Every Parent Matters

Teaching four-year-old children to write is nonsense says literacy consultant Sue Palmer. “As useful as teaching a dog to walk on its hind legs.” So why has the National Curriculum in the UK adopted new assessments to measure handwriting skills in the first year at school?

Concerned opinion asks why the government introduced a scheme which is immediately openly criticised by a leading expert. How does this happen?  Surely Palmer is the one of the key people to assist or review the development of a new school policy in literacy before it is launched.

Setting targets that are too easy seems pointless; too hard and those not in contention become demoralised. Sue Palmer believes the long-term effect of the new policy would do more harm than good. The scheme, part of a four billion pound investment into early learning scheduled over the next two years, is therefore questionable.

It is an unfortunate start. The scheme has the right motivation but perhaps lacks the accountability which may have ensured it was thoroughly tested before launch. If government departments could be measured on results the efficacy of many schemes would be more closely reviewed.  The problem starts at the top. Ministerial appointments are inevitably transitory. The tenure of the secretary for education historically has lasted around 18 months. But the measure of the effectiveness of educational policy takes a generation of children to measure its impact. Historically it was always a predecessors’ idea – unless it worked.  But is Sue Palmer right this time?

In an age of computerised communication; e-mails, texts, technology with built in spell check and predictive text, the need to write anything may seem to be superfluous. Cheques are virtually obsolete, even the signature on credit card slips has been replaced by a pin number. Mind you we do get to sign the back of the credit card every two years, and a passport application every ten years. But do you find you have to practice your signature before signing the secure strip that makes it unreadable anyway. Hardly a burdensome task, so do we need to write anything?

Shopping lists could shortly be replaced with bar code scans, or even the fridge could order online for you. Purchases are made more and more on line requiring typing skills and the deft control of the mouse. Even the mouse could be replaced by a touch screen.

Obviously handwriting skills intermesh with spelling. This leads us to another quandary. Teaching children to spell and write words as they sound involves the definition of “phonic.” Where the P and H of phonic of course being pronounced as an  “f.”  But no worry, as the device the kids will ultimately use to communicate will be a cell phone, with camera, spell check and predictive text – assuming that text abbreviations don’t completely take over.

If a more complex message is required then one of the new mini laptops, or knee tops is ideal. These incredible devices incorporate all the functions of the PC in a case weighing 1kg and a screen of 7inches. Highly portable they could tuck into a small backpack – or even a hood. Not as daft as it sounds. I once met a Berber in Morocco who wore the long traditional cloak and used the hood as a vast pocket.

If handwriting and spelling skills are an essential form of communication they are under attack, but they have one great defence. They work when the powers gone, the battery’s flat, the pc has crashed and credit is exhausted. Yes, in this rapidly developing technical world we still need to learn how to read, write and spell!

Alistair Owens http://www.keen2learn.co.uk

By Alistair Owens keen2learn

The best people to manage a situation are those on the ground, at the sharp end of operations. Teachers are therefore eminently more able to use their operational skill and judgement to maximise school performance than a remote theorist.

The National Curriculum has been played around with for all of its 22 years existence. Results published in April 2009 show we are failing badly in the educational standards at primary level in maths and English; the essential bedrock that influences attainment in secondary education. Although the rate of improvement in numeracy and literacy shows a marginal improvement over last year the rate of improvement is slowing. The numbers being left behind are massive. Can we continue to fail 160,000 11 year olds – a quarter of the total are still missing the target?

Teachers are locked into targets that see some of the brighter students abandoned in favour of addressing the needs of the struggling children. Hardly an altruistic move when the motivation is primarily the need to move the overall numbers up.

We are in the midst of a national financial crisis that bears similar markers. Although the jury is still out, the economic collapse was heavily influenced by government policy to get banks to invest in social markets and areas of risk to improve performance. The judgment of the banks became clouded by people in high places who knew little about the operations at the sharp end. Stressed bankers took risks in order to meet targets. Incentivised by greed the odds were too high and beyond the expertise of many individuals. The resultant spectacle of the banks and the system as we know imploding did little to instil confidence in the hierarchy.

Are we seeing the corollary in our education policy? The fun has gone out of schooling, SAT’s and GCSE milestones, the measure of educational standard, have burdened the “Best years of their life” designed to nourish a lifelong quest for learning. Yet some success stories are around.  A top performing school in Bradford broke free and introduced “brain breaks.” A combination of fun and exercise to encourage learning has been a great success. The teaching resources are there they just need to be released. Let the profession responsible for the results use their skill and judgement to achieve success.

Children who see education as a fun activity thrive. Putting fun learning back into the schooling process is not taking some easy route. Managing the process needs skill and energy, but the results can be extremely rewarding. There is another hidden asset. Engaging parents in the process at home is vastly easier with educational games than conventional exercises.

Homework in this form can also be seen as enjoyable and as children spend 85% of their waking time outside school could capture a huge and predominately untapped resource. The homework process seeks to get children to practise the lesson content. This improves learning retention and gives children the experience of working without the teacher around, an essential feature when considering SAT’s and GCSE exams.

The choice between a tedious text book exercise for homework or an educational game played with family or friends… humm let me think.

The UK primary school curriculum is in the throws of a massive positive update, or another upheaval depending on which way you look at it. Clearly the current system is ailing with many performance targets being missed despite the inclination to manipulate the results -inherent with any target based system.

The “teach to test” syndrome is leaving children with an incredibly shallow depth of knowledge and unprepared for the ardours of the global changes that will affect their adulthood. Will the next series of educational games be a  positive move?

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“Beating swords into ploughshares” took on a new relevance  recently when toys shops in Trinidad said  children were abandoning toy guns for educational games. Whether it is parental influence or the  choice of children it is good to see toy weapons are being ditched for educational games that are now appearing on the market. Many games are now linked to the curriculum so the lasting fun at home can bring real benefits to achievement in the classroom.

Alistair Owens =>
educational games

Children in the North East of England are being given free bowling sessions in a scheme to encourage them to attend school. Six primary schools will take part in the reward scheme introduced by Stockton Council’s School Attendance Team. Children must have 100% attendance each half term to benefit from the opportunity.

It is an indictment of our schooling system that children have to be incentivised in this manner. The attendance reward offered being outside of school holds a clear message. Why do children abhor school in the first place? Perhaps the lesson content, skill of the teacher, teaching resources and curriculum conspire to turn education into a slog.

Cllr Alex Cunningham of Stockton Council said: “Poor attendance at school is clearly detrimental for children where it affects their level of educational achievement as well as their social and emotional development.”

“We are keen to raise standards in Stockton and children respond well to praise and rewards and I’m sure they will be striving to shout their name out at registration every morning knowing they have a target to achieve.”

But are we just treating the symptoms and not the disease? Certainly children need to be motivated which includes what they are taught and the way they are taught. A considerable number of teachers are highly inventive, therefore surely they should they be encouraged to develop lesson content, style and rewards that interrelate with education. A trip to a bowling alley is certainly rewarding but it could be more educational. I recall winning a prize for attendance at school. I was granted an extra 20 minutes playtime on the day of the announcement. I remember it vividly, the initial pride was quickly offset by the fact I was the only child to gain the award. 20 minutes on your own in a deserted playground lacked appeal and the following teasing in the class, plus having to catch up on the missed 20 minutes of the lesson conspired to make this a one-off award.

The thought was there but the reward inappropriate. Perhaps the incentive offered by Stockton could be attendance at some form of educational games. These could amalgamated with other councils into local, regional and national events with increasing level of content, perception of value and incentive to achieve.

The actual lesson content could be revisited to ensure a level of entertainment and fun is present, overcoming the attendance issue. Enthralling children is an art; to maintain the momentum is a huge task. Lessons hold huge potential to develop educational content that is intriguing, entertaining and functional. Seeing lessons as fun would be a huge influence on children to attend. If a central reward is needed maybe the event could be designed by a team of games designers and TV directors to develop a national Educational games event with the kudos that all children would aspire to. Maybe attracting international figureheads, pop stars, entrepreneurs and inspirational figures would inspire and encourage children as the ulterior motive such that attendance at the event would be a significant reward. In the meantime six children from Rosebrook Primary School, in Stockton, will be the first to benefit from the attendance scheme, receiving a free bowling game. It’s a start that could precipitate a whole new approach

Alistair Owens educational games

1. Interest.

I found school, 40 years ago already, to be boring; my excuse for poor performance.  The use of one dimension low-tech teaching resources did little to help. To get kids interested they need a challenge that is fun and absorbing.  The subject area needs to be dynamic; “Explosive maths games – 100 things you never knew about quadratic equations” would hold more interest that “Maths Text Book Volume 3.”

Practical applications and realism help improve the relevance of the subject.  In physics; what happens when a jet engine goes into goes into reheat?  Massive increase in thrust and acceleration, plus a massive increase in fuel usage! How far can you fly on reheat? What vehicle weighing 20 tons can accelerate from zero to 175 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds? Eat your heart out “Top Gear” it isn’t a car – it’s an aircraft being launched by the catapult on an aircraft carrier, but how does it work?

2. Fashionable

Got to look the part.  Needs great product name, impact packaging and user benefits. Games that let kids “beat up” their parents in a game whilst improving and testing their knowledge and dexterity.

3. Street Cred.

Needs to attract friends, relatives and schoolmates in a must-have game to let them collectively join a particular challenge. Must be reasonable cost so not to exclude kids in low income families ( or funded by the educational authority) and offer a challenge with a purpose. Could replace some of the £20 billion spent in the UK every Christmas on plastic junk toys and games that are played once.

4. Modern Technology

Develop educational games that can be played on host of equipment: Cell phones, MP3, Netbooks, Mum or Dad’s last years Blackberry, Pc’s, Mac’s. Ideally all platforms should all have access to the same game title.

5. SCORM

Include SCORM, the Sharable Content Object Reference Model, is a technical specification that governs how online training (or “e-learning”) is created and delivered to learners. Developed by the US military it forms the basis of a common monitoring system that can be used by a school and parents to check progress by children using educational video games linked to the system.

6. Parental Support.

Getting parents involved by setting them to support or even spar with their children. Eighty percent of a child’s academic success is influenced by what they do at home! Get parents interaction by resetting the game, increase the challenge rating or add extra facilities. Parents could also monitor performance using an in built appraisal of the child’s achievement.( More in item 10)

7. Subject Area

The curriculum needs constant adjustment to capture changes in technology, global developments and career opportunities. The internet, email and many careers didn’t exist when children now entering the job market first started school. Similarly many careers have ceased to exist. The world needs more engineers and scientists. Some good scientific games can stimulate and develop interest tailored to future career prospects.

8. Peer Support

Children learn a huge amount from other children – who else taught them to use a mobile phone?  Interactive educational games such as math games can attract great support from other children. We  just need to give them the focal point to encourage this support. Email, MSN and text can provide an almost instant help desk.

9. Feedback.

Create spirit of competition through educational games linked to class, school, district, county, regional and national league tables.

Update the challenge, create new ideas and gain feedback from other users.

10. School Interface

Replace the report card, or annual parent’s night with dynamic performance feedback linking parent, child and school. Using technology to measure homework performance without the teacher having to laboriously mark assignments. Spell checking, grammar, maths checking can be automated and feed into a summary report with performance graphs giving immediate assistance to the child.

Summary:

Teachers are constantly being pulled from pillar to post. Compiling reports and marking homework consumes an extraordinary amount of time and effort. Streamlining the job using technology to interface with the next generation of educational games will encourage learning outside school. It will also allow teachers more time to get creative.

Educational games, toys and puzzles are being used to overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of teaching; how to quickly grab the attention of the class at the start of the lesson. Boys tend to take much longer to settle down and some children are notoriously late. Ten minutes of the class can be lost before teaching really gets going. But now there are options.

A daily dose of maths computer games can boost maths attainment according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the maths game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

The study also found reduced absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

The educational games used in the trial were one of the growing numbers of computer games developed with education at the core. Modern technology harnessed to present a platform that is interesting and appealing to the young mind sets the challenge. A form of learning in disguise acceptable to a wide range of ability, age and both girls and boys is paying dividends in accelerating learning.

The games can be played in class and at home. They are having a marked effect in settling the class at the start of the lesson, and the number of late arrivals has noticeable reduced.

Technology in the form of a chemistry game or physics games generates  the practice activity essential to learning retention. Compared to conventional text and exercise book activity that can be one dimensional, computer games have the major advantage of capturing peer support. Children also learn from other children. How else do they pick up the detailed operation of a mobile phone? Certainly not from their parents or the school national curriculum. So the next time you see a child buried in a computer game on a PC, laptop or Nintendo take comfort this is a great way to help them learn.

Settling the class down can be eased with lesson starters; computer games that set a quiz based on the subject, or a combination of questions and clues to open the next level of the game. Some games even let the player design the next portion of the game.

The help of parents is fundamental in supporting the teacher to enhance the schooling of their children. Educational games are the easiest  entry point. Playing the same game or puzzle at home as in school is the most effective way to help. You do not to need to be proficient in the subject background and you never know how much you will enjoy the challenge.
Alistair Owens keen2learn

Educational games toys and puzzles are being used to overcome one of the biggest drawbacks of teaching; how to quickly grab the attention of the class at the start of the lesson. Boys tend to take much longer to settle down and some children are notoriously late. Ten minutes of the class can be lost before teaching really gets going. But now there are options.

A daily dose of maths computer games can boost maths attainment according to a study carried out in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) – the main organisation for the development of the curriculum – analysed the effect of a “brain training” game. It also found improvements in pupils’ concentration and behaviour.

Less able children were found to be more likely to improve than the highest attainers and almost all pupils had an increased perception of their own ability.

LTS worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and the University of Dundee to see if the pilot results were replicated on a wider scale. Researchers found that while all groups had improved their scores, the group using the maths game had improved by a further 50%. The time taken to complete the tests dropped by five minutes, from 18.5 minutes to 13.5 minutes. The improvement in the games group was double that of the control group.

The study found reduced absence and lateness in some classes. Derek Robertson, LTS’s national adviser for emerging technologies and learning, said the results offered the first independent, academic evidence that this type of computer game could improve attainment when used in an educational context.

He said: “Computer games help flatten out the hierarchy that exists in schools – they are in the domain of the learner as opposed to the domain of the school. ”

“This intervention encouraged all children to engage and get success in a different contextual framework; one in which they don’t know their place.”

The educational games used in the trial were one of the growing numbers of computer games developed with education at the core. Modern technology; harnessed to present a platform that is interesting, appealing to the young mind, sets the challenge. A form of learning in disguise acceptable to a wide range of ability, age and both girls and boys is paying dividends in accelerating learning.

The games can be played in class and at home. They are having a marked effect in settling the class at the start of the lesson, and the number of late arrivals has noticeable reduced.

Technology in the form of a chemistry game or physics games generates  the practice activity essential to learning retention. Compared to conventional text and exercise book activity that can be one dimensional, computer games have the major advantage of capturing peer support. Children also learn from other children. How else do they pick up the detailed operation of a mobile phone? Certainly not from their parents or the school national curriculum. So the next time see a child buried in a computer game on a PC, laptop or Nintendo take comfort this is a great way to help them learn.

Settling the class down can be eased with lesson starters; computer games that set a quiz based on the subject, or a combination of questions and clues to open the next level of the game. Some games even let the player design the next portion of the game.

The help of parents, fundamental in supporting the teacher to enhance the schooling of their children, can take the form of educational games as the easiest  entry points. Playing the same game or puzzle at home as in school is the most effective way to help. You do not to need to be proficient in the subject background and you never know how much you will enjoy the challenge. The reward can be enjoyed by the child, teacher and you.

Alistair Owens keen2learn

The ability to read is the single most important factor in a child’s education. It is one of the easiest areas in which a parent can help at home using one of the reading games now available to help. Yet 67% of all parents don’t bother reading aloud with their children. Only 33% read with their children daily and the majority are mothers. Dad’s have given up or never started to help in the first place.

These startling figures have been revealed by Booktrust, a charity that promotes reading. They also established the drop off rate is alarming declining from 43% to 37% in the last two years.

Almost 25% rarely or never read with their children. And in the place of reading is TV. A further oddity is that the older the parent the least likely they are to read to their children. 75% of mothers aged 25 – 34 read to their children but this drops to 60% with mothers aged 35-44 and down to 33% if they are 45-54 yeard old.

In order to excel in school reading is an absolute must. Practice helps significantly and the easiest way is with your parents at home. There are some great online books that feature animations to help with the reading.

Back to school! A fearsome thought for teachers, children and parents. The start of a new academic year, new class, new school, new teaching resources. Welcome back, the educational games have just started.

If you’ve been anywhere near the shops over the summer you couldn’t fail to notice the constant “back to school” promotions. They seem to start on the first day of the holiday ignoring the anguish of teachers, children and parents who dread the thought.  Surely holidays are fun and should not be confused with the slog of learning. Fun is relaxed, enjoyable and something you look forward to. School is, however, far from being fun epitomised by adverts relating to shoes, clothing and stationery!  But what if the schooling process could become filled with educational toys, games and fun?  Is this possible? Surely we should be beating ourselves up with textbooks.

We look forward to something we enjoy and tend to put off something we don’t. Most people enjoyed watching the Olympic Games where medal winners excelled through years of dedication. Hard work, hours of daily practice to improve performance proved the difference between Olympians and “also ran’s”. Above all they enjoy what they do.

Performance is dynamically measured, results seen immediately, giving elation with an improvement, and a challenge with a setback.  Determination is the key; Olympians enjoy the challenge to improve.  What about school and homework? Can school be enjoyable? Could a child’s performance at school be measured dynamically using modern facilities or has it to rely on textbooks, tests and end of term reports? The answer lies in the latest educational games where parents and siblings can join in. Modern homework can be set as a game replicating the work in progress in the classroom. Setting homework as maths games, English games or science games is “learning in disguise” providing an opportunity for the child to practice whilst enticing effective parental involvement.

The busy classroom of 30 leaves minimal time for the teacher to encourage practice in the classroom. Yet 75% of learning retention is achieved through practice. The International Olympic Committee can be compared with the national curriculum setting the competition ground rules and standards. Teachers are the team mangers but parents are the individual child’s coach. The one to one relationship giving guidance, encouragement and participation can reap huge rewards in performance improvement.

Recent research by the National Confederation of Parents Teacher Associations discovered a massive 80% of a child’s academic progress is influenced by what they do at home, and only 20% emanates from the school environment. Back with the Olympics analogy it may seem obvious that the coach has a huge influence on an individual’s performance.

Teachers and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, aware of this phenomenon, are urging parents to become more active in the schooling process. This is in no way dereliction of duty but highlights a fundamental shift in the training duties a parent or PTA can now effect. Historically, helping with homework has been difficult because the teaching resources were one dimensional. Text books induce reluctance in parents. Unwilling to interfere they are concerned they would use different teaching techniques, or may appear to struggle in the subject area in front of their children. But the modern educational games, toys and puzzles used in school by the teacher are now available for use at home.

In class these educational games take the form of board games, quizzes, puzzles, bingo, toys and software – and are ideal for home use. The short burst in a class of 30 can be extended to 30 minutes at home on a one to one in fun game. This parental involvement means that the child gets the extra time to practice.  Parents can assess progress dynamically rather than waiting for end of term reports, and children benefit from a coach at home to boost their performance back in school.

Alistair Owens Keen2learn