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Ekya / August 11, 2022 Posted by : administrator

Strong study skills are the critical component in making the students learn faster and have more fun. So, if you are wondering as a parent, how can you help your child develop the study skills they require to achieve academic success & see benefits beyond the classroom as well? Here are the 7 tips to get started. 

  • Have Positive Attitude

Students’ performance and learning aptitude is directly influenced by parental attitudes towards education. Parents should create a positive attitude toward learning at home so that their children can learn to love learning & education. Whether it’s history, science, reading, math or even writing a story, help him and enable him to explore that learning is a journey of exciting discoveries. As your child sees the joy & excitement of learning that brings to your life, he will also get motivated and receive a positive attitude towards learning & discovering new things. 

  • Let your child know you trust them 

Create a friendly & open environment where your child can express their honest feelings, likes, dislikes and concerns. Furthermore, make sure you validate your child’s thoughts when he shares with you, even if you disagree. 

  • Create an organised routine from day 1

 Creating an organized and regular routine from day 1 for dinner-time, bed-time, play-time etc will help your child to fall into the fixed pattern and understand the time management for learning. You can use picture schedules, clocks and other routine management strategies to fix the best & optimum plan for learning. 

  • Set up a learning space 

Create an uncluttered and clean place in your home, where your child can learn & study without any interruption. Make sure the desk should contain proper stationery items, tablets or laptops in its designated workspace. You can also hang a whiteboard or bulletin board, colourful sticky notes or inspirational posters there. This designated setup will help your child to keep him motivated and engaged. 

  • Encourage different styles of learning 

Every child has different patterns & styles of learning. However, helping your child to discover his preferred learning styles and encouraging him to use a mix sometimes will improve his rate as well as the quality of learning. Generally, there are different styles of learning including verbal, physical, visual, auditory, logical (mathematical), social & solitary. For instance, children who are visual learners will learn fast & at ease while seeing how things work. On the other hand, children who are auditory learners will learn best by listening. 

P.S. For young children, it’s beneficial to explore and employ different types of learning styles. 

  • Try Game-Based Learning

Game-based learning is not at all a new concept, yet a great addition for parents and teachers to embrace knowledge and motivate children to learn. Using fun-learning games as an education tool provides numerous advantages including opportunities for deeper learning and the development of non-cognitive skills. 

  • Teach them learning, memorizing and taking break techniques 

Lastly, but not least, teach them innovative learning methodologies and help them to memorize the facts & figures. Make sure you are involved completely in your child’s learning styles & cultivating the unique learning methods & strategies for your child. Moreover, help them to plan their study schedule to get enough space for other subjects as well as for extra-curricular activities. Taking a 10 to 15 minutes break after every one hour can do wonders in keeping your child more productive and focused. 

Summing Up! 

We, at Ekya Schools, focus on the method of “Live the Lesson”, which helps our students to know what to learn and how to learn. Our experiential learning methodologies aid our students to excel in every field irrespective of the board they choose in the senior programme.

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Ekya / October 10, 2023

The Truth of Time

The Truth of Time

The mountain tops shiver As the snow begins to shower The water flows to cover The secrets of the river.

The birds trill near the lake As the morning sun awake The lion cub to take The crown for the sake.

The windows patter The things clatter The world scatter As our deeds matter

Isana G K
Grade 7
Ekya Schools, ITPL

Ekya / October 10, 2023

Financial literacy from an early age

It’s Jan 2022, I am in grade 6 as a substitute teacher. I ask the students to introduce themselves. They also get curious to know about me. As soon as I tell them that I am a senior grade teacher and I teach Accounts and Business studies, they are intrigued. The word Business catches their attention and some of them express their interest in Finance.
Now, I was fascinated to hear the word finance from such young children. Particularly fascinated by a young student Ms Ahaana Shetty, who explained how she manages her pocket money, as taught to her by her father. She had a clear understanding of creating a balance between saving and spending.
This was not the case in the earlier times. We can quote examples of celebrities who, despite having earned a fortune, burnt their hands at poor financing decisions. Amitabh Bachan’s ABCL took on more than it could handle, like the Miss World pageant, and exhausted all money. Then it took bank loans which it couldn't repay. Mr. Bachchan had retired, so there was no income and no savings. The moral of the story is, that even if people earn astronomical sums, they need to invest it so that it keeps growing.
Having said that, it boils down to the fact that financial literacy at an early age is pivotal for building a strong foundation for financial well-being throughout life. Teaching children about money, budgeting, savings and investments from a young age will help them make informed financial decisions. They can avoid the financial perils faced commonly by people.
The challenge in educating young children about finance would be the financial jargon which they may find overwhelming and difficult to understand. Hence it becomes important to use age-appropriate terminology.
As parents, we can give a reasonable amount of allowance to our children and ask them to use it wisely for needs, and wants and also save a part of it. This will help them to understand the concept of budgeting. We must also encourage them to make informed purchasing decisions, look for discounts and become a smart shopper.
A simple step like opening a savings bank account for the child and making them understand how a bank account works will introduce them to the importance of keeping money safe. They will understand how regular savings will grow over some time due to the compounding of interest.
Children must be taught about loans too. They need to understand that loans should not be borrowed if one is not sure of financial ability to repay. Also, they need to be taught that loans must be repaid timely, or else they will keep becoming bigger due to accumulating interest.
Older children can be introduced to the concepts of stocks and mutual funds. They can be encouraged to follow investments over time and learn about the dynamics of stock markets.
Schools can introduce financial literacy programs and take initiatives to incorporate financial education as part of the curriculum.
I would like to conclude by saying that it is essential for everyone to be financially literate and wisely invest money to grow it. It is equally important to keep track of investments. One should not spend more than what one earns, even if the earnings are enormous, otherwise, the money will not last very long. Remember, it is your money.

Ekya / October 10, 2023

A Guide To Navigating Academic Stress

Academic pressure and impending board exams can feel like an overwhelming storm, but as a 10th-grade student who's been through the burnout ringer, I've discovered effective strategies to stay afloat. When stress creeps in, I lean on a toolbox of coping mechanisms that help me maintain balance and clarity.

Understanding my panic patterns has been key. I've learnt that giving my all is important, but the outcome isn't a mirror of my worth. I remind myself of this and reframe my perspective. To escape my study-clogged mind, I turn to books – they whisk me away to new worlds, however briefly. Music acts as a soothing balm; I limit panic to 5 minutes and then channel my energy into finding solutions.

Engaging in physical activities is another lifesaver. Running or spending time outdoors channels my pent-up energy, allowing my mind to reset. Moreover, taking up hobbies like painting or playing a musical instrument provides a welcome distraction and cultivates a sense of accomplishment beyond academics.

Remember, you're more than your grades. Embrace your unique strengths, employ these strategies, and watch stress lose its grip. With determination, self-awareness, and a dash of escapism, you'll breeze through the academic whirlwind.

Written By: Ahaana Singhal Student of Grade 10

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#ELCBlog: Making Language Learning Visible In Early Years By, Dr Pooja Maggu Instructional Designer, Early Years, Ekya Learning Centre, Ekya Schools

Making Language Learning Visible In Early Years

 What makes an environment conducive to learning a language? How is language learning made visible?

 The Ekya Early Years classroom supports language development. All classrooms have an in-class library with various reading resources and displays encouraging communication, expression, creative imagination, and collaboration. It is through interaction with teachers and peers that language develops. Besides the physical space, the curriculum allows students to interact and collaborate with peers. Teachers document all student work to tell us what and how they learn. Collecting student work also helps us see how skills and language development occur over time.

 Reading is encouraged in the Early Years classroom. Let’s take a peek into the Ekya Early Years classroom, and see how language learning is made visible. The Early Years environment engages students meaningfully. The classroom spaces have multiple learning corners- The Reading Nook and The Writer’s Right, which support language learning.

In addition to these spaces, large bulletin boards display all students’ work related to language.

               

Students read storybooks, look closely at the cover pictures and the pictures inside the book, and connect with the text they read. When students read and re-read stories, they are repeatedly exposed to words in context, strengthening their vocabulary.

Storybooks and Storytelling provide an engaging and authentic way of embedding language besides being fun! Listening to stories and telling stories are opportunities for practicing the language. It is an effective way through which students develop grammar and narration skills. Students listen closely to their teachers reading aloud and learn to use gestures and facial expressions with proper intonation and voice modulation. An essential aspect of these sessions is promoting deep conversations around the story. Students share their thoughts, feelings, opinions, and perspectives with their peers and teachers. Students practice language concepts while reading a storybook. Most children use words from the story in daily situations and conversations with their teachers and peers. Teachers are mindful when introducing new vocabulary and use those words to strengthen students' growing vocabulary.

 The puppets in the Reading Nook provide students opportunities to practice language skills. See how students use puppets as tools to retell stories to their peers. They retell a story in their own words, using words from the storybook and adding familiar words.

Here are some images from the activity where students retell the story- Where is my bat?

               

The Storybook- ‘Where is my bat?’ introduces students to positional words.  In the pictures above, the child is sharing puppets of the boy and the door. The child explains, “The boy is behind the door” and “the bat is behind the door”. The teachers continued to use these words through daily conversations with students to strengthen their vocabulary!

The language wall is used extensively and captures the essence of the language program. The words you see in the bulletin board image are from the story, ‘Where is my bat?’ and are gradually woven into the lesson so that students in class develop association skills while reading the book. Students' work is displayed in the form of worksheets on these boards as well.

Instead of introducing these words randomly, the teachers work with students to identify and extract the familiar words from the story. This enables students to see terms used in context, and in turn, they tend to remember and use them more often.

They are encouraged to look at the words and images frequently and construct words and new sentences using their knowledge. Finally, students illustrate the entire story by defining the setting, characters, events, and the different print concepts they learned in the story.

Here is an example of a student inspired by a story- ‘Where is my bat?’. Reading this gave the student context to explore his writing ideas. The student illustrates and adds his title, ‘Where is my flying car?’

At Ekya Schools, we provide students with a language-rich and print-rich environment. To summarise, the program has an excellent focus on reading, print awareness, building vocabulary, and using language meaningfully in everyday situations. The curriculum ensures that students are given repeated exposure to language concepts in different contexts, with careful progression.

Students get multiple opportunities to communicate and express themselves, which is instrumental in building essential language skills and social skills for life through peer play and interactions.

Here are simple ways to encourage your children to appreciate language outside the school environment:

  1.  Read to your child daily: Give children exposure to as many books as possible. For example, have a reading nook at home. Read books. Let your children see you reading books and newspapers. Seeing you read books will encourage them to read on their own. When you are shopping for books, allow them to choose books independently.

Encourage sharing of books with friends in the neighborhood. Create a small reading community. You could also create a list of books you read with your child and share them with others.

  1. Appreciate language in the environment: Encourage children to look at billboards and signages. If you go to a department or grocery store, encourage children to read the signs and symbols they see around them. Make a list of ingredients with them in advance if you know what you will see and get them to locate things in the store. Let children know there is language everywhere and engage with words around.

Dr. Pooja Maggu

Instructional Designer, Early Years

Ekya Learning Centre.

A Beginner’s Guide on How to Develop A Reading Habit For Our Kid

Reading is one of the most vital skills that children need to develop in order to achieve lifelong success. However, the bitter truth is that today kids prefer to watch TV and spend most of the time on mobile phones, laptops and tablets. The reason is simple, today's generations of parents don’t focus on how to encourage good reads in their child's daily routine. 

Getting Your Child Interested in Reading 

Reading tremendously enhances the children’s brain development, develops their language skills, and increases memory retention and concentration. The sooner you introduce them to books, the easier it is to instill reading as a habit. Parents should be encouraged to take necessary steps to help motivate their tiny tots for becoming rampant readers from a younger age.  Incorporating the habit of reading in children can be a challenging task for many parents. Isn’t it so? If yes, here are some of the tips you might find useful for encouraging your child to be a bookworm. 

Tips to Encourage Good Reading Habits in Kids

  • Create A Reading Area
Good reading habits start from home. One of the best ways to nurture a love for reading in a child is to create a designated reading space in your home. It isn’t necessary to be huge or have a lot of bookshelves but can be a tiny little corner equipped with lots of good reads that your child will love. Make it cosy for reading by bringing up a cosy chair with some pillows and can also put other necessary things that will help your child to enjoy curling up while reading their favourite book. 
  • Start at an early age 
Start cultivating the habit of reading stories, bedtime stories at an early age like after 1 year. This will foster imagination power, exposure to learning new words & help develop reading habits in kids in near future. Invest in some good short stories or board books and read them to your child whenever you both have quality free time. 
  • Set An Example
Be an avid reader yourself and read in front of your child as much as you can to instill a love of reading in your child. Children observe and follow the behaviors of adults in their lives. Whether you prefer reading magazines, books, newspapers or any other reading materials, what’s important is to make your child realize that you love reading and learning new things. Hence, try to set a good example for your child. 
  • Make a mini library
Providing a mini library with a vast array of reading materials to your child can help in developing the interest in reading. Surround them with all types of books including comics, magazines, sci-fiction books, and other sorts of reading materials so that the child can easily pick their interest. This will help demonstrate that reading doesn’t have to be limited to just academic books or in the classroom. Rather, they’ll see that reading is actually fun, entertaining and can be a great hobby. 
  • Discuss What Your Child Is Reading
Discuss the book he is reading, ask him the relevant questions like what has happened so far, what do you think will happen next etc. The more you ask questions to your kid, the more his love of reading will grow. 
  • Expose Your Child To Different Book Genres
Don’t limit your child to reading only a single author or one genre of books. Encourage your toddler to select and read different types of genres of books such as mystery, comic books etc to expand their knowledge and boost their level of interest in reading.  Developing positive reading habits can benefit your child in numerous ways. Partner with the best school in Bangalore, Ekya Schools, which is focused on building the reading & learning skills of their students. This will surely help your child to grow well and become a better citizen of tomorrow.

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