If there’s a study method which requires only 15 minutes a day, will you be interested to know?
Yes?
However, what we are about to share with you is not widely used because this is not what teachers in school or the “experts” from tuition centres say so.
To them, studying for just 15 minutes a day is definitely not enough. One should study AT LEAST 15 hours a day in order to score good grades.
Thankfully, there are more and more parents who believe in our proven system and they prefer to use our learning method because it is healthier for their kids and their kids begin to like math more. In truth, this method is more effective and it requires less time and is less torturing for both the parent and the child.
Before we share with you our preferred way to study, let’s take a look at why studying for long hours is ineffective.
Firstly, the average attention span of a child is about 10 to 15 minutes of focused concentration. After every 15 minutes, there should be a 2 to 3 minutes break. If there is no break, most children’s mind just drift away although they are physically there.
Secondly, most study sessions are plain boring. The activity consists only of writing and listening. The communication is always one way from adult to child. Plus, children aren’t encouraged to ask question because this will disrupt the flow of the session and hinder the teacher or the tutor’s teaching.
Thirdly, the lessons conducted are not catered to children’s basic needs. The teaching method which only the teacher teaches and the child listens is actually more suitable for adults. For children to learn more effectively, the lessons have to be VERY DIFFERENT. There should be more fun games, more stimulating discussions and more affirmation for the children that it’s ok to ask question (no matter how ridiculous it sounds).
Now, we know what don’t work for children. So, the important question to ask is how can we as parents make the lesson simpler for both parent and child without the need to make big changes?
Using only 15 minutes a day, we can do this:
Step 1: Choose ONLY 4 questions, 1 MCQ, 2 short answer questions and 1 long answer question
Step 2: Understanding that 1 mark is equivalent to 1 minute, your child should spend at most 10 minutes to complete the questions.
(It doesn’t really matter if your child finds the question hard. I know most children give up and leave the question undone just because he thinks it’s hard or feels it’s hard. Encourage your child to write anything. The worst thing to do is to not write anything at all.)
Step 3: Once time is up, mark your child’s work
Step 4: Praise your child for attempting all the questions and not leaving them blank.
(Help your child to develop the never-give-up mindset.)
Step 5: For the question that were wrong, help your child to find out why and understand his mistakes.
It may be due to poor understanding of the question or the tested concept.
(Some times children get them wrong simply they are not in the mood of doing them.)
Step 6: Always get your child to first explain to you on how he plans to solve the question. Once he is clear, then he can proceed. By telling you his plan, he is processing it in his mind too.
That’s it! Give bitesize word problems so that learning math is more enjoyable and more fun for your child.
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If you like this, learn more about our coaching method in our weekly Primary Math Tuition Classes.
