The use of the computer as a tool for education is growing day by day. In fact it is slowly taking over the use of books and writing tools as the most effective tool for education. The computer provides an attractive platform for the teaching and learning of many skills. For an example in the teaching of English the use of the computer allows students to master reading, writing, listening and speaking skills effectively. Allow me to explain.

When faced with the computer, as a parent, you can use the computer as a tool, with or without the Internet. Without the Internet, I find that it is most effective as a writing tool and my students have progressed wonderfully with it.

Below are the steps that primary school children can easily master.

1. Open a Word Document. Give your child a topic. Choose something simple that they can work on. For very young children, the common topics can range from, “Myself” to “My Pet”.

2. Get your child to write a few sentences on the topic. Don’t make it too long. Children enjoy using the word processor as their ideas take shape as they type and their work appears neat. (Parents need to understand that handwriting skills and writing skills are two entirely different things and need to be taught separately.)

3. Once the child is done with his/her work, go through the work with them. Don’t correct everything! This is a kid’s work and if you find flaws in every sentence and every word, the child is not going to write anymore. Give a lot of praise and maybe just change about three to four content items. Keep the original form. Parents sometimes set such high standards that they end up creating more damage and this can affect the child’s confidence in the long run.

4. Teach your child on how to use the Spelling Tool to check the spelling. Highlight the problematic word, go to Tools and hit Spelling. The parent has to sit with the child and show how this is done. I find that the Spelling Tool is very useful as mistakes are corrected and the child learns immediately. When a teacher corrects in class, especially in class, the child usually looks but hardly registers the correction.

5. For children who are slightly older, the Thesaurus feature in Tools can be used to teach vocabulary. Choose a single word in the writing, As an example, if the child has written, “I live in a big house.” Show him/her how to highlight the word ‘big’, go to tools and click the Thesaurus and immediately many new words that have similar meanings appear. Click on any one of these words to replace the word ‘big’, say, ‘huge’. The use of the Thesaurus will slowly develop the vocabulary skills of the child and improve his/her language acquisition.

6. If you have photos saved in your computer, you can copy-paste it onto the short essay. Children love pictures, especially of themselves and things that make up their world.

7. Get your child to read aloud his/her work to you. Teach them to read slowly and clearly. Give the praise and a pat on the back.

8. You can print out this essay and save it in a special file for your child’s work. There is a sense of accomplishment that children respond positively to when they look at their work.

For the teaching of writing skills, the pencil and the pen is the only effective method. These days, there is a fear that the use of the computers can harm a child’s ability to write clearly and neatly. With this in mind, parents should ensure writing tasks are carried our regularly and children master good handwriting. With my own children, I found that getting them to copy down their favourite songs is a good way to get them to practice their writing skills. My kids just hated writing the same sentence over and over again so getting them to write something that is meaningful to them was the way to go.

For the beginning, buy simple workbooks that allow children to practice the formation of letters. Do a little everyday. Forcing the child to do pages and pages of work will not enable learning but will only develop resentment. Allocate manageable task and reward good work but be consistent. On the issue of rewards, do not reward children with sweets and chocolates. Doing this, will only make children associate these fattening foods with feeling good and they will seek every time they are feeling down. Extra ‘playtime’, makes more sense.

Children are very impressionable, when parents are tense, children become even more tense. They begin to associate these feelings with learning, education and school and eventually begin to hate school. The trick is to keep things light, try to add some fun elements and give them enough breaks. Young children get tired easily and parents must know their limits. Spend enough time outdoors with the children so they don’t just associate mummy and daddy with work.

A parent’s attitude towards work will determine the child’s attitude towards work. I have only this to say. Relax. Get the work done and don’t be tense. Your child will enjoy the learning process.

– Kalai Lingam