Getting your kids to learn faster is an immense challenge. But that’s not because it is difficult on a practical level. Instead, it comes out of the fact that, as parents, we’ve been taught our entire lives that hard work is the only way to success.
But that’s not how learning works. People take onboard information best when they explore it naturally. There’s no struggle or strain involved. Instead, the brain just does what it does, and learning is the result.
If you want to make kids’ learning faster, you have to change your approach to education. It’s not about “osmosis” or drumming ideas into them. Instead, it’s more about engagement and priming the brain to become a tool for learning.
Teach Kids About The Process Of Learning
Learning can happen naturally without ever really exploring it as a subject in its own right. But teaching kids about the process of learning can actually help them learn better in the long term.
For instance, you could talk to them about the concept of the learning “pit.” The idea here is that, occasionally when you learn something, you’ll get stuck in what feels like a hole and not be able to find your way out of it. But, according to learning pit theory, that’s okay. So long as the child understands that there will be roadblocks in their educational experience, they can anticipate and manage them. They can also develop tactics for dealing with them, such as having a break from a problem and coming back to it later.
Engage Kids Outside Of School
For some kids, the traditional classroom is not the ideal learning environment. They need one-on-one help. That’s where hiring an English tutor could come in handy. They provide a one-to-one learning experience that is very different from the regular classroom. Kids can ask for help with problems as they go along, allowing them to quickly overcome stumbling blocks.
Provoke An Emotional Response
Here’s another great way to supercharge the learning process: make kids emotional about the subject matter.
Unfortunately, most lessons involve taking a dry approach to subject matter and hoping that it will stick in the child’s mind. However, research shows that when emotions are absent or negative, learning doesn’t occur.
A much better approach is to find reasons for kids to learn. Instead of just getting them to factor equations, why not try applying it to a real-world problem that they care about? This way, you can show them that learning provides practical benefits and helps them achieve more mastery in the world.
Play Games
Another way to make learning fun and accelerate progress is to play games. Children don’t learn particularly well when passively fed information. But if you incorporate learning into something active, like playing a game, they tend to learn much better.
Games are something that children will also engage in independently of adults. Over time, they’ll develop strategies and come to understand the game – and what it is teaching -on a deeper level.
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