Blog entry by Mickey Maresca
Firstly, reading is the cornerstone of a learning process. From ancient scriptures, novels to modern-day books and e-books, reading provides endless opportunities to broaden one's knowledge. It helps to improve vocabulary, enrich language skills, and enhance cognitive functions. It forms the basis for academic achievement, with abilities such as reading comprehension playing a vital role in various subjects and fields of study.
Story writing prompts indeed work wonders in primary schools. They foster a sense of creativity, increase engagement levels, and improve writing skills - all of which significantly contribute towards a child's academic growth. Therefore, it is fair to say that story writing prompts deserve a special place in the primary classroom environment.
The Outcome:
After a year of regular application, a substantial improvement was noticed in the reading and writing capabilities of the students. The interactive and gaming nature of the apps intensified their engagement and learning process. Children liked the challenge of advancing to the next level in Kodable, which required reading instructions and solving problems, thus indirectly improving their reading abilities.
With the current societal shift towards homeschooling and online education accelerated by ongoing global health concerns, Kids on the Yard's groundbreaking learning platform is a beacon for parents seeking qualitative, flexible, and comprehensive educational tools for their children.
Reading is an integral part of human civilization, influencing the growth of intellectual and emotional faculties in human beings. It is an invaluable tool of communication, knowledge acquisition, self-development, and entertainment that stands the test of time. This short report focuses on the multifaceted benefits of reading and its significance in the life of individuals.
These innovations in note-taking strategies are influenced by pedagogical developments that encourage active engagement with study material rather than passive absorption. By incorporating technology into the note-taking process, these modern strategies ensure speed, accessibility, and the capacity for collaboration. Conceptual understanding is amplified, while effective recall is facilitated by well-structured notation systems like the Cornell and Outline methods. Ultimately, these demonstrable advances in note-taking strategies promote a learning experience that is interactive, meaningful, enchanted homeschooling mom and productive. These strategies recognize the importance of not only recording information but also reviewing, organizing, understanding, and applying knowledge, fundamental for contemporary, effective learning.
Throughout the research, it was noticed that when children are presented with story writing prompts, they feel more confident in expressing their ideas. It seemed to reduce the fear of the 'blank paper syndrome' where the daunting emptiness of a blank sheet makes it difficult for students to start writing. By providing a jumping-off point, students seem to feel more equipped to start writing and fill the blank paper with their colorful thoughts, hence overcoming their initial apprehension.
For learners who prefer a more linear and organized system, the Outline method offers a systematic approach to note-taking. It requires learners to assign headings and subheadings to main ideas and supporting details. This strategy helps in creating a structured 'map' of the lecture content, providing an at-a-glance recap of the information and a visualization of the relationships between ideas. Conceptual understanding is thus heightened, encouraging learners to focus on comprehension rather than mere memorization.
However, the decline in reading habits due to screen time is a worrying trend. Many people, especially younger generations, spend less time reading books and more time on social media or video games, thus missing out on the array of benefits reading offers. It's essential to promote a reading culture by incorporating more reading activities in schools, creating local reading clubs, or incentivizing reading through rewards.
Epic! with its vast genre of resources catered to the different interests of students, top homeschooling an only child in Florida encouraging them to regularly read, learn new words, and enhance their comprehension abilities. Use of audio books and videos further helped in improving listening comprehension and pronunciation skills.
"We noticed a gap in the market for comprehensive, fun, and accessible learning tools for reading," said Samantha Green, founder of Kids on the Yard. "Our mission is to foster a love of literature in children and increase their competency in reading. And we believe that providing an enjoyable online platform that they can access from their backyard will unlock their true potential."
The school provided iPads to the students and integrated the use of these apps into their daytime curriculum. Kodable was used to impart basic coding and programming knowledge which involved a healthy amount of reading and following instructions through the game-based tasks. Simultaneously, Epic!, with its vast collection of e-books, audio books, and videos, provided a rich resource for the students to explore a variety of reading materials at their own pace.