Does group study work?-Lawrence School

With the board exams looming large, class X and XII students are busy revising the lessons studied throughout the year. This brings us to the much debated question: ’should students be allowed to study along with their peers?’

At the outset, it might seem like a no-brainer that when children from the same age bracket come together it can only lead to whiling of time, discussions that are not related to studies and playing on gadgets; in a nut shell, a complete no-no from the adult clan.

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However, if you analyze such an arrangement objectively, you would be convinced of its benefits and effectiveness.  While there is a possibility of children losing focus and seriousness, thereby slowing down even the sincere and hard-working lot in the group, it can serve as a huge motivation factor and also a check-point for students to perform better.

A healthy competition can be generated within the group to ensure that everyone is using his/her time effectively to attain a specific goal. Exchange of ideas and better grasping of concepts can be possible when students share their knowledge within the group. 

Time can also effectively used when chapters get divided between the members of the group and later an amalgamation of ideas and concepts takes place. It can be a win-win situation provided some amount of self-discipline is maintained.

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/ 

Learning a language naturally-Lawrence School

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Speaking our mother tongue was never a challenge to any one of us for the simple reason that the language was not 'taught' to us formally by stressing on the sentence formation, the correct grammar and the vocabulary. We learned it automatically as children by listening to the adults in the house speak it. It just came to us naturally since we were exposed to it.

Shouldn't the same principle hold good for any other language? The best way to learn any other language be it a second or third Indian language in school or even a foreign language would be to listen to the native speakers as much as possible without stressing too much over the syntax and grammar.

Grammar is important to any language but when it is learned in a formal and narrow manner where one needs to learn the rules by rote, solve umpteen puzzles and questions, it just kills the joy of learning. Instead if we can concentrate on reading books in the said language, our minds would automatically grasp the nuances.

Reading and listening should thereby precede talking when learning any language. Thirdly, and most importantly, is the need to shed inhibitions. Fear of making a mistake will only hinder learning. Mistakes are opportunities to correct ourselves and hence should not be taken as a failure.

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/ 

Why should children play?-Lawrence School

Children and play are spoken in the same breath since play is as natural to them as breathing. Unstructured play is as important as any structured activity in a child's life. Unstructured play is any activity that the child performs without adult guidance. Children learn a lot from activities that seem futile or wasteful in an adult's eyes. 

Have you observed how a child never tires of the same game. The game gives him an opportunity to unleash his imagination. When the kid struggles with a set of puzzles and gets it right after several attempts. It teaches him the lesson of perseverance. It is their first tryst with problem solving techniques. 

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Give a toddler a pair of scissors and see the magic unfold. Let his imagination and creativity take over and allow him to gain confidence in his skills. Let him play and explore with colours and allow him the freedom to experiment. 

The power of unstructured activity cannot be measured quantitatively. A group of kids playing together might mean nothing to an adult but the kids are learning to play as a team, take lead when an opportunity arises, learn communication skills, understand the power of negotiation, etc. 

Unfortunately, play-time has become a scare commodity in the tech-age life of children. Busy parents hastily thrust gadgets into the child's hands and inadvertently diminish the spark out of the kid's natural being. Schools that stress more on academics than sports and games fail to nurture the child in a holistic way.

We need to take that extra step and effort to let our kids be. It is easy to engage them in classes of various kinds in a bid to productively use their time. However it is necessary to allow for the so-called unproductive activity for that's how they will learn skills that no curriculum or class can teach.

Lawrence High School, located at HSR layout, Bangalore, focuses on educating children with traditional values to adapt and excel in the world. To know more about Lawrence school, please visit the website http://lawrenceschool.in/ and join us at our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrence-School/