20 ways to a smarter kid

By: Anne Sevilla-Tiangco

PARENTS, check this out.

If you want your kids to perform better in school or enhance his learning potentials, you could help him out by learning the 20 ways to a smarter kid.

Studies show that children process new and difficult information in different ways and knowing how your child’s unique learning style could definitely make him a smarter kid.

A child’s learning style could be easily determined by 20 environmental, emotional, sociological, physiological and psychological factors.

Environmental factors include sound, light, temperature and design.

Try to find out if your child prefers to study in a quiet room or if he absorbs lessons faster in a room with music. Try to know also the level of lighting your child requires for optimum learning. It would also help to determine how heat or cold affects your child study behavior, meaning, does he study better in an air-conditoned room or in a warm room. The room design is also a factor as some children want to study in a formal setting while others prefer an informal seating arrangement.

Parents should also observe the emotional factors that affect the child’s study habits.

What motivates the child to study, whether it is internal motivation or external feedback, is very important. It is also necessary to find out if the child performs better as a conformist (high responsibility taker) or non-conformist (low responsibility). It is also wise to determine if the child could handle multiple tasks at a time or if he is more comfortable handling single tasks at a time. Parents should also take note whether the child responds better to explicit step-by-step formal directions to do work or if he feels comfortable receiving general informal instructions.

Finding out the sociological factors that affect your child’s study habits is another step.
Does the child prefer to study alone to maximize learning? Does he prefer to pair with someone to study better? Does he learn best with a small group of three or with a team? Does he prefer to study with an adult? Or does he prefer a combination of ways or methods to effectively study?

Children also differ in physiological factors. Some understand better by listening (auditory), some by seeing (visual), some by touching (tactile) while others and/by moving (kinesthetic).

Even your child’s food or liquid intake affects his study habits. Some children learn better while they’re eating or drinking while some prefer eating before or after an activity.

Parents should also observe their child’s mobility factors. Could he sit still for long periods of time while learning or does he need short breaks in between sitting still?

Also, the child’s best time to study is very crucial. Is your child a morning person and performs best during day time or is he a night owl and absorbs lessons faster at night?

Finally, parents should try to discover the psychological factors that affect their child’s study habits.

Is your child intuitive, imaginative, creative (global/ right-brained learner) or logical, structured and formal (left-brained learner)? Does he think before acting (reflective) or acts before thinking (impulsive)?

An analysis of learning styles permits parents to identify how their child prefers to learn, suggests a basis for designing the classroom environment, and indicates conditions where students are likely to excel, thereby, creating a smarter kid.

Once the barriers to learning are taken down, the child learns faster and better.

It is only when you know how your child learns that you can best teach him. And it is only when his specific learning style is considered that he can perform best.

Fortunately, for parents, there is a school right at the heart of Manila that specializes in the 20 ways to a smarter kid formula, among other things.

The Eton International Primary School brings to the country a revolutionary educational program that caters to the individual learning styles of every child.

With a very small class size of 10, Eton Manila provides a very personalized education that promises to bring out the best in your child.

Eton Manila Directres Jacqueline Marzan-Tolentino boasts of the school’s international curriculum, inspired by the Eton Britain and Eton Singapore, with Asian values that promote holistic child growth and development.

“These programs are implemented by a select group of faculty members who are highly competent in their various fields and who have undergone special training and certification on teaching according to the Learning Styles Model,” Tolentino said.

Eton kids are trained to be tri-lingual, computer savvy and given academic lessons way ahead of those being used in the Philippines.

Tolentino added that the experiential activities, such as performances and field trips abroad, also enhance the students’ intelligences and skills.

“We believe that play is vital in a child’s learning so lessons at Eton Manila are taught in innovative and fun ways to ensure that learning becomes enjoyable for your child,” she said.

The best thing about an Eton education, Tolentino said, is that parents are involved every step of their child’s progress.

“We explain to parents the individual learning style of their child and we provide them with progress reports of the child’s development reguarly via quarterly evaluations,
video developmental assessment and other media,” Tolentino said.

Eton Manila, Tolentino said, is not your ordinary pre-school.

“We are confident that with the quality of education that Eton Manila provides, we are shaping future global leaders,” Tolentino said.

She added that at Eton Manila, “we multiply intelligences by celebrating the differences and diversity of each student.”

For more information about Eton International Primary School, please call 526-2995 or 0919-4732481. You may also visit their website www.etonph.com or email at etonmanila@yahoo.com.