Are You a Square Peg?
Are you a square peg? Think back over your career in school.
The words that pop into my head about that time are 'hard slog,' 'waste of time,' 'learning through fear' and 'why?' Each class room is filled with a motley crew of students.
There is the joker, the perfectionist, the child who fidgets, the intelligent one (he will go far), the dunce, the trouble maker and many variations of these.
Through the eyes of the teachers students are categorised.
Each day the teacher stands at the top of the classroom and delivers the material in the same way as the previous day, the previous week and previous year.
Why do they do that? Some students sit and write down every word the teacher says - so that they can read over it later and learn it off by heart.
These children are unable to retain information that is delivered via auditory means only.
What about pictures and visual stimulation? This falls by the wayside when a child moves from the junior class to senior.
Life is more serious now.
There is no time to have fun.
Get the head down and study hard.
What happens the square pegs?.
What about the child who is always doodling in class? Is this child bold? The teacher notices him and asks him to put his pen down and to look and listen to her.
This child is a kinesthetic learner.
He learns best through movement.
When he is doodling he feels relaxed and is able to process the information from the teacher easier.
When he is sitting still and 'looking and listening,' he is not relaxed.
He is using a lot of his energy trying to stay still to please the teacher.
He is unable to process any information.
No learning is taking place.
How is he feeling now? Teacher has asked him to 'look and listen to her' several times a day now.
He probably feels a bit stupid and thinks maybe there is something wrong with him.
He starts to question everything he does, becomes very self-conscious, may not want to go into class, give up doing homework altogether.
What is the point? He can't do anything right.
A child's emotional well-being and basic needs are of ultimate importance.
If these needs are not met, then learning of any kind will not happen.
Children need to be nurtured and understood for who they are and not what we want them to be.
Truth be told they are our teachers.
Instead of trying to fit each child into an out dated teaching system that needs to be overhauled, see your child for who he is.
Each child is individual.
Listen to him and talk with him.
You will be truly amazed.
Embrace your square peg.
The words that pop into my head about that time are 'hard slog,' 'waste of time,' 'learning through fear' and 'why?' Each class room is filled with a motley crew of students.
There is the joker, the perfectionist, the child who fidgets, the intelligent one (he will go far), the dunce, the trouble maker and many variations of these.
Through the eyes of the teachers students are categorised.
Each day the teacher stands at the top of the classroom and delivers the material in the same way as the previous day, the previous week and previous year.
Why do they do that? Some students sit and write down every word the teacher says - so that they can read over it later and learn it off by heart.
These children are unable to retain information that is delivered via auditory means only.
What about pictures and visual stimulation? This falls by the wayside when a child moves from the junior class to senior.
Life is more serious now.
There is no time to have fun.
Get the head down and study hard.
What happens the square pegs?.
What about the child who is always doodling in class? Is this child bold? The teacher notices him and asks him to put his pen down and to look and listen to her.
This child is a kinesthetic learner.
He learns best through movement.
When he is doodling he feels relaxed and is able to process the information from the teacher easier.
When he is sitting still and 'looking and listening,' he is not relaxed.
He is using a lot of his energy trying to stay still to please the teacher.
He is unable to process any information.
No learning is taking place.
How is he feeling now? Teacher has asked him to 'look and listen to her' several times a day now.
He probably feels a bit stupid and thinks maybe there is something wrong with him.
He starts to question everything he does, becomes very self-conscious, may not want to go into class, give up doing homework altogether.
What is the point? He can't do anything right.
A child's emotional well-being and basic needs are of ultimate importance.
If these needs are not met, then learning of any kind will not happen.
Children need to be nurtured and understood for who they are and not what we want them to be.
Truth be told they are our teachers.
Instead of trying to fit each child into an out dated teaching system that needs to be overhauled, see your child for who he is.
Each child is individual.
Listen to him and talk with him.
You will be truly amazed.
Embrace your square peg.
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