Each kid has a unique personality and they all follow different journeys for learning. However, their developments are similar in some parts. They all walk first then run! We came up with several tips that fit every age group for you. Remember not to compare kids with one another. This might demotivate them for their own interests since each kid is special in his/her own journey.
Pre-School
Let them make friends!
At the ages of 5-7, kids discover social groups and communication. Friendships gain high importance at this time of the development. They can discover what it means to be alone. Especially if they go to kindergarten they might experience this more than the other kids.
Boost their self confidence.
You can teach them how to take responsibilities by giving them small tasks. They can take the trash out or carry the keys when you go out. This way, they can have a high self esteem and grow up to be responsible adults.
Increase their attention span.
All these devices around them might have a negative impact on their focus. In order to increase their concentration span, you can develop games for memory or mathematics together. It is also nice to have a limit for electronic devices.
Let them run, let them jump!
Kids have a great energy at these ages. Do not put a barrier on their way of expressing their excitement. It is beneficial for them to do exercises at these ages for a healthy development. It might be tough to find areas to do sports in big cities. You can arrange weekly walks in such cases.
Improve their sleeping schedule.
Sleep has a great impact on healthy development of your kids. Make sure that they go to bed early so that they can get up early and have energy to start the day next morning.
Primary School
Encourage them to read more.
Your kids will learn how to read between 7-10. Maybe, they already learned it. It might be confusing to learn how to write and how to spell words. The best way to enhance this process is to read books. You can arrange reading hours every day as a family so that kids turn it into a habit at the early ages.
Help them discover themselves.
At these stages of life, your kids get to know more and more people. Friends are important to build an identity and feel belonging. Make sure to guide them softly these times. You can discover Twing for them to understand their area of interests. Twing is a free mobile application that serves hundreds of activities for kids to discover themselves.
Tell them rules with reasons.
As kids grow up, they learn the rules of society and how to implement them. At these times explain the idea behind each rule so that they understand why they need to obey these rules. This way, they can grow up to great citizens contributing to the world.
Middle School
Guide them during puberty.
Puberty makes a lot of changes physically and mentally in kids. Their perspectives of life develop at this stage and they start questioning abstract concepts such as love, faith and the meaning of life. You can guide them during these severe changes. Teach them how to cope with emotional up and downs.
Get a hobby.
Hobbies are beneficial for locating their energy and improving their attention span. Learn together what they like whether it is sports or arts. Having a hobby to spend some time on will surely help them relax.
Listen.
This stage is where the kids have emotional changes quickly with the start of puberty. Make sure you listen to their problems and stories. Provide them a medium where they can ask any question they have to you. Sharing is caring.
A good sleep is the key to a better learning experience. A poor sleeping schedule may affect your kids’ growth in a highly negative way leading problems in attention span. Why should we care about our children’s sleeping schedule? What happens as a result of a poor sleep? Why is sleep so important to enhace learning. We came up with 5 important points to answer these questions.
1. Proper sleep fosters planning skills.
Lack of sleep may cause damage on brain’s area which is responsible from planning and problem solving. Thus, kids have trouble in figuring out easy tasks or they lose their school materials. They might also find it difficult to prioritize their homeworks. An insufficient amount of sleep also decreases kids’ response time.
2. A poor sleep makes them angry and weak.
Kids’ bodies produce energy to start the next day better while sleeping. If a kid cannot get proper sleep, he might feel frustrated. They might have trouble joining in teamworks and adopting to what is around them. If your kids suffer from such issues for more than 2-4 weeks, consult your doctor.
3. A good sleep increases attention span.
According to researches, lack of sleep cause brain to feel like sleeping while awake. So, kids that cannot get enough sleep may have a decrease in their attention span. They may have trouble in focusing. They have a great tendency to make mistakes or concentrate on something for a period of time.
4. Sleeping enhances memory.
When kids do not get enough sleep, their memory is affected at the first place. A brain that lacks sleep has difficulties on focusing. So, it makes it a lot more difficult to remember new things properly. A poor sleeping schedule might also damage the forming of memories. For example, if a kid learns a new topic at school, he may forget it the next day.
5. Sleep affects creativity.
Creativity is connected to memory and attention. Lack of sleep affects these two as well as creativity negatively. Brain refreshes itself during sleep. A brain that doesn’t do so, cannot produce something new. Thus, you cannot expect a kids who doesn’t get enough sleep to be creative.
The term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is progressively becoming an important fixture in education and the world economy. The reason for this is that the careers of the future will most certainly be centered around STEM fields, while also invoking 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, cultural awareness, collaboration and problem-solving. When done well, STEM education complements the development of 21st century skills. Hence, many teachers are starting to integrate STEM in their lessons. But what are the benefits for kids? In this article, we talk about ten advantages of receiving a STEM education in child’s development.
1. Improves creativity
We’ve heard the saying “thinking outside of the box”, right? Well, creativity is truly the centerpiece of a STEM education. STEM students are encouraged to come up with unique ideas and to take on an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex issues.
2. Increases team collaboration
Often times in the real world and in the workplace, teams are required to solve and complete multifaceted problems. In light of this, STEM education prioritizes collaboration and teamwork in its syllabus to teach to kids the importance of communication and leadership towards achieving common goals.
3. Develops communication skills
Communication skills are perhaps the most important of all life skills. Having the ability to discuss and convey complex concepts to others while also learning from one another will be the key to achieving success in a child’s life as they grow up. Group activities in STEM promote sociable skills like active listening, open-mindedness, and open them up to giving and receiving constructive feedback.
4. Empowers critical thinking skills
The kind of material offered in a STEM education is focused on engaging kids in critical thinking. Critical thinking is the process of actively conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, and evaluating information through observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication. As such, students will be encouraged to answer questions or solve problems not based on memorization but based on actively engaging with the material to understand the issue at hand and solve it using logic. These kinds of situations better reflect what is expected of them in the workplace – experiencing situations like this early in their education will better prepare them for their futures.
5. Boosts curiosity
STEM is all about empowering kids to ask “why” and “how” questions. STEM will provide students the opportunity to explore their imaginations to come up with imaginative solutions. Curious students are invested in their education and are the driving force of innovation and discovery.
6. Improves cognitive skills
Cognitive skills are the brain-based skills that enhance thinking, reading and learning. Much like a muscle, it can be exercised and strengthened through training. When engaged in STEM subjects, students can develop and strengthen their cognitive skills and learn the basics of coding and engineering in primary schools. This approach will develop kids’ cognitive abilities and aid them in the speed and quality of their problem-solving skills.
7. Introduces STEM careers at early ages
Studies show that a majority of careers will be centered around STEM subjects or will have STEM components to them. By introducing STEM at an early stage of a child’s life, you are introducing them to a world of opportunities and nurturing the skills needed to succeed in the 21st-century.
8. Teaches how to take initiative
Learning is evolving into more of a fun activity. STEM gives curious students the skills to tackle problems confidently and facilitates a more positive feeling about learning, greater self-confidence in students, and diffuses negative biases that contribute to the growth of individuals who are curious, confident and take the initiative when dealing with challenges.
9. Enhances media literacy
Unlike other curriculums, STEM students learn by research and inquiry. Inquiry requires students to engage in active learning by generating their own driving questions and seeking out answers through reading and research. In this way, they can apply what they have learned to daily life.
10. Boosts social-emotional learning (SEL)
Social-emotional abilities bring about happiness and success in life. STEM education encourages children to improve their SEL skills before becoming active members of society. Aside from personal development, including SEL strategies in teaching empower students to learn more academically.
Twin is a complete educational program which makes learning playful, individual, and wholesome. Using any of our five kits, kids will learn about robotics, science, and technology like never before. They design, build and code with electronic modules to create an infinite number of projects.
With homeschooling, kids spend a lot of time in front of the screen. We know many of you as parents are concerned about your children. We came up with 5 activities that do not require screen and teach one of the most important skills of the 21st century: CODING!
How to play: Get yourself a piece of paper and write down your morning routine. The keystone of algorithmic thinking is to break things down into steps. The game starts with the question of what everyone does when they wake up and what the order of this routine is.Think about having breakfast and washing your face. How does one pass from one activity to other one? It is the concept of transitions! How does one change these steps? In the end, kids should have a structure of their morning routine and understand how they can modify it. What you learn: Children will discover decomposition and transitions. They will learn how to break down a problem into smaller parts and define its pattern.
2- Teaching Robot Making Hot-dogs
How to play: Make a story about a robot just starting to work in a hot-dog restaurant. The kids are asked to teach the robot how to prepare these hot-dogs. Do not forget to mention that the robot is not a human, so it doesn’t know how to proceed with the food. They need to tell how they make a hot-dog. Then, you can ask them how they would tell these instructions to the robot. When they are ready, you can pretend to be the robot and make the hot-dogs according to their instructions. Let’s see if it tastes good. What you learn: Decomposition is an important term to understand coding. Breaking down a task into small tasks is the basics of code development.
3- Algorithm Cups
How to play: First of all, you need to print the piece below to start the game. The kids are asked to record their design on this printable. Give kids cups to start their design. They can use these cups later on to ensure that their algorithm is accurate. You should describe what each symbol means in the algorithm. They may use all of these symbols for their design. They will form their stack accordingly. What you learn: Children discover the concept of algorithms with this cup game.
4- Binary Messaging
How to play: Gather kids together and ask them to think of a secret message. Give them the ASCII code printable below. They need to transform their messages into ASCII codes as if they will store them in computers. Then, ask them to change their messages between one another. Now, they need to understand the message stored in their friend’s computer. Let’s see who is the fastest! What you learn: Children will learn how information is stored in computers as binary values.
5- If…, Then…
How to play: In this game, one of the kids determines the actions of the others. For example, if he looks at them they need to stand still. If he raises his left arm, they need to dance. Children all agree on these signals and the game starts. This way, kids pretend like computers. They obey the rules as if they are the commands pressed. The command makes them do the related move. The list of moves is endless! What you learn: Children will learn “If-Then” cause structure of coding. This is the logic that all computers were built on. Kids will discover how commands result in programming.
For years, pediatrics supported the idea that children should not be dealing with their computers or phones for more than 2 hours. With the strong integration of technology into our lives, these beliefs are about to change. Although these screens are a big part of kids’ learning, it is still an important responsibility of parents to ensure that their little ones do not grow dependent on these devices.
Problems with the screen time
Your kids cannot imagine a life without their phones, right? They were born into a world where they were directly exposed with any form of technology. The impact of these devices for learning and entertainment is undeniable. However, a poor quality screen time might have harms more than benefits for your kids’ growth:
Irregular sleeping schedule: Looking at screens for hours may cause severe sleeping problems including insomnia due to light emitted.
Obesity: Sedentary activities such as playing an online game for hours might be a cause of getting overweight.
Tendency to Violence: Many TV shows, video games and movies include violent elements. Children may learn through these and try to imitate such acts.
Trouble focusing: Kids might find it difficult to engage with real life activities after being exposed to unreal concepts.
Lack of communication: Kids may spend hours in front of their computer without speaking a word. This may lead to further problems about self expression in the future.
Why new screen time rules?
In a world where everything goes digital, it is impossible to ask kids to quit their phones. This digitalization procedure brings a more flexible approach for the screen time. Parents are encouraged to moderate their kids’ engagement with devices but they should not have strict restrictions as before.
American Association of Pediatrics(AAP) emphasizes that an overall embargo on technological devices is not necessary. Although the kids might be exposed to inappropriate content, there is an undeniable amount of educational content online. It is the parents’ job to make sure that kids get the right out of it.
What should be the approach?
How to set the limits for screen time depends a lot on kids’ maturity and age. Although it differs for each kid, we have several recommendations to ensure that your kids enjoy quality screen time:
Encourage educational content:
In the early ages, it is important to teach kids that the media available should be used for the good. It is fine to play games and enjoy your time but this should not be the main focus of screen time. Lots of educational content is available on apps and websites. For example, Twing App includes many activities related to arts, science, robotics and many more. Children can try experiments at home while inspiring each other on the platform safely.
Be a role model:
We all know kids imitate their parents. Make sure to set healthy limits for your own use of devices. Try to engage in physical activities or books to show them you are not dependent on your phone.
Engage with kids’ digital world:
Learn about their favorite activities online. Try to engage with their digital world by coming up with options that you can enjoy together on your devices.
Establish limits:
Kids might not be mature enough to set their limits and it is crucial to take the important steps before screens turn into an addiction. Recommend no screen times for dinner or car rides. Establish these rules as the whole family to engage kids better.
Turn mistakes into lifelong learnings:
Be prepared to see your child failing in handling their devices. Whether he logs into an inappropriate website or goes over the data limits, make him understand the lesson of the mistake.
Check their social media:
Social media can be challenging to handle for kids especially for younger ones. They might develop their communication skills as well as their confidence while expressing themselves online. However, make sure you have an idea of their accounts and what they share.
Take a day off:
You can consider a digital detox day or week. The family as a whole should accept to leave their phones, iPads and laptops aside for one day. You may come up with activities such as book discussions or box games to strengthen the family bonds. At the end of the day, do not forget to talk about how it made you feel to be away from the screens.
Although many jobs will disappear in the future, jobs centered around STEM are expected to get more demand. Thus, STEM learning starts to take a huge part in education both at school and at home. Besides being a composition of science, technology, engineering and maths, STEM resembles a rational growth mindset. We came up with 7 tips to incite passion in your little ones towards this interdisciplinary field.
1- Learn with experiments.
We all know seeing is a hundred times better than reading for learning procedure. In this case, experimenting and learning through experiment results is critical for kids. Whether they fail or succeed in the experiment, make sure they understand the principles behind it. Making connections with real life examples also enhances the active learning period. There are many resources online that you and your little ones can do together. You can grow your own bacteria or make your own lava lamp. You can take a look at Twing App for cool activities to do at home easily and start with your favorites!
2- Visit a museum together.
A trip to understand a historical event or how an invention was made is remarkable for every child’s learning period. Besides the informational service in museums, fun activities created for kids such as painting with Van Gogh or experiencing ancient times with VR encourage active learning. Do not forget to share what inspired you the most in the museum at the end of the trip.
3- Explore tech toys.
We all enjoy making our little ones happy with the toys they like. However, it is important that they develop themselves with these toys while having fun. Toys based on STEM are getting popular each day. The robotics sets or coding modules are available in many stores. Such toys enhance the curiosity of kids while also developing their motor skills. Twin Science Kits might be a good start for kids interested in robotic coding!
4- Learn about STEM role models.
Role models are the best teachers. They do not teach any lectures but their life lessons are inspiring. Discover such STEM role models with your kids and learn about their school life. Seeing that these amazing people such as Edison, Da Vinci from past or Elon Musk from today’s world were also kids once and they failed a lot in the journey that took them there. This way, they can engage with STEM concepts better. You can also encourage them to imagine themselves as the future STEM role models.
5- Go for a walk to discover nature.
There is an infinite amount of knowledge hidden in nature. How a plant grows or why an insect group follows each other are all amazing information for kids to discover. Go for a walk to discover what is around you in the closest park. Try to see the hidden beauties in the forests. Find insects from different families and give them your own names. See which plants prefer living together and understand the concept of mutual relationships in nature.
6- Make a DIY project every week.
21st century is proving that science and art are complements of each other. Da Vinci’s works such as golden ratio is one of the best examples of this great combination. The best way to discover this combination is to build DIY projects. Every week, design a project yourself whether it is about robotics or sewing. Make a quick research to find the best DIY projects that you are interested in and start this week!
7- Join STEM camps.
The best way to engage with STEM is to experience and share it with others. Many foundations organize camps that offer you a week full of STEM activities as well as funny games. Search for a camp that might appeal to your child’s interest areas and get ready to learn science in a collaborative environment. Kids inspire each other while developing their knowledge on related fields of science. It is much more engaging than reading about it on the Internet. Make sure he keeps a camp diary to take notes about every experience he has.
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