the popular books can be quite worn-out

If you those that have to have fresh-smelling and crispy books, you may try to buy from amazon or book depository.

National Library’s book classification

·        P – Preschoolers

·        S – Simple stories (from 6 to 9 year old)

·        J – Junior (from 10 to 12 year old)

Following are the books Wen had read:

Nursery

·        Peter and Jane Series (Book 1 to Book 3)

·        Dr Seuss

·        Animal antics A to Z series

Kindergarten

·        Books by Anne Fine and Judy Blume

·        Peter and Jane Series (Book 4 and above)

Primary 1 to 2

·        Flat Stanley's worldwide adventures – 

          cultures and features of different cities of the world

·        Andrew Lost – 

          Science concepts like how earth is created and etc

·        Dinosaur Cove – Dinosaurs! Boys’ favourites.

·        A to Z mysteries – solving simple crimes

·        Switch series by Ali Sparkes – 

          learnt more about insects and reptiles in a fun way

·        Books by E.B.White

·        Books by David Walliams

·        Books by Roald Dahl

·        Horrible Science Series

A book is a dream that you hold in your hand

Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light (Vera Nazarian, 1966 - )

Reading should start when your child can sit independently. I start mine when he is 8 months old.  It is a good bounding time for your child and you. Just 10 minutes every night before bedtime is adequate.

Extract from The Straits Times:

How do we encourage children to read?

Most parents complained that their children do not like to read.

Why? This is because most parents just throw the books to their children and expect them to read by themselves. Even though this may work for some kids, it does not go well with lower-primary children most of the time. A better way is to read with them before bedtime. Kids are more willing to read if they do not read alone.

Spaced out studying time

Studying information across two or more sessions that are separated (i.e., spaced apart or distributed) in time often produces better learning than spending the same amount of time studying the material in a single session (Research article by D. Rohrer Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA 2012).

Therefore, it is more effective to study or have tuition over 3 times a week (a 0.5hour session) than a 1.5hours weekly lesson.

This can be difficult if you attend class tuition. If you have one-to-one tuition, it may be feasible if the tutor is able to teach multiple subjects. It still work best if the parent is the tutor.

So much to teach, so little time!

Zoom in all the weakest areas

How well do you know your child? You may know he is weak in English but do you know which section is he weakest in? Grammar, Vocabulary, Synthesis or Comprehension?

A good way to find out is to give him the past exam examination papers to try out. Attempt at least 3 papers from different schools and focus on the weakest area.

Most parents like to set timetable for their children. 12pm to 1pm – English, 1pm  to 2pm – Chinese etc. This is due to the way the parents work in the office. In office, we are expected to work from 9am to 6pm. Our KPI are determined by the number of hours we worked including overtime.

However, a more efficient way is to set the task for the children instead. For example, he has up to 3 hours to finish English Page 3 to 5, Chinese Page 6 to 8 etc. This way, the children will have more motivation to finish their work within the time frame.

Study smart - translate learning into another form

Using different ways makes the learning more memorable and builds more nerve cell circuits to access and remember the information. (Dr. Judy Willis  M.D., M,Ed 2015)

So to revise a specific topic, the child could do the following:

·        Read the textbook

·        Watch a related youtube video

·        Do practice problems from different assessment books (most            common but most boring)

On your side, you can assist by:

·        Give him spelling on the key words (this is especially                       important for Science)

·        Ask him to summarise into one paragraph

Spread the above tasks into different days or even weeks. Use a timetable to keep track.