How to help children study effectively while #StayingAtHome

Assisting children to learn from home during a pandemic can be a challenge for many parents. Technological aspects, understanding the material, and your time management are very necessary to support the child's learning process.

This challenge may also be felt by parents of early childhood. At that age children are in what’s called a Golden Age, where the brain develops rapidly and quickly in accepting new knowledge. Therefore, parents need to provide appropriate education and stimulation to children.

While #StayingAtHome parents must continue to hone children's brain development, from cognitive to social-emotional skills. To not only teach the ability to read, write and count, they must also instill positive attitudes such as starting to be independent, having responsibility, taking initiative, and even making plans and making decisions.

An open learning environment can support a child's brain development optimally. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, there are several limitations because the home environment is not the same as a school. However, even though it is not ideal, you can still give your child the best for effective learning activities.

How do you effectively facilitate children's education at home?

Learning at home, of course, has a different effect on each child. One of the main strategies for dealing with this is to plan a consistent but flexible daily routine for your child.

At school children have routines, so this must also be applied at home. Start with small things like morning rituals and bedtime. You can also make a schedule chart for the child as a reference.

Children should also be given the opportunity to make plans. Shannon Lockhart, an early education expert from the HighScope Educational Research Foundation (United States), said that children will be more interested and more concentrated in carrying out activities if they are involved in planning it.

This planning stage can be included in the child's daily routine. Parents have an important role in planning, for example by asking their children what they will do, and how they will do it.

For example, you could ask, “Which room would you like to play in today? In the living room or family room? "

Then proceed with questions such as: “What are you going to do in the family room? Playing blocks or drawing? "

The next stage is to carry out a plan that has been made by the child. Your role is a facilitator, to watch what the children are doing, reminding, and directing the children to keep on with their plans and survive through various challenges.

For example, when children want to draw and have difficulty finding colors, you can give ideas for mixing the existing colors.

After the child has successfully completed the plan, parents play a role in helping the child in reviewing by asking what they have done, what problems they face, and how the solution is.

That was a preview of the Plan-Do-Review (PDR) framework. PDR is a method that is part of the many uniqueness of the HighScope curriculum. At HighScope Indonesia, children are given the opportunity to make plans, make decisions, and reflect on them from an early age.

Through PDR, children are accustomed from an early age to plan, carry out, and reflect on their daily activities. Supported by a daily routine in the classroom that provides structure to children, and a classroom environment that is open and safe, making children free and trained to make decisions. Through PDR, children have the opportunity to make decisions and take responsibility, in accordance with their development.

Based on research conducted in America and research conducted by HighScope Indonesia, Plan-Do-Review helps children to develop their Executive Function, where the function is like the CEO of the brain, which helps children learn to make logical, rational, and logical decisions. creative. This ability is very visible when the children reach high school, college and even in the world of work.

In the Internal Parents Workshop at Sekolah HighScope Indonesia entitled "Engaging Young Minds At Home", Antarina SF Amir, Founder & CEO of HighScope Indonesia said that an active and flexible brain makes children become problem solvers and decision makers who adapt easily to the phenomena around them. .

In addition, many alumni from HighScope Indonesia who are now working have said that until now they have applied many things they learned at HighScope, but the most significant one is Plan-Do-Review.

For example, Rayesha Hardono, who now works as an Associate at AHP Law Firm, attributing his achievements in college and working with Plan-Do-Review.

"Doing PDR is a second nature for me. Maybe because I've been doing it since I was little. This is very useful for me and I use it every day while working, ”said Rayesha.