One of the advantages of the old one room school house was that each child received individual training based on that child’s abilities and mastery level. Last summer, according to the New York Times, a million dollar experiment was conducted. The School of One program in Chinatown using lap top computers to provide instruction geared to each student. The lesson plans, in the form of games, quizzes and worksheets, were developed to meet individual needs. At day’s end the student took a quiz which determined the next day’s schedule.
The arriving child received an individual play list which outlined the day’s activities. Schedules included small group sessions, teacher interaction time and computer activities. The kids loved it and were excited by the flashy video games with math puzzles imbedded. Is this the school of the future?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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With each child having their own level of learning abilities, I wonder how this will effect the child needing the "hands on approach." Will they be lost in the shuffle?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how does this affect the child's future social and physical needs?
I think that hands on approach varies for each learning style. A person who learns by sound can learn through song. I heard of an anatomy class for medical school where the professor taught the body parts by giving students CD's with songs to learn. A visual person might not need this crutch but the auditory person does.
ReplyDeleteMath might be taught in different ways to differing learning styles. A visual person may be able to read mathematical equations, see various examples diagramed on paper,etc. A tactile person may do better using three dimentional props and play games using the mathematical concepts (especially at an early age.) Auditory people might learn math through music. For instance, in teaching algebra you could divide a pie and eat it or examine musical notes and play them.
Hands-on- approach is a jumping off point to learning. If you start with the child's strength then you can hope to lead him to other ideas. For instance, a history game may lead a child to be willing to read about the subject in the game.
ReplyDeleteCooking can help a child learn about measurements, fractions,simple math and chemistry.
It may help the child to not be afraid of these subjects when in school.