Tips To Develop Your Child's Mental Skills

When a children is exposed to new ideas or knowledge, their brain will absorb these like a sponge.

This is crucial to the child's development both mentally and emotionally. Having an environment favorable to learning access to everything that can help a child learn new things are crucial in his mental development.

Today, we are lucky that we have things that are available that can help us achieve this. Here are a few: 1. Books- It is undeniable that children of any age enjoy reading books especially those which have colorful pictures and pop-up pages. Even children who are barely a year old are very eager to listen to bedtime stories. You should encourage your kids to read often. Take them along with you when you go to the bookstore. And when it's time, start teaching him how to read. It is through reading that a child can have the opportunity to see the world from many different angles. Reading can give the child the chance to learn new things, explore the world without traveling and most of all, he can be able to explore different cultures. This is not only a fun but this is a very inexpensive hobby.

2. It's common to pregnant women to be advised by their friends or relatives to listen to classical music. This is because it has been reported that exposing children to classical music before birth will have a greater appreciation for this when they grow up. You can introduce different genres of music as your child grows and for those who can afford, enrolling your kids to piano, violin or guitar classes will help.

3. Children, just like some of us, don't enjoy numbers that much. You can include math in your kid's daily activities like making them count their toys or their fingers or anything that can be counted. The challenge is to make math fun to learn. If it is fun, the child will have a greater chance of remembering each lesson he learns.

4. CAD for Kids- Every child has an artist in him. Children have different methods in expressing art. They may scribble, draw, sculpt, write or paint. Parents should encourage the child so that his creativity will be enriched. You can do this by giving them the opportunity to express themselves. CAD is software used by design professionals such as architects and engineers. CAD for kids, however, was designed to help children see the artist in him and help him learn to express this artistry through drawing on a digital medium. Who knows? Your child could be the next big thing in architecture for the future generations. When you help your child develop his mental ability, you are not only helping him be excellent in academics.

It has been proven that kids who explore different learning avenues grow up to be a more secure person than those who are always left with nannies and spending the entire day watching TV.

knowledge of the subject matter or the ability to relate with the students?

"The mediocre teacher tells.The good teacher explains.The excellent teacher demonstrates.The great teacher inspires".A great quotation by William Arthur Ward which served as my guiding principle as a teacher.I remember when I was in kindergarten,everytime my friends would ask who will be our teacher in grade one, all they have to do is ask me. I knew all our teachers then. They were all nice and kind.That is why in my heart as a child the greatest profession is to be a teacher.

Every teacher should be equipped with the knolwledge of the subject matter and sharing that knolwledge is one of the primary goal of education. However,I disagree that it is more important than the teacher's abilitry to relate with the students. A teacher is not only a walking grammar book nor a human calculator but also a friend,a counsellor and a confidante roled into one.A teacher can be a good friend only if he can relate with the students. A teacher can be an effective counsellor if he can realte with the students. A teacher can be an excellent confidante if he can relate with the students.Therefore,the ability to relate with the students is very important.

A teacher has the ability to influence and effect students' life and the effect is infinite.In order to mold the students into whole rounded individuals,teachers should have the ability to relate with them and should understand that every individual is unique.Hence,the ability to relate with the students would help the teacher understands the students' individuality therefore he would know what effective approach he may use in the classroom.

To sum it up,every teacher acquired the knowledge they specialized through the courses they took but none of those courses taught them how to be a great teacher that inspires. Iam confident that although Iam still very young in the teaching arena and had not yet accomplished milestones as what others already achieved but Iam very confident that Iam a good teacher and I would be an inspiration to my students.I owe this to my teachers that inspired me to be one .Iam the teacher that Iam now not because of the academic knowledge they taught me but because they touched my heart. They did it because of their ability to relate with me.

INDIAN SCHOOLS ALL SET TO IMPLEMENT RFID AND GPS BASED TRACKING SYSTEM

Indian schools are all set to implement a high-tech solution that will enable the school and parents to monitor students' entry into and exit from school buses.

Called RFID and GPS based tracking system; the state-of-the-art monitoring system will already been adopted by many renowned schools and the process of adoption is still going on.

"We have been working on this system for quite sometime so children can be monitored to ensure their security and safety," said the manager, Agnicient Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

A Noida (India) -based IT solutions provider, Agnicient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. will implement this automated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and GPS-based student tracking system in the school's buses. Agnicient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. uses a combination of RFID, GPS (Global Positioning System) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) technologies.

RFID is a type of automatic identification system whose purpose is to enable data to be transmitted by a portable device, called tag, which is read by an RFID reader and processed according to the needs of a particular application.

All the buses of schools will be equipped with RFID readers and each student will be given an RFID card (pictured) which incorporates GPS and GPRS technologies, with all the student's particulars printed on it.

Using the technology, the parents will get a text message every time the student gets into the bus and alights while going to the school from home and when returning. Alert messages will also be sent to the school authorities.

"This technology will give peace of mind not only to the parents but also to us," said School principal, adding parents had been consulted with regard to the scheme and they had given positive feedback.

"Parents were favorable with the system because ultimately it means security and safety for the students," he said, adding he could see that other schools could adopt it in the future.

Agnicient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. manager said the application software displays not only a real-time view of the location of the bus but also the student inside the bus at any point in time.

"The system can be configured and could be converted into a smart card in the future to have other functions," Manager explained, adding RFID readers could be installed in other locations in the school as needed to further ensure the safety of students.

He also said the text messages would be very specific. For instance, if a child is still inside the bus five minutes after the vehicle's engine is turned off, a text message will be sent to the school authorities.

It means that this system from Agnicient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Will answer the question more prominently that “Its already 10 PM do you know where your child is???????????

But now every parent and school administration knows.

Conspiracy? Why Would Anyone Think There Might Be A Conspiracy??

I would argue that the biggest mystery in American history is how did the public schools get so messed up? Wouldn’t we like to answer that question?

The moment you start looking deeply into this mystery, you’re going to come up against a gang of ideologues led by John Dewey, the Father of American Education. He and his buddies were socialists. They believed in transforming the country, one way or another.

So look where we are. We are now staring into the teeth of a conspiracy.

A lot of people are upset by this word, but I don’t see any way to avoid it. Starting by 1910, every time Dewey and another professor at Teachers College had a meeting, they were plotting to insinuate their ideas into every public school in America. No Congress voted; no president approved. Dewey, who was probably a Fabian socialist, believed in working quietly from the inside; and that’s what he did.

I’m fascinated by the conspiracy question because I don’t think we can fix the public schools unless we first confront what actually happened to them. Here’s my short take: a lot of socialist educators said the heck with knowledge, facts and all that academic stuff; the big job is to turn children into future socialists. End of story.

However, if you do start talking about conspiracy, one common response is, no, no, we don’t need any crazy theories like that. The problems in the schools are clearly due to lazy parents, difficult kids, the Internet, drugs, sex, television, rock ‘n roll, etc., etc. Why go poking around in the past? Dewey’s been dead forever.

My sense is that many people are content to stay on the surface and to blame the victims. They don’t want to rock the status quo or blame any of their nominal allies. They don’t want to look at root causes.

Well, in this case, the political beliefs of our Education Establishment a century ago are the root causes. These people were basically what we would today call European socialists. Traditional, academic education was not their main priority. Once they committed to a secret agenda that the public did not ask for or approve of, then you are witnessing a conspiracy. What else can it be called?

Emotional Abuse In the Name of Academic Success in Indian Schools

Child abuse is a very serious matter in western schools and any teacher, parent and school involved in child abuse have to face the law. In spite of serious steps we still see some cases of child abuse here and there, but majority of children are safe from abuse. This is not the case when it comes to developing and under developed countries.

Many countries didn’t address child abuse because of their culture and lack of awareness about the issue. Some countries officially announced child abuse as illegal, but they are not serious in enforcing the law. India is one of those countries that made child abuse illegal, especially in schools but doesn’t enforce the law strictly. This is causing an enormous physical and emotional damage to the younger children.

In recent years there is no more canning of students in schools, especially in private schools. Parents are not at all tolerating their children being canned or spanked by teachers. This is a very good sign of change, but abuse is still predominant at homes. However, there is a different form of abuse that is happening in every private school in the name of academic requirements and student success. I call it as “emotional abuse” What is so sad is educated parents are also supporting the idea without even noticing that the excessive workload on students is causing an enormous ‘emotional damage’ to the younger minds.

Private schools are very attractive to parents because they offer quality education to students, and they provide special coaching to students to prepare them for professional courses like Engineering, Medicine, and IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), highly reputed engineering and technology institute. While it is a good concept to prepare students to do well in school exams and also in entrance tests, it is sad that children are excessively burdened with school work and preparation.

For example, none of the private schools allow their students leave the school before 6 hours. They are at school almost 9 hours, instead of recommended 5 ½ hours. In addition to this many students attend before and after school tuitions, and still have to finish their 2-3 hour homework after all these sessions, irrespective their grade levels.

When I look at school children in India my heart bleeds. Parents want the best education for their children, which is fair enough, but they are not noticing that with an excessive workload children are at abuse. This abuse of children must be stopped for the welfare of their physical and psychological well being. Since schools want to offer what parents demand, parents must take initiative in stopping this kind of abuse. On the other hand, teachers and educational experts must also make an effort to educate parents about this type of bad practice in schools. This I call a step toward a positive change, and perhaps an indicator of developing nation.

Intrinsic Motivation and its effects on Student Academic Achievement

Motivation 101

Schools across the nation are experiencing ever-increasing pressure to raise student test scores. In order to meet the growing demands of student achievement, educators at all levels have created and implemented strategic plans that focus on adult controlled variables such as professional development and the purchasing of computer-based learning programs. However, perhaps the most significant factor in determining student achievement is simply student motivation. Motivation is one of the most widely-studied areas in the field of psychology and its implications in the field of education are apparent. Psychologists have established two major concepts in regards to motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivation is described as an outside force influencing an individual’s behavior. These types of motivators can be effective in helping students meet short-term goals, but have a tendency to make students depended on rewards. Examples of such motivators include stickers, trophies, extended break, and even money. Students who perform for the sole purpose of being rewarded by an outside variable, often times lose focus on why overall academic success is important. For extrinsically motivated students, their goal is to be rewarded for their efforts, rather than the results of their efforts, the learning itself, act as the reward.

The other major motivational concept is intrinsic motivation. Psychologists explain intrinsic motivation as when an individual completes an activity for the basic enjoyment of the activity, or understands the underlying value of the activity. Students who are intrinsically motivated to complete tasks see the value in the activity itself and are not reliant on an outside reward for their efforts. There are many theories concerning the concept of intrinsic motivation, but one that has recently gained momentum is the Self-Determination Theory (SDT).

Implications of Intrinsic Motivation within the Classroom

The Self-Determination Theory was established by Ed Deci, professor of psychology at Rochester University. According to Deci, this theory represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality (Deci, 1995). SDT identifies three specific areas which directly influence intrinsic motivation levels. These areas include: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Deci argues that these are essential needs of all learners and as the degree to which these needs are fulfilled, the degree of intrinsic motivation will also rise. Intrinsic motivation has the ability to foster lifelong learning skills (Messali, 2010). Deci agrees with the importance of intrinsic motivation and has consequently, created an instrument to evaluate student levels of intrinsic motivation: the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A).

Being a school administrator myself, student motivational levels, and more importantly student achievement levels are a priority. The study of intrinsic motivation and its effects on academic achievement, naturally posed the question: Is there a positive correlation between student’s level of intrinsic motivation and their academic performance?

Study

In the spring of 2010 a study was completed that dealt with academic achievement and intrinsic motivation. Sixty 7^th and 8^th grade students from a rural middle school in Kentucky completed the SRQ-A evaluation tool. Students were randomly selected from two distinct groups: students with a 2.5 grade point average or below, and students with a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) or above. The purpose of the study was to determine if a positive correlation exists between the intrinsic motivational levels as determined by the SRQ-A tool and student academic achievement as evidenced by GPA.

Results

The average GPA of the 60 students was 2.72 and the average SRQ-A score was 13.9. The numbers changed dramatically when examining the two distinct subgroups. The top 30 students had an average GPA of 3.67 and a SRQ-A score of 17.8. The bottom 30 students had an average GPA of 1.76 and a SRQ-A score of 10.1. A correlation test was applied to the two variables to measure the relationship between intrinsic motivation and academic achievement. The results indicated a positive correlation of .891, meaning that there was an 89 percent chance that the variables of GPA and SRQ-A data were related. The data suggests a close relationship exists between academic achievement and intrinsic motivation.

In a field which values data-driven decisions, this study assuredly indicates that schools would benefit from focusing more time and energy on increasing student intrinsic motivation. In some respects, intrinsic motivation can be thought of as a precursor to increasing academic performance. Schools should make every effort to implement teaching strategies and create an atmosphere which fosters intrinsic motivation. As test score requirements rise with each passing year, educators must seek every advantage possible to raise student performance levels and according to this study, intrinsic motivation plays a significant role in our future success.

School assembly - Is it just a routine or a generative force?

outines across schools - When we think of routines followed in schools, what comes to our mind first? I asked this question to a couple of my friends of various age groups. I have listed a few of their responses below

v Attendance taken by teachers

v Lunch prayers

v School assembly

v Switching classes

v Group learning activities

v Notebook correction

v Examinations

v Report card distribution

v Parent teacher meeting

v Homework submission

v Diary checking

I have also followed such routines as a student and as a teacher then. Now I go to schools as a consultant or sometimes as a trainer and witness such routines. As a student I was bored or sometimes scared of such routines. As a teacher I was questioning myself on these routines, also saw my students following such routines without any understanding.

For example, the assembly time…

Students stand in line hearing to prayer, news, a few verses from religious books/poems, instructions given to the students, talk by the school Principal or the teachers. Some students just close their eyes and stand, some try to play some pranks on others, some moving uneasily under hot Sun, some just looking at their wrist watches to find out the time left out for the assembly to come to an end. Many teachers stand there controlling students without paying attention to what’s happening in the assembly. When asked about assembly time to children, many of them were unable to say what was shared in the assembly and their responses were, “we stand in line and listen to what is told”. Nor the teachers were able to give a clear rationale as to why assembly is conducted.

I am not sure if schools are aware of the purpose of such routines. The dictionary meaning for the word ‘assembly’ is ‘a public facility to meet for open discussion’ or ‘a group of persons who are gathered together for a common purpose’.

If so, what is the common purpose for which the students gather everyday? Have Schools discovered such common purposes? What do they do to achieve them? Have they communicated it to the other stakeholders of Schools – teachers, parents and community? Do schools have some indicators to find out the value adds for children during assembly time?

Are school assemblies simply a routine to be followed or a generative force for schools to educate, empower and envision a pupil community who walk into the assembly hall with a well-defined purpose?