Category Archives: Parenting

各种提高6岁孩童注意力的妙方

如今，教育对每一位孩子都非常重要。注意力分散是一个很常见的问题。原因很简单，在这个变化多端的世界里，有着很多是孩童们还没见过和听过的新鲜事件吸引着好奇心强的他们，挑起他们的极大关注。这个问题若是无法解决的话，这将会对孩子带来不少害处，如学习所花费的时间会更长、难以挨过高难度的学习内容和思维速度大量降低。由此可见，大家得使用各种方法以把问题解决并同时培养孩子的专注能力、提高孩子们注意力。那今天就让我与大家探讨有什么方法来解决这问题，特别是即将升上一年级的6岁孩童。

从好奇心出发
首先，父母亲可以尝试好好利用孩子的好奇心。研究显示，强烈和多变化的物体最能吸引孩子的注意。会唱歌的书籍、会动的玩具青蛙、会移动的玩具车等玩具能够挑起孩子们的好奇心。这样，孩子们就会渐渐细心观察并学会集中注意力。所以，家长可以购买这些玩具以训练孩子们的注意力。同时，父母可以尽量抽空带孩子到新的环境去玩。例如带孩子到公园去时，父母亲该让孩子亲身体验大自然的美景，观看一些罕见的花草、各种造型不同的建筑和美不胜收的风景。另外，父母可试携带孩子到动物园观光，让他们好好观看有趣的动物，从中利用孩子们对新事物强烈的好奇心并增强注意力。因此，孩子的好奇心能够增强孩子的注意力。

学会在规定的时间里完成功课
此外，相信大家也知道如今的学生有着繁多学校的功课，一天内再加上补习班的功课更不必说了。当孩子有着的完成的作业太多，他们注意力稳定的时间就很自然地会超过了。所以，家长和教师该教导孩子们如何分配时间以能够顺利地完成手上的功课。特别是即将升上一年级的六岁孩童，若他们还未学会如何好好提高自己的注意力和分配时间，叫他们如何在规定的时间内完成该功课呢？孩子该学会如何一部分一部分来完成攻克。父母必须避免不允许孩子中途休息，使命让他们长时间地做功课且在旁监督、唠叨不停等。因为这样很容易让孩子失去学习兴趣和减低其注意力和集中的精神。父母得从小教导孩子正确地安排合理的时间，让他们在适当的时间内能够集中精神，从中提高孩子们的注意力。

从兴趣、游戏中提高注意力
众所周知，兴趣是最好的导师。尽管任何人在做自己有兴趣的事情时，他们都会很投入、很专心，所以孩子也不例外。从一位6岁的孩子地角度来看，他们的注意力会直接被其兴趣和情绪所控制。由此可见，教师和父母亲应该细心观察孩子广泛的兴趣和从中培养注意力。例如，父母应该从小使用各种各样的方法培养孩子的阅读兴趣，让他们爱上阅读、提高他们的专注力。苏联心理学家曾经做过一项试验— 他让不同年龄的孩子在游戏和单纯的不同活动方式下完成任务，将各种颜色的纸分装与同色的盒子里并观察他们注意力集中的时间。结果发现6岁儿童之能够坚持于62至71分钟而4岁儿童则是于17至22分钟。在这里我们可以看到孩子在游戏活动中的注意力和稳定性比较强。所以，师长该让孩子多玩智慧游戏，从中提高他们的专注力。这类型的游戏能够让孩子锻炼注意力。因为他们在过程中得反复回想、思考、查看、探讨、寻找。因此，游戏不但能够让孩子心情与开，且有效地提高他们的专注力。

让孩子有一定的游戏时间
嬉戏是孩子的天性，也是他们最喜爱的活动之一。它不但能够有效地激发他们的兴趣、让他们心情舒畅，更能在此提高孩子们的专注力。很多时侯，家长总是过于注重孩子们的学业，不停地要他们温习、使命送他们到补习班去。这样，家长很自然会忽略孩子们游戏的时间。所以，父母必须适量地让孩子多参加游戏活动，从中培养他们的注意力，而不是茫茫地追求学业上的成绩。

提供适合的学习环境
吵闹、混乱的环境极度容易让孩子分心。因此，特别是温习功课的环境，父母得提供和安排宁静和整齐的环境以不让孩子受到不必要的干扰。例如，温习功课的地方必须减少玩具、零食、电视机等以让他们能够专心地念书，同时尽量避免孩子受到干扰如收音机的声音和其他家人的吵闹、谈话等。另外，家人必须懂得如何不要打扰孩童温习，如避免在他们专心温习的时候跟他们聊天、嬉戏等。

综上所述，父母亲和老师们能够使用不同的方法以有效地提高孩子的专注力，特别是6岁的孩童。这包括使用他们的好奇心，好好让他们学习分配时间和利用其兴趣和通过相关的游戏。虽然我们都知道，孩子们对周围的环境有着强烈的探索欲望，他们的好奇、好动的现象是很正常的。父母就是因为这样而常常认为这是孩子的本性，最重要长大了就行乐，却忽略了对孩子提高他们的专注力而带来不少危害。所以，家长该采取各适当的方法有计划地训练和提高他们的注意力噢！加油！

– 黄伟铭 (Ng Ray Man)

The 5 Biggest Challenges Your Kids Are Not Telling You About

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Challenges are what everyone in this world faces. No matter a baby, a kid, a teenager, a youth, an adult or even the senior citizen, everyone encounters challenges in their life. For instance, the biggest challenge for a new-born baby is to learn to stand up and walk. For a kid, the biggest challenge would be saying goodbye to parents without crying when entering kindergarten. As for youngsters, we face many challenges us too. However, why every adult around us is able to overcome all the challenges? Simply because they believed what James Ulman, a writer and famous mountain climber said, “Challenge is the core and mainspring of all human action. If there is an ocean, we cross it. If there is a disease, we cure it. If there is a wrong, we right it. If there is a record, we break it. And if there is a mountain, we climb it.” Hence, let us discover what are the challenges that the young ones face in today’s life.

A.B.C.D.E
One of the most common challenges is peer pressure. “ABCDE” are what teenagers encounter in peer pressure. ‘A’ stands for alcohol, ‘B’ stands for bully, ‘C’ stands for cigarette, ‘D’ stands for drugs whereas ‘E’ stands for excellence. Among all five, the only challenge which will bring about good effects is ‘E’, excellence. Alcohol is a powerful and easily available drugs. Due to anxiety and fear of being teased, some youths are not able to resist alcohol. According to the Ministry of Health, alcohol leads to various negative impacts. The most common ones are unsafe sex and brain damages. According to Global Status Report on Alcohol, 2004, alcohol is one of the biggest factor which causes brain damages among youths. In March 25, 2008, a case of alcohol intoxication happened in the United States. Julia Gonzalez, 16, was found dead of alcohol poisoning due to excessive consumption. Next, bully cases among youths. Bully is a very rampant and serious issue in our society. Some of the reasons that lead to bully include lack of attention from parents and video games. Based on a research done by University of California in the 90s, they claimed that peer pressure is the biggest reason why bully cases are on the rise. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), in their article published in 2005, 70% of high school students reported they have been bullied.

On the other hand, in terms of cigarette, youngsters are often badly influenced due to peer pressure. Anxiety, feeling of stylish, cool and trendy are among the causes of teenagers start to smoke. Statistics has shown that smoking is among the first steps that lead to drugs. In the United States of America, 3.1 million teenagers start smoking during secondary school, reported by American Lungs Association (ALA). Youths are found to be very easily influenced by friends. There is a Chinese proverb which goes, “He who stays vermillion gets stained red, he who stays near ink gets stained black”. This means that one takes the behaviour of one’s company. Thus, if a youth mixes around with friends who are of bad behaviours, he or she will definitely be influenced. Moreover, drugs are also rampant among youths. Drugs are indeed poisoning, addictive and illegal. However, youths take drugs as they believe drugs help releasing stress. Although this is untrue, they insist on doing it because they believe their friends more. Therefore, (A) Alcohol, (B) Bully, (C) Cigarette and (D) Drugs are all negative impacts caused by peer pressure.

Each coin has two sides. So, one of the positive impacts brought about by peer pressure that I would love to highlight here is (E) Excellence. According to the eminent writer, Jody Rosenburg, in his book ‘Join the Club’, he said that peer pressure is indeed a good strategy to improve one’s academic performance after conducting studies in numerous universities, mainly in United States, Japan, Norway and Brazil. For instance, youths tend to feel unhappy when their friends score better in examinations. Hence, this will make them strive harder in order to get better results. This also indirectly helps them to create challenges among peers and gain improvements. According to a psychology test done by Dr. James Dobson, a psychologist and writer, he concluded that youths gain more courage when they are with friends. They always think what the other peers are doing is right. Youths also feel difficult to stand alone, afraid of being rejected and lack of confidence when dealing with new environment. Thus, excellence is the only advantage due to peer pressure.

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
Another very popular challenge youths face is love. Nowadays, youths always misunderstand what ‘love’ and ‘relationships’ are. As long as they feel attracted with each other, they consider that as love. There are numerous disadvantages due to immaturity in dealing with love. One of the most common disadvantages is unwanted pregnancy. World Health Organisation (WHO) claimed that in 2008-2009, approximately 9% of 14-year-old, 18% of 15 to 17-year-olds and 22% of 18 to 19-year-olds girls experience pregnancies a year. Baby dumping cases in Malaysia has also shown a drastic increase, reported by Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, Deputy Secretary-General, Harjeet Kaur, with the figure of 91 in 2010 to 98 cases in 2011. “Baby dumping and unwanted pregnancies also deteriorate youth’s academic performance”, she said. Therefore, love and relationships are challenges that youths encounter in their growing process.

EXCEL IN BOTH CURRICULAR & CO-CURRICULAR
Next, youths face even bigger challenges when they are urged to excel in both curriculum and co-curriculum. Parents nowadays are indeed demanding when it comes to results and co-curriculum achievements. This happens because to ensure their children to get a scholarship to further study, it is getting more difficult and competitive. At the same time, youths are having a very heavy education system. They have to study at school for at least 8 hours a day. Furthermore, they are also involved in other co-curricular activities after school. This will not only cause them to be unable to allocate time for revision, it also causes exhaustiveness. For example, I am at school since 7.00 a.m. Classes end at 2.30 p.m. and carried out from 3.30 to 5.30 p.m. The total hours for me to be at school is approximately 9 hours. On Wednesdays, students even have to return to the school in the evening to join co-curriculum activities. Hence, excellence in both academic and co-curriculum is indeed a big task to be accomplished by youths.

TO OVERCOME: THE ROLES OF SCHOOLS & PARENTS
One of the ways that parents can play their role is by monitoring their children. According to Datuk Dr Fadzillah Kamsah, parents’ attention towards their children is indeed important in disciplining them. Parents should try their very best to spend quality time with their children and inculcate moral and religious values when they are still young as there is a saying which goes ‘strike while the iron is still hot.’ For instance, advice should be given to them and parents have to monitor their children’s behavior. This is essential so that parents are clear with their children’s development from time to time in order for them to take measures or steps of prevention can be taken at early stage as prevention is better than cure. On top of that, schools have to play their role as well. I, who was the Head Prefect of the school always strive hard to encourage the Prefectorial Board to try to understand students who have disciplinary problems in schools. At the same time, counselors ought to always be ready to listen to them and find out their thoughts and opinions. These are some of the steps which I believe to be effective in handling the challenges that youths face.

LET’S OVERCOME THEM!
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze us, they are supposed to help us discover who we are”, said by Bernice Johnson Reagon, a singer, compose, scholar cum social activist. Therefore, we, as youths should never be afraid to take up challenges throughout our growing process. Youths themselves ought to always strive hard to overcome every obstacle in life. Always believe that ‘When there is a will, there is a way.’ In a nutshell, one should never feel hopeless and always be optimistic to face life challenges.

This article was written by Ng Ray Man. Ray Man was a Head Prefect, a national-level debater and a straight-A scorer all his life. He shares his thoughts on excelling in academic and extracurricular activities in his guest posts for Peekabook.

The Use Of Workbooks To Enhance Learning

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The education system in Malaysia has its ups and downs, for the entire positive that is in it, it is also besieged with numerous shortcomings. Large classes and too many activities cramped into a limited time make learning inadequate. The quality of teachers is also not consistent with the quality of teacher that your child get may as well be akin to the luck of the draw. My own experience as a teacher shows that there will somehow be at least one or two teachers who your kids and you will not be happy with.

It cannot be denied that parents can no longer depend on school alone for the education of their children. Parents have to play a significant role to ensure that their kids get the maximum input during their most impressionable years of their development. Of course all study is bad and parents should know how to create a balance to ensure both play, rest and study are all included in their kids life.

Before we proceed, let us first explore the purpose of sending our kids to school. To get the grades, to get into a good university, to get a ‘good’ job (whatever that is), status and a position in society are no longer the main objectives. The main reason we send our kids to school is to be educated; to come away from a situation from not knowing to knowing, to be improved in many ways, cognitively and emotionally, to be able to function and cope with the various situations that he/she will encounter in his life.

Parents can use workbooks to satisfy the above needs.

The Use Of Workbooks Will Reinforce What Is Learnt in School
Due to many factors, some children will not be able to catch what is taught in school. They might be slower, sick, absent or the teacher is not clear in his/her explanations or just too fast. Whatever the reason, the parent can use a workbook to teach the child the content that was problematic.

By getting the child to do exercises that we taught in school, the parent can also know if the child has a grasp of the topic and quick measures can be taken to rectify the problem.

Workbooks Offer Practice
A certain amount of time must be allocated everyday for study. The amount of time spent for this purpose will depend on the age of the child. Smaller children should be given adequate rest. Older children (primary) can do at least an hour of study at home. Of course when there are piles of homework to be completed, the workbooks should be put aside and schoolwork comes first.

Workbooks allow kids to practice what they have learnt in school. By doing exercises from the workbooks they are able to grasp the topic better and this will develop their confidence and affect their performance. I usually encourage parents to keep a few workbooks at hand and give the kids exercises of the similar topics from different books. You will need a few, as children will usually go through these books very quickly!

Workbooks Provide Enrichment Activities
Workbooks are able to take the kids beyond the reach of the school. There are many workbooks that introduce children to simple research online or poems or craft activities that children simply love. These are usually placed at the end of each topic and are fun to do. In fact, there are so many workbooks out there that focus on enrichment alone. Kids usually look forward to these enrichment activities as they denote the end of a particular topic has been successfully completed and creates the idea that learning is fun. Young children enjoy colouring activities or join the dots type activities that id entertaining.

How To Use The Workbooks
Parents should take the trouble to choose quality workbooks. Make sure the content is running parallel to your child’s work in school. A word of caution though, workbooks should never be used to replace school but rather to complement it. For kids who are home schooled, the workbooks would complement the textbooks used. Vernacular schools and mainstream school use different books and parents should know the difference. Look at the material and decide if it suitable for your child. Each child is different and parents should only buy what is needed.

I usually like to take a few workbooks for each subject, simply because my kids seem to complete them quickly. Workbooks gave them something to do during ‘study time’ when toys and the television were not allowed. Somehow they felt grown up sitting with us doing their work while my husband and I did ours. Give your child his/her own study space, where the workbooks can be arranged neatly and be reached easily. Workbooks need not be seen as something negative but rather as something that kids can do at home in their free time.

It sure beats going for tuition classes at odd hours of the day.

This blog entry was written by Kalai Lingam for Peekabook. Peekabook specializes in workbooks for Malaysian schools.

4 Reasons Why Homework Makes Your Child Smarter And How You Can Help

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While our kids are screaming in delight over the reduction of homework in schools these days with the ‘didik mesra’ concept, parents should be aware of the need to supplement their children’s school work with additional homework. Doing group projects and folios have their merits but fail to do what individual homework does. Parents have the ultimate responsibility of driving after-school development of their children, particularly when it comes to supplementing primary school books.

Homework helps the child develop study skills and habits
As our kids grow older and move on to higher institutions of learning, they will be burdened with more work. Life in the work force can also be demanding. Nobody said it was easy. Children need to be introduced to the realities of life early. Of course, as parents we need to create a balance but let us also equip them with the skill that they will need in the future. The physical and the mental strength developed early will save them from the issues of stress and stress-related diseases in the future. Today, we see many complaining about their inability to cope with work or not being able to manage their time. This is mainly due to bad habits cultivated from young.

Time management at home
What does your child do at home when he/she has no homework? Think about it. Is he/she in front of the television, computer, tablet, phone or involved in a hobby? Rest is important for growing children but how the free time is spent is important. Idling is not good. Being addicted to the iPad, television, computer or the mobile phone is not good. Hobbies are a better way of spending their time but are our children really doing it. This is where homework has its benefits. Children end up doing something productive during their free time. It does not need anything tedious, in fact parents can in cooperate elements of fun with in direct learning. Reading is one activity that I enjoy and my kids have been introduced to this from an early age. Sitting together, each engrossed with some form of reading material is such a pleasant activity for the whole family.

Homework helps parents to keep in touch with their child’s activities in school
As parents we cannot leave the education of our kid to the school alone. As much as we would like to believe that all is well in school, very often there is some form of shortcoming. Sometimes teaching is not adequate or too fast for the child, sometimes there is a lack of teachers for a particular subject and sometimes the child is simply not listening and playing while the teacher is teaching. Parents need to keep a sharp eye on the learning that is taking place in school. Monitoring homework will quickly show a parent his/her child’s competence in a particular subject. The child’s interest and flair in particular subjects too can be detected early through his/her homework. However, parents are not usually familiar with the syllabus and how much was covered in school. And let us also remember that many children are able to deceive their teachers by copying their friend’s work before school and passing on as their own. With supplementary homework, you will have a better idea of how much your child really knows.

Homework allows a child to practice and prepare
What is learnt in school is reviewed and practiced at home. Even if the child understands what has been taught doing some extra work at home is a good way of reinforcing learning. It also provides a platform to prepare for the lessons the following day. For teaching and learning to be most effective, there must be a constant flow from day to day. Breaks will only disrupt what is learnt and will often require relearning. This is especially true when there are school breaks and holidays. Let me remind you that when we speak about work we are talking about small, manageable exercises that are suitable for the different ages of the child. Say for an example, if a child comes from a Chinese speaking home where English is never spoken, imagine what would happen after a six-week school break? Reading storybooks in English would give the practice that the child need. At least the contact with the language is not broken.

All in all, homework is a necessity for children. It gives a little structure to their time at home and gives them something useful to do. The problem as always is that some parents can get overenthusiastic and go overboard. They believe in getting their children to do so much that the child will begin to hate school and learning. These negative effects can have long-term effects towards the child’s attitude towards studying. Let us as parents have realistic goals. Rest is more important that all the rest. This is my belief. If the school is giving enough homework, let the child be. What he/she is doing is adequate. If the child is idling, get the supplementary books. Let him be productive and do something worthwhile.

This article was written by Madam Kalai Lingam. Madam Kalai has 27 years of teaching experience in government secondary school. She opted for early retirement in 2013 to pursue her love of writing, and is currently writing a book. Madam Kalai is well versed in the Malaysian Education system, having been a senior English teacher and school administrator for many years.

The KSSR: What Can Go Wrong

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KSSR stands for Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah. This is the new thing in relation to education in the primary level. There are so many benefits in the new system. As I had already mentioned in my earlier blog, the system ensures that no child gets left behind an each child has to achieve a preset standard of achievement before proceeding into the next level. The system does not stress on exams. Evaluation takes into count student’s attitude, focus, and leadership qualities apart from the content of the subject. This is to ensure a total development of the child is taken into count and not just his academic standing. The child is encouraged to seek, discover and give opinions. The passive learner is a thing of the past. Technology is widely used and students are taught to use technology to seek, learn and present material.

The blueprint for the KSSR was wonderful. All the elements were in place and what was left was the implementation. This is where the problems begin. As parents we should be aware of all the possible shortcomings so as to be able to take the necessary remedial actions.

Each Child Has To Achieve A Preset Standard Before Moving On
The obvious problem is the size of the class. If a class has 35 students, waiting for each child to achieve a preset standard will take a long time. Of course streaming or placing students into sets is an answer but remember KSSR does not encourage streaming! The ‘better’ students can be given other projects to do but by the end of the year the students achievements will be staggered with some struggling to redo tests while others who have always achieved to set standards may be bored! Parents should be alert to kids who come home saying they are bored or that their teacher was spending all her time conducting quizzes for the weaker students. Get additional workbooks or even reading materials for your kids to take to school.

Is There Enough Taught?
This is the one greatest fear that most parents have spoken about. If so much time is spent by the teacher administering quizzes and conducting evaluation during class time, when does the poor teacher have the time to really teach the content? In our country, there is no such thing as teacher assistant where one can teach a group while the other help with conducting the evaluation. Parents should monitor their children’s progress and get involved hands on if they find that their child is not learning much. Parents were once students and should be able to spot problems quickly.

No Exams
My kids need exams to give them a target to work towards and I am sure yours does too. Without exams, there is a risk that kids might not learn much. This is not entirely true but than again all kids are different. Exams are a measure of things that are yet to be mastered or the weakness of our children. The earlier the intervention, the better the long-term effects. Parents need to know what their kids are weak in and help them to catch up. Exams also help in teacher evaluation. Some teachers do more than others. This is a fact. Without the exams there is no real benchmark and this is worrying. Parents should ensure that students do work at home even if there is no homework. There are a wide variety of workbooks and academic material in the market that parents should take advantage of.

Non-Measurable Evaluation
Many parents love examinations because evaluation is fair and transparent. When evaluation is based on behaviour codes like leadership qualities, responsibility and attitude, there will always be room for unhappiness. Our teachers have to be absolutely fair and give the grades that the student really deserves without taking any external factors into count. Can they do this?

Students Use Technology
Are we ready for this as a nation? If we are looking at computers, will each student be given a computer to work on or if the research has to be done at home, does each child have a computer at home? Think about this as a nation as a whole and you will see the problem.Is the technology used reliable and not prone to problems? If the system breaks down, do we have a reliable support system that can rectify the problem immediately? Again think nation wide.Have the teachers been given adequate training to carry out lessons using the modern technology. Many of our young ones today are fast and pros in using the iPad, iBook, and every other device that we adults use. In fact my children are better than me. Based on this, teachers should be one step ahead to be able to hold the respect of their students and get their teaching done!

To end, I can only say this. All systems have their merits and flaws. The KSSR is no different. As parents we cannot merely leave it to the school and hope our child will reap maximum benefits from the system. We should always monitor and be aware of the shortcomings and take the necessary actions when there is a need. In this way, I am sure your child will have a wonderful schooling experience.

– Kalai Lingam

How to maximize your child’s development with the use of technology

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Today, let us explore the role of parents in maximizing their children’s development in the use of technology and how to set guideline to give children the freedom to seek information and become independent learners.

Most parents are afraid of letting their precious little ones being exposed to the computer and the Internet. Their reasons can be summed up in two distinct areas:

There is a health issue
It can damage the eyes with the prolonged staring of the computer screen. It can cause bad posture, with kids slouching in their chairs and of course, the most common being, it promotes anti social behaviour.

The content is not suitable for children
The Internet exposes kids to a world without boundaries. As much as there is so much to praise, the amount of violence and sexual content o the web is definitely frightening and parents strive to protect their children from this.

So, let us see what we can do as parents, to get past the above and focus on how parents can introduce children to the world of computers and the Internet without any negative results.

Set rules
This has to be done as early as possible. The sooner the rules are put into place the easier it is to enforce them. Let is realize that the problem is not with the technology but with parents not being able to set rules and stick to them! For a young child of the kindergarten age, I would allow the child to use the computer for half an hour and not a minute more. I would set an alarm if I have to just so the child knows when to stop. For older children, I would give them a slightly longer period depending on their age.When there are two or three children involved, set a simple timetable and there will be no quarrelling in the near future. Parents need to understand that children need rules like this. It gives their world some form of structure and security. They know what they are entitled to and this gives them some for of control of their life.

Make sure your hardware is child friendly
These include not only the computer but also the table, chair and the lighting. The table and chair has to be suitable for the child’s height. Do not allow young children to slouch on the bed or the couch. Practice discipline early and you will be screaming less in the future! Try to have a study area in your home if you can. I would strongly discourage the dining table for this purpose unless there is no other space available.In my home, I have delegated one room as the Study Room where I have shelves for books and my husband, my children and I have individual tables for ‘work’. This was the best decision I made. Today, this is the most used room in our home and a lot of quality time is spent here. We are also closer to the children because of it. Computers/laptops are not allowed in the bedrooms and are only used here. If your children are young, do not spend too much on hardware. State of the art laptops and computers will be a waste as children can be careless and can damage things. Instead, ensure that the children sit at a proper distance from the screen and if they are using a mouse, make sure it fits their little fingers. If you are going to up grade your computer, give them your old one. Let them trash it and no one will be upset!

Check content
Most systems today come with some form of parental control. Check your system and get this one running. Look at the settings and the preferences on your computer and change this according to your needs. When it is your child’s turn to use the computer, you have to be with them. Never leave the child alone. Giving a child a task to do and then disappearing into the kitchen or running off to have a bath is wrong. To help you child achieve the best you have to make sacrifices. This is a fact. From my experience as a teacher for more than 27 years, I can state with confidence, that the most successful children are those whose parents invested their Time on them. It is easy to invest money on our children but are you willing to invest your Time on them? Think about it. Make time to be with your children during Study Time. You will have to have done some form of ‘homework’ on your end to know what you want your children to do. Let us not forget that the computer and the Internet is not merely a source of entertainment but information as well. There are many web sites that cater for this and there are CDs for different age groups and different purpose. Do your research.

Next week let us explore the software and activities that parents can do with their children using the Internet.

7个方法让孩子不在沉迷于平版电脑

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在这个科技日新月异的时代，现代的小孩早已经脱离了跳房子和捉迷藏的时代，取而代之的尽是科技产品。不可否认，平板电脑的出现带来了利与弊，但，年纪尚小的孩子却过于沉迷其中，是不是也影响了其身心的成长呢？身为家长的又该怎么做呢？

带孩子参与户外活动，接触大自然
父母可以带孩子多参于户外活动，接触大自然继而接近绿色，有益眼睛。除了平板电脑里的游戏，现实生活中依然存有刺激好玩户外的游戏，例如，放风筝，野餐，欣赏风景等等。若父母工作真的如此忙碌不堪，不妨试试在晚餐后带着自家的孩子步行道附近的公园。不单只是让孩子放下平板电脑，其间亲子两的沟通谈话也可增进感情。

父母需以身作则
父母就是孩子就好的投射镜。希望自家的孩子远离平板电脑或是其他科技产品，身为父母的必定身体力行，减少在孩子面前使用的次数。孩子在耳濡目染的情况下，相对的也会把自己从平板电脑这个大漩涡中抽离。试问，若上梁如此歪曲，下梁又怎会正呢？

限制玩平板电脑的时间
若孩子真的离不开平板电脑，家长可限制玩平板电脑的时间。半个小时？一个小时？取决于父母的决定。限制的时间到了之后就吩咐孩子把平板电脑乖乖的放下。久而久之，孩子也间接的学习到自律这个好习惯。

鼓励孩子参与群体活动
父母亲可为孩子准备群体游戏，召集年龄相仿的孩子到家中做游戏，为此而放下了手上的平板电脑。这不但可以扩大孩子的生活圈子更可让孩子认识多点朋友继而不容易怕生。

利用爱的教育劝导孩子
孩子们的心智尚未成熟，不能分辨事情的严重性继而沉迷或不可自拔。身为父母的应以友善的方式为孩子分析平板电脑的利与弊，让孩子对于沉迷平板电脑又多一层认识。若孩子了解其中的弊自然而然的就会不再沉迷。

挑起孩子对其他事物的兴趣
每个孩子都有无限可能，若因为一架平板电脑而束缚了孩子其他的天赋，是多么可惜的一件事。父母可以挑起孩子对于其他事物的兴趣，例如，画画，跳舞或是阅读。让孩子有兴趣的爱好远远超越平板电脑继而不再沉迷。

设定密码
为孩子的平板电脑设置密码，每当孩子要求玩的时候都必须征求家长的同意才可使用。没有输入正确的密码，平板电脑根本无法操作，孩子当然也毫无办法继而放弃该念头。

现今社会不论大人小孩都过分依赖科技产品，“低头族”这个词已经不再陌生。科技带来了便利与进步，却也不可否认的它进步带来了诸多的坏处。然而，单靠一方面的努力是不够的，所以无论大人小孩都必须尽量给予配合，不让孩子栽在平板电脑这个泥坑里不能自拔。

This article was written by Catherina (爱琏). Catherina is a full time TV show editor and has a love for writing. She graduated from Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TARUC) with a major in Mass Communication.

So you got your kid a computer. Now what?

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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.

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”.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Parents, Technology and the New Primary Curriculum

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The new primary curriculum or KSSR puts a great emphasis on the use of technology in the teaching and learning process. The rationale for this is that we need our students to be technology savvy to be able to not just stand abreast but to move ahead in a highly competitive world.

The use of technology improves learning. When used correctly, it improves the speed of learning and increases the scope of learning. It can also increase the amount of time spent learning as it supports twenty-four hours of learning everyday.

On the part of the learner, the use technology introduces the learner to new skills. Technology is constantly evolving and learners need to know how to use these materials. There was a day in the past when the pen was seen a technological marvel and today computers, smart phones and e-‘just about everything’ have taken over the world by storm. Our children have to know and be confident in using these items to benefit from them. The world is constantly on the move and our children have to be taught to embrace positive changes in the world around them.

The use of technology is good in the process of learning as it increases student’s involvement and engagement. When we look at the computer and the Internet we can see the benefits at once.

Information is lateral and vertical
Say for example, when a teacher uses an online text on building airplanes to teach the English Language, a student who is interested in building airplanes will be able to use this text as a platform to seek more information on this topic. It provides the scope for students to pursue their interests or be introduced to many new areas that they may have an interest for.

Learning is interactive
Learners get instant feedback of their understanding on a particular subject. When a learner keys in a wrong answer, the learning portal will immediately point this out and the learner has to try again. A right answer will move him/her to the next level. This interactive feature is very effective in learning, as mistakes are instantly corrected. Furthermore, the ‘game like’ features in these portals are able to capture the learner’s attention for a longer period. The use of sound and colour and the ability to move from level to level each time the learner is able to do the given task correctly, makes learning fun and effective. Technology is often successful in removing boredom from the teaching-learning process. Students will be motivated to sit for longer periods and learn while having fun. This in turn accelerates the learning process.

Learning at your own pace
Our children are all different. Their family background, the social economic status, their previous learnt knowledge and of course, the genetic factors will all affect how quickly the absorb new information. With the use of technology, learners will move from stage to stage at his/her own pace. Those who are able to grasp the content quickly will be able to move on to other things while those who are slower will move at their own pace. Let us also not forget, that children generally are better in some areas and weaker in others and this will allow a more comfortable learning platform.

Weaker students can have more teacher time
Technology encourages independent learning and the teacher will be able to focus on some learners more than others. Some learners, depending on the many factors mentioned above, still need their teacher to hold their hands and show them how it is done. They need to hear their teacher’s voice and a ‘one to one human interaction’ to help them understand content. Sometimes, pair work can be conducted, where peer teaching is encouraged. It is a fact that one of the best ways to learn is to teach. By getting students who understand the content to guide the weaker once, both learners benefit and a greater sense of accomplishment is achieved.

Students become independent learners
Technology allows students to taught how to seek and validate information. Most lessons that are linked with technology require students to do research independently and present their work. This often takes place in the form of independent presentation or group presentation. Students learn to look for information, evaluate the information, present and give their opinions on the given topic. On a higher order scale of learning, this leads to reasoning and decision-making skills that are life skills that each individual needs to have.

Parent’s Role
Based on the above, parents should understand that technology is something that is good and can enhance their children’s learning and performance in school and in life. Of course, on the flip side, the use of technology, meaning computers, without any supervision can be damaging for the child’s health and learning process. Eventually, it all comes down to the parents. You have to have the knowledge on how to make the most of what you have, how to supervise, how to motivate and how to give your kids the confidence to use these instruments for their benefit.

Why Home-Schooling Could Be Another Option

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“It’s because of you mummy’s late for work.”

The memories of these words have always remained vivid till this present day. It was as if it occurred yesterday. I remembered this particular mom while dropping off my then 2-year old son at the same day care centre. She was very frustrated with her daughter simply for causing her to be late for work. Leaving her daughter all sobbing and trembling, she left without even saying goodbye. I was taken aback at that moment. Looking at the little girl’s face pinning for her mother…. I thought to myself. No child should be left feeling that way. So unwanted.

I must say that the incident was an incredible life-changing episode in my life, considering the fact that I too was once in the rat race. Deep down, I knew I could not bear to walk down that same road. Finally, I checked my son out of the day care centre, took that courageous plunge and decided to home-school my child.

Fast-forward, my son is a healthy emotional 8 year old boy today. He’s inquisitive and warm. Sure, we may not afford an iPad or the latest Lego gadgets but we are happy having one another. He dotes on his 4 year old sister although they do get on each other’s nerves. They are a living proof of a home loving school environment. On some days, we indulge in painting activities, making our very own home dough. Other days, they’ll be cycling in the park or building puzzles. Then there’s water play and science experiments which my kids really love conducting them. In fact, when they were babies, we used to read to them. Till this very day, they enjoy being read to so much so that I have to hide the book after reading it for 50 times.

Some of you might wonder how I’m able to find time while managing the household chores. And yet having the energy to home-school them. The truth is you never will have the time. I used to be very upbeat when the floor was dirty with paints or when the clothes were not entirely ironed. I think the key to having a conducive home-schooling is to prioritise and manage it out TOGETHER with the kids and their father. I think support comes in many ways. Some of you may have parents or in laws or perhaps the assistance of a domestic helper. I, for one do not have much of that kind of support. My little helpers are my kids. Three thousand years ago, a wise man said, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it”. Since the kids were very little, we trained them to keep their toys after playing with them. They are also taught to clean up a mess by using a dust pan. Spilled water should be wiped with a cloth. All plates should be sent into the sink after meals. In fact, my 4 year old daughter is learning how to make her bed. Just by folding her blanket in different shapes i.e. square, rectangle and star really excites her. Peeling off garlic skin is also one of my daughter’s favourite activities. She will patiently stand on her step stool and help me whisk the eggs. My point is, home-schooling need not be in a form of merely knowledge from books but rather little life experiences as I mentioned above.

Sure, there’ll be ups and downs, I kid you not and at times you might even feel like throwing in the towel. Your kids might talk back or even be rude at times. Honestly, there is no perfect home (noticed that I use the word conducive and not perfect). Being humans, we all have needs. I used to splurge on clothes and shoes unnecessarily when I was in the working force. I was never near the kitchen but today I am glad to say that I am able to cook decent meals for my family. Somehow you learn to define what is more important in life.

My only advise to moms or dads who wish to take this route, is to do it because you want to do it not because you are pressured by the views of others. If you can afford it, financially and emotionally, home-school your kids while they are still at their tender ages because this home-schooling route is a challenging one, which requires a tremendous amount of patience. The fact that your kids might not have the latest stuff or you not being able to purchase that LV handbag may not go down very well with some parents. To be honest, many parents are quite adamant in keeping up with the Joneses. But, then again, there is no wrong to that philosophy either. It’s just a matter of prioritising what’s important.

To me, when my 8 year old says this “Come sis, mom is not feeling well today. Let’s give her a massage. Mom’s always doing things for us. Now it’s our turn to do the same”.

That lights up my life….

This article was contributed by Lin Dee. She has spent the last 5 years as a full-time mother, during which she partially home-schooled her two kids. Lin Dee is a former English graduate of University Putra Malaysia (UPM).