Formal learning usually takes place in particular settings. This may be a school or a Learning Centre like ours. This learning is designed to be used in different contexts. As adults we expect that this will be done automatically. For young learners, however, this is not necessarily the case.
A little conversation this week:
“Why are you typing with two fingers?”
“That’s how I type a story.”
“I thought that you did Typing Tutor at school…”
“Yes, we do.”
“How do you type on Typing Tutor?”
Child shows me beautiful finger placement and full finger usage.
“Why aren’t you using that skill to type your story?”
“Am I supposed to?”
The skill was associated with the Typing Tutor program, not with actually typing a story. The student had not applied knowledge from one setting to another.
This is part of Executive Functioning skills. As parents and educators we need to guide our young people to identify how apply their knowledge and skills from one place to another.
Here at Crossroads Education, we aim to teach students to CSI. This is to use our skills and knowledge:
At Crossroads Education
At School
Independently.
Regardless of where your child is learning, the question to ask them is…
"How will you use what you have learned today in a different place or doing a different task?"
Until next time...
Happy learning!
