Promote a positive learning attitude in your child

Does your child have a positive attitude?

But for Singaporean parents, play is a “taboo” word that just does not go together with learning. “When my child is playing, how can he/she be learning or studying?” they protest.

That’s where Roderick Chua disagrees.  Psychologically speaking, he says, we all learn best through play; that’s why in adult classes, we are encouraged to play games and interact so that the learning is better absorbed. The key issue then, is to have focus play.

The consultant and head coach at Edu.Quantum has had more than 20 years of experiences teaching, coaching and guiding youths as a tutor and pastoral counsellor.  Currently pursuing his master degree in psychology, Roderick is interested to enhance the emotional attitude of his students towards learning.

What are your child’s feelings towards studying?

Roderick explains that the taxing education system in Singapore drives parents to enrol their child for tuition or enrichment at the first sign of a dip in grades or out of fear that their child couldn’t cope.

When befuddled parents question Roderick about their child’s poor grades or learning attitude despite the numerous tuition or enrichment programs they have engaged for them, he would turn the tables on them and ask:  Does tuition build up a positive emotion towards learning? If the answer is no, then the tuition is ineffective.

He adds that oftentimes, the children feel that there is very little disregard for their feelings towards learning.  The kids may feel resentful that their rights to play or free time have been violated.  Homework is a chore, and they feel that they are forced to do things (i.e. go for tuition) that are not to their liking or decision.  This, he said, is the beginning of a negative emotion towards learning.

Thus, for a child to learn well, we should access the level of emotional association the child is at towards learning – is it positive, negative or neutral?

Implementing play in learning

When a child becomes sensitive to learning, he/she will have adverse reactions to learning or even doing homework. Some of these reactions include dislike to do homework, untidy handwriting, poor grades despite preparation and taking shortcuts in their work.

Roderick explains that there is a difference between learning and studying.  The former is fun and enjoyable, while the latter is hard work.  Thus, in order to encourage positive feelings in a child towards learning, it is important to implement play in learning, especially for the younger kids.

As part of his lessons, Roderick always play games with his students.  For example, in his English lessons, his students are broken into teams and encouraged to find as many meanings of the words as they can.  He allows them to use the dictionary, thereby encouraging them to be independent in acquiring knowledge and to make use of external resources. In Mathematics, he challenges his students in a “who is faster / more accurate” match.

He also understands that kids, especially those in lower primary, need movement in class.  Hence, in his classes, he has his students practise discussion, do projects, collect data, do presentations, and include riddles and solutions.

His students always look forward to his classes and are invariably disappointed when he couldn’t make it to class. “That’s how much my students enjoy learning,” he reports with a laugh.

As a centre that offers tuition, he is especially adamant that P1 and P2 students should not have any tuition as they are too young to be stressed with academic purposes, and are not mature enough to process certain learning skills.

Roderick shares the side effects of students who are ahead in their academic level. In upper primary, the stress and dullness in school could discourage him from learning and he may begin to hate the whole education process.

Instead, his centre offers play-base enrichment programs for these groups of students by focusing on these:

• Build up Confidence
• Character development
• Communication Skills

Edu.Quantum – keep the interest in learning and students in school

Edu.Quantum concentrates on the P3 to P6 and prides itself more as a coaching centre than a tuition centre.  It uses psychological techniques, positive education emotions and parental support to help the child learn effectively.

The philosophy of the centre is to train its students to be leaders, not followers.  In this essence, they are interested to keep their interest in learning and students in school. Their students learn the SUCCESS formula to do well in school:

1. excel in their studies
2. build up their interpersonal skills
3. be a fun person to be around

As their students gain confidence in themselves and their learning abilities, they also pick up these essential techniques:

• Teambuilding techniques
• Presentation skills
• Study skills
• Confidence building
• Creative Writing

Edu.Quantum Learning Systems is located at Blk 134 Jurong Gateway Road, #04-309R, S600134, For more information, call 6566-8835.