The world is fast tilting towards a higher demand for specialised self learning skills and more self-awareness. An effective way to help students upgrade their learning is through involvement in learning sessions outside the classroom like enroling them in child enrichment prorgammes. Extending learning beyond the confines of the classroom can vastly enhance the child’s academic ability by exposing them to the real-life application of the formulas and theories they are learning in their classes. Outside the classroom learning refers to using locations that go beyond the school walls for the purpose of learning. It’s about getting children explore challenging and exciting experiences from which they can learn valuable lessons.
Such places or experiences may refer to a location (like a visit to a science museum), an activity (project-based team activities etc.) or an after school programme. But regardless of the location or activity, the purpose is to offer students an immersive learning experience that will prepare them for success beyond school.
Such learning experiences differ from conventional teaching methods as students are encouraged to engage with a broader set of skills like leadership, teamwork etc. In conventional classrooms, you don’t get to see students getting encouraged to develop their problem solving, critical thinking or decision making skills which pretty much become a part of outside the classroom and after-school programs. There are kids learning centres like Kumon where they focus on building a child’s academic ability by awakening their learning ability. A typical classroom in a school can have 30, 40 or even 50 students but with different levels of learning. But the class progresses at its own pace and not the individual pace of the student. This can lead to learning gaps for few. At Kumon, the focus is on the ‘just right’ level of learning which is done through a Diagnostics Test. Once the level is assigned, kids are given worksheets designed for self-learning which strengthens their critical thinking, logical reasoning and core learning ability.
Outside the classroom learning can improve the student’s classroom behaviour and raise their level of achievements. It also contributes to raising their standards and improves their social, emotional and overall development. Students build more confidence, resilience and well-being and scored higher than their predicted grade.
One needs to take into consideration the external and intrinsic benefits that Kumon learning programme for preschoolers provides. Every child is different. They have different ways of learning and they learn at a different pace or level. That’s why, how you teach a child should be conducive to their learning so that they become efficient learners. For instance, some are visual learners while others learn through observation, some by experience and some by listening. But classroom learning hardly follows such individualised exercise. That’s why early childhood education programmes like Kumon emphasise on identifying the child’s ‘just right’ level of learning and start the learning process from there itself. It’s all about mastering through repetition and practice.