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Creating Learning Opportunities Around Your Child's Interests

22. September 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Learning is not limited to a classroom. A child should be allowed to bloom into his own persona by learning from each and every experience, both in and out of the classroom. It requires self-introspection, patience, and hard lessons to let your child learn from things and activities that interest him.

What Is Interest-Based Learning?

It is a mode of learning in which a child will learn new concepts and skills via activities that interest him. Doing so benefits a child in myriad ways some of which are:

  • Improved attention span
  • Better engagement
  • Improvement in existing skills and abilities
  • Development of fine and gross motor skills
  • Social interaction

Types Of Interests

  • Personal Interests: A child’s favorite things e.g. cars, dolls, clay, a toy character, etc.
  • Situational Interests: A person, material or activity that attracts your child’s attention usually in the form of a new or unexpected situation
Here are some ways with which you can create learning opportunities for your children while working around their interests:

Books: “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”– Charles W. Eliot.

Introducing your child to books at an early age will do wonders in broadening his mental horizons and will also help you understand his interest in a better way. Books are a gateway to innumerable possibilities and opportunities for a child.

Play And Fun: A new concept in the realm of children is gamification. Game based-learning promotes deeper learning and non-cognitive skill development. Games are a thrilling and engaging medium for introducing children to new concepts and ideas.

Organization: A child who is overwhelmed with disorganized study material and other objects in his space will not deliver to the best of his abilities. Teach your child how to stay organized at an early age, as this will affect his willingness and motivation to learn.

Learning Styles: Explore the style of learning that is most suited for your child. Children can be visual, auditory, physical, logical, verbal, solitary or social learners. Keep tweaking learning styles until you find the one that your child enjoys the most.

Celebration: Celebrate every little achievement and success of your child irrespective of his performance. The key is to appreciate his efforts against his performance. Always shower kind words of encouragement at his triumphs, albeit small.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer a variety of learning opportunities to children in the form of innovative clubs and programs. A wide range of activities is organized by the clubs to improve the learning capabilities of children. To know more about creating learning opportunities around your child's interests, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Effective Learning Techniques For Students

20. November 2019 Administrator Blog (0)
In order to perform better at academics, students should incorporate effective learning strategies. These strategies make it easier for them to learn, understand and retain information. An effective learning strategy supports recalling, comprehension, elaborative collaboration and self-explanation.

Learning techniques that can help students extensively are:

  • Being Organized: Being organized is the first step towards effective learning. It involves setting up a dedicated space for learning. The space should consist of everything you need during a study session for minimum distraction. It also involves being proactive at managing your time.
  • Spacing Out: Instead of studying whole lessons in one go, it is better to divide your work into smaller chunks of time. This helps your brain to recall the information you have learnt and retain it in between the time slots.
  • Recalling Information: Practice recalling the information you have studied without any material. This technique involves keeping away all devices/books and trying to recall the information in writing.
  • Self-Quizzing: This involves quizzing oneself about a topic by asking “Why” and “How” questions to gain deeper understanding of the topic.
  • Specific Examples: An effective way of understanding abstract ideas is by using concrete examples. Instead of providing students with examples of a concept, teachers should encourage students to come up with their own examples.
  • Interleaving: Contrary to the popular belief of repeating a concept again and again for better understanding, interleaving suggests the opposite. According to this technique, a student should practice a set of entirely different problems to sharpen the mind and improve the brain’s capacity to think critically. It makes a student “weave different skills” at a given time and learn vital strategies of problem solving.
  • Dual Coding: This technique involves combining text and visuals such as images, graphs, charts, etc. Students should try and interpret the visuals in their own words and link them to the text being studied. It helps the brain to assimilate a new concept in two different forms which makes it easier to retrieve information later.
  • Avoid Multitasking: It is not the number of hours that a student dedicates to studying but the intensity of focus while studying that matters. To study effectively, students should resist the temptation of multitasking and distractions such as social media, video games, email, etc.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas employ effective learning techniques for students through various programs. The volunteers are committed to provide a safe environment for students to learn and grow. For more details on effective learning techniques for students, visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at: (254) 699 – 5808.

Reasons Why Continuous Learning Is Important

28. October 2019 Administrator Blog (0)
Continuous learning not only nourishes the mind and sharpens the intellect, but it also improves one’s skill set. Children who adopt a continuous learning pattern adjust better to changing professional demands. Continuous learning is not limited to the classroom but can take place through reading books, watching instructional videos, doing relevant online courses, etc. It can be formal, self-directed, professional, personal, informal and indirect learning.

The benefits of continuous learning for individuals and organizations are:

  • Preserves Relevance: In order to remain relevant in your field and to keep up with the latest trends in technology and skills, learning is a must. As new technologies are gaining popularity in almost every field; it has become vital for students to develop a culture of regularly learning new skills to achieve professional success.
  • Boosts Your Profile: Being a good learner boosts one’s profile thus increasing an individual’s chances of being recommended for better jobs. Additional learning also increases the prospects of updating professional certifications
  • Boosts Confidence: By learning latest skills, a student gets better at adapting to new challenges which results in increasing confidence levels, work efficiency and performance.
  • Innovative Ideas: By expanding your mind’s horizons through learning, students develop their capacity to look for innovative solutions to any problem.
  • A Better Perspective: Learning encourages one to look at a situation from different perspectives. It helps in understanding things at a deeper level, making better decisions, increasing social awareness and improving relationships.
  • Health Benefits: A yearning to keep on learning has tremendous effects on a person’s mental and emotional well-being..
Continuous learning is paramount for keeping abreast with today’s fast-paced world and securing a competitive advantage. It is necessary for expanding one’s frontier of knowledge and capacity to perform.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer various programs to help students in continuous learning. The programs assist children to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens. For more details on importance of continuous learning, visit: 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call us at: (254) 699 – 5808.