Learning progress usually takes place in the brain, and hence it will be invisible to others. Learning should be assessed by kids’ teachers or parents. But, how to assess students’ learning?

You can assess students’ learning through formal, informal, individual or collective, anonymous or public assessments. However, everything has changed online; why not try to assess methods with technology? Forget the old-fashioned pencil and paper method and advance with new technology.

So… In this blog, we’ll guide you on understanding the methods to assess students’ learning. Before that, let’s discuss what assessment is.

What is Assessment?

Assessment is a process of collecting data on what students learn and experience in education. That is, it plays a significant role in evaluating kids’ learning needs and helps in improving their grades.

Types of Assessment:

Summative assessment – it is nothing but the final exam. Through this, a person can evaluate what the students have gained knowledge after the course ends.

How to assess students’ learning?

There are various ways to evaluate students’ learning progress. But, The best methods may vary based on students’ learning objectives and needs. Here we go with a brief view:

1. Online quiz

The traditional way to assess students’ learning is by conducting an online quiz. It will be pretty easy to create.

A teacher can test the students’ learning progress quickly by creating a multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and so on. Hence, as a teacher, you should randomize the quiz question and answer options to the students, preventing the kids from cheating.

However, the online quiz can be either non-graded or graded. So, you can conduct it before or after the course.

2. Essay questions

Essay questions encourage your critical thinking and are the best option for evaluating students’ learning. Compared to students, teachers can observe and evaluate a topic from different views.

Thus, add essay questions and make your assessment productive. It prompts the learners to explore their feelings, thoughts, and opinions while answering the comprehensive topic. As a teacher, you should review it one by one, and this will help you assess your students.

3. Written assignments

Give short essays, research papers, or case studies as a written assignment to the kids. Before you give a project, know all the things to consider while creating an assignment task.

• Consider what you want your students to learn in your course.
• Design assignments that are more challenging and interesting.
• Name the assignment accurately
• Schedule it
• Check the feasibility
• Specify the parameters
• Specify the intended purpose of the assignment

4. Concept maps

Concept maps are the graphical or visual representation of connections between the concepts that students have learned. It is a valuable strategy for assessing kids’ knowledge. Do you know how to design a concept map exercise? If not, follow these steps to structure the concept map for your students:

• Create a focus question.
• Tell the students to generate a list of relevant concepts and help them in constructing a preliminary map.
• Allow students to revise.

5. Online Survey

An online survey is a non-graded assessment usually assigned to measure learning satisfaction and collect feedback from students. Each question will have options ranging from disagreeing to strongly agreeing.

6. Game activities

Game activity is a type of assessment method that comes with the combination of test and game. That is, you can create an online game with challenging questions and let the kids overcome them. With this assessment, your students can enjoy the game and answer the questions without any assessment stress.

7. Drag-n-Drop Activity

One of the excellent methods to assess students’ learning is using Drag-n-Drop. That is, add some visual tasks to make your assessment more engaging. In this activity, students are required to drag a text or image and drop it in the corresponding drop-zone.

8. Forum

A forum is an online discussion board where you can organize a topic and ask the student to contribute to the discussion board in a good way. Further, in this assessment method, students will be given critical thinking questions based on the subjects that students have read through. The answers provided by the students will be posted to the discussion board, and the peers will be given a chance to respond to them.

Final words

Well, online assessments play a critical part in assessing students’ learning. Hence, it would be best if you were more careful while creating your test content. However, the good thing is, you don’t need to be more creative or a programming master to build them. There are many assessment tools accessible online. Just get them and generate engaging tasks for assessing.

For more updates, please stay connected with us!

Good luck:)

Are you excited to send your child to kindergarten?

Kindergarten today is different from how it was two decades ago. There are many things kids are exposed to today. With a solid foundation and knowledge, kids will have a much easier time adjusting. Kindergarten is full of learning and growth. They learn to play games, enjoy music and arts. They learn new letters and words. They play with blocks, sand, and straws. They recognize names, they count, and they identify. They make friends, eat together at breaks, and do hands-on activities. The kids will love the idea of learning something new through play.

It is an excellent experience as parents to see your child start a new journey. Parents want their kids to have a terrific experience at school. Kids this age will ask a lot of questions and are always curious. They have the funniest things to say. They learn to think to themselves, “how can I do this?”. Stepping into a new school or learning something new will be fun for them. This kindergarten journey helps them to gain self-confidence, independence, and self-reliance.

As parents, you have doubts whether your child will be able to take care on their own. Will they have issues staying long for many hours at school? Are they potty-trained? Will they eat without making a fuss? Will they be shy to answer? Whatever the case, be sure you lovingly deal with them. Instill the love for learning and school in your child in the initial days. Also, develop play-based learning into their routines. Know that preparing your child will go a long way in giving them a solid foundation.

How do you know whether your child is ready to go to kindergarten?

The best way to know if your child is ready is to prepare them for it. Playing with your kids, reading books, and helping them reach out will all matter. Even before going to school, parents should teach their kids manners. They should teach them to show kindness and respect. Teach your kids to listen without interruption. It increases their listening and hearing skills. Ask them to focus on little things without distraction.

Give them responsibility and ask them to finish it. Expose them to numbers, letters, and alphabets. Would you mind helping them to open up and mingle with other kids? There are some skills needed before sending your kid to school, and you can help them by practicing some of them ahead of time. Here I have listed some easy-to-follow a checklist that you might want to check. This will make sure that your kids are ready to go to school.

Some of the academic skills expected are:

• Recognizing letters starting from 1-2
• Identifying primary colors- red, blue, green, yellow, white, and black

• Identifying alphabets a to z

• Say words that rhyme

• Sort by color, size, shape

• Ask them to hold the pencil, crayon, or scale properly

• Point at objects and say their names

• Write their name with uppercase and lowercase

• Hold a book, note, and turn pages

• Say parent’s name, number, and address

Nursery rhymes are a great way to get kids ready. Reading out to them also helps a lot. Over time they will start reading by themselves too. Take time in between reading to make them understand. Talk to them how much ever you can.  It could be just about anything. Be clear in your ideas and teaching.

Let them understand your instructions. Would you mind helping them to pick words and process them? This will ensure they get familiar with the information you give. There are some non-academic skills needed for your child to get familiar with, and you can start teaching them at home before they make their way to kindergarten.

Some of the non-academic skills expected are:

• Teach them bathroom needs
• Speak about wants and needs

• Throw a ball and ask them to catch it

• Focusing on activities for a few minutes

• Listening without interruption

• Clear up after playing

• Follow directions

• Washing hands

• Coughing and wiping manners

• Carry his backpack

• Using glue and scissors

Conclusion:

However, your child may be ready and head out for her first day of school. You have to ensure that your child is prepared to do some things required in their starting years. Start with the basics at home.

Don’t put pressure if you feel your child hasn’t got everything right.  Kids learn a lot when they enter kindergarten.  The most important thing is to teach children to do themselves and not rely on you entirely. Give a chance to your kids to show you what they can do. You might be surprised to know what they are capable of.

 Till then, have fun learning and teaching your child as always! 

Starting to learn a language is never too early. Learning another language takes time, effort, and dedication. Learning a new language can immensely benefit children of any age. Research studies support the initiation of bilingual education, especially at the preschool level. Young children can choose a new language and learn it easily, unlike the older children who find it harder comparatively.

Children who learn a second language are good at problem-solving skills. As they grow into adolescence, practicing new language skills can be challenging. But with proper guidance and support, they can learn as many languages as possible because a new language encourages them to adopt new customs and cultural complexities. Languages ​​have the added benefit of fostering empathy and understanding for others. It opens new doors for professional success in a globalized workplace.

Children can learn to speak as many languages as they wish to. The environment they live in can also make a difference. They can start learning in school, at home, or take online classes. The support they get from parents and teachers can help them to pick up the languages easily. Some children know more than one language​. Sometimes they are good at one language than the other. Your mother tongue is the language your child knows best.

Over time, the dominant language your child uses can change. For example, a child who speaks Spanish at home will start using English and improve. Speaking one or more languages is never easy, and it takes time. It would be best if you had a lot of training to do this right. Without the right push, your child will have a hard time learning many languages. So to help them pick up the right language for them, you need to be aware of your child’s interest. 

Here are six tips for your child to study different languages:

1. Increases compassion and sensitivity

Children in multilingual environments usually have a higher sense of compassion for others. Children with many languages ​​can “enjoy other languages” and enjoy it. Speaking another language cultivates sensitivity and compassion. But you also need to understand the perspective of the other speakers. Children who learn another language will have a more positive attitude toward other cultures.

2. Good for the brain and health

Different languages can help build your brain in different ways. Bilingualisms are said to have more grey matter than monolinguals. The grey matter helps in improving the memory, sensory, and the ability to multiple tasks. It also improves child’s problem-solving skills and analytical thinking. Speaking multiple languages ​​can slow down aging and dementia. Dual language learners improve the executive function of the brain by developing a ‘cognitive reserve.

3. Exposure to people and cultures

The languages which we use are the languages that shape us. Each language has its unique style. Children who are exposed to the languages learn new ways to understand the world. Since language and cultures are intertwined, it gives them a deep insight into how others see the world. They are also culturally aware and are sensitive towards other people. It helps them to experience the world differently.

4. Enhances kid’s Native language skills

Young children are not confused about learning multiple languages. It helps their brain to improve and work on the known languages. The reason parents prefer their kids to learn a new language is to make them talk in their mother tongue. It not only improves the overall communication but also enhances the child’s confidence. It helps them to communicate with their parents and grandparents in their native language. Since children can imitate well, they can pick up the language through sounds. This way, they can master the language quite easily.

5. Higher income

In today’s competitive world, speaking more than one language has become necessary. Bilinguals have the edge over the others when it comes to salary. The demand for bilinguals is increasing, and the shift in income is drastic.  

Conclusion:

Whether your child is a beginner or a bilingual, your support can go a long way towards their success. Children who exchange between many languages ​​are usually creative and flexible. They are open, aware, and more empathetic towards others. They view the world from a different angle. 

Whatever your plans for the future, speaking multiple languages ​​is always an incredibly useful skill. Give your child as many options as possible to help them choose and learn the language. It’s fun, promotes healthy development, and has many intellectual and social achievements that last a lifetime. This is especially true for children.

In this digital world, the internet is widely used by many students. They can attain the required information faster and easier in a better way. But, they fail to discover and empower real-life skills. That is why, we have got you a detailed note on why it is important to teach life skills to students. But before moving in, know what life skills are.

Life skills

Life skills are nothing but a set of interpersonal skills and psychological competencies that help a person solve a problem, make the right decision, think critically, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, and much more.

Necessary Life skills may vary by person’s age and culture they live. However, there is no definitive skills list. Some examples of life skills are:

• Self-improvement
• Stress management
• Financial management
• Time management
• Positive thinking

Who should teach Life Skills to Students?

Kids usually spend more time in school than staying home. So, imagine what if they couldn’t communicate effectively with others? It’s pretty alarming, right? That’s why both teachers and parents should play an active role in teaching the students life skills. This helps them to take action or decisions in situations where their teachers or parents are not available.

Why Teaching Life Skills to Students is essential?

The importance of teaching life skills for a student lies in their ability to adapt to all circumstances. Educating with necessary Life skills will help the students build confidence while communicating with others, improve collaborative skills, find a better way in problem-solving, know how to socialize, and recognize how to act and behave. But, students who don’t learn Life skills may fail in career and personal life.

Importance of Teaching Life skills to students:

1. Improves Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness is the ability of an individual to be aware of their emotions. It helps the students to identify who they are and what they want in their life. So, they can understand their performance, behavior, and social situations. In addition, it is a skill that helps you to know how others feel.

2. Enhance Problem-Solving ability

Teaching Life skills improves the problem-solving ability in kids. Problem-solving is a great skill that helps the students identify the problem, generate multiple solutions, evaluate them, and select the best one to implement the solution. With this, a kid can able to solve problems effectively without any barrier.

3. Develops Decision-Making skill

Decision-making is the ability of a person to identify a situation that he/she is exposed to and make a decision based on values, preferences, and beliefs. Decision-making skills help in developing problem-solving skills in kids.

Some of the ways that you’ll learn with Decision-Making are:

• Controlling inner feelings, sensations, actions, and behaviour. This helps the students in making the right decision at the right time.
• Not being influenced by external pressures. No matter how hard the challenge in making a decision, don’t get influenced.
• Positive mindset. Should be more positive and believe that opportunities exist to make the right decision.
• Clear to make decisions.

4. Enhance thinking skills

Thinking is a mental activity that a student uses to process data, make decisions, solve problems, generate creative ideas, organize information, and a lot more. Enhancing these Life skills will serve the kids in finding innovations to the world.

There are four types of skills that you’ll learn:

Analytical thinking: It is also called Convergent thinking. Analytical thinking is one of the essential components of visual thinking. It helps the students to break the complex problems quickly and effectively.

Creative thinking: It is a skill that serves the kids to think and create something new. The main characteristic of creative thinking is “Imagination”. To enhance creative thinking, one should have fascinating imaging ability far from reality. So, they can logically innovate something new.

Critical thinking: Learning Critical thinking helps students think clearly about what to believe and what not to. It is the ability to distinguish between truth and fake.

Divergent thinking: It is a problem-solving method used to create innovative thoughts by exploring alternative solutions.

5. Know how to communicate

One of the essential things that you learn from life skills is “ How to communicate?”. People who are good at speaking to others can be more interactive in any field. It is a social skill that helps you to build relationships with others. Also, it traits added skills like active learning, leadership, self-confidence, thinking, and deputation.

Final thoughts

Life skills are a large part of our life. But due to technological evolution, we are facing a massive change and revolution across the globe and widening the gap between parents and kids. Hence, as a teacher, you need to transfer Life Skills to our upcoming generations.

So, are you a parent looking for the best teacher in teaching Life skills for your kids? Hire a Tutor at Nurtem. At Nurtem, you’ll find numerous teachers who are ready to guide your Kids in Learning Life Skills. What are you still looking for? Go and grab the course at Nurtem!

Want your kids to have a natural curiosity about Science and technology?

In today’s world, children have fewer opportunities to connect with nature and to produce something worthwhile. We need to constantly look for ways to support them in Science and technology. Parents’ attitude and support highly influence a child’s attitude towards education as we know that every child is born with a natural curiosity. If not met with the proper learning, they tend to lose focus quickly. We as parents should teach our kids to use tech wisely and responsibly. Help stress the importance of science and technology in our daily lives. Once our kids figure out ways to learn, they can become tech-savvy and awesome digital and Science citizens.

It is a big challenge today for parents to make their children love Science and technology. The decline in the ability of critical thinking and to develop real things go hand-in-hand. Young minds tend to see Science and technology as just mere facts. There is much more to these than what meets the eye. Focusing on the fact that there are many opportunities for them in this field. Like if you get your child interested in STEM- Science, technology, engineering, and math, nothing like it. Also, discussing career opportunities in Science and technology can help them feel eager about a brighter future. 

Listed below are some ways that will nurture the kid’s interest in Science and technology:

Explore new ideas and challenges

Science and technology are everywhere. Children learn and pick things up rather quickly. They like to try new ideas and challenge old ones, and it doesn’t happen overnight. As parents, we need to provide them with safe, exciting learning experiences in a supportive environment.  

Ask them questions related to Science and computers. For example, why does the moon revolve around the earth? How does the computer function? From where does the Internet come from? Instead of answering them yourself, ask them why. Try to give examples, create an atmosphere to make them fall in love with the subjects. Incorporate learning through activities.

Create fun and exciting activities at home

• Involve your child in these activities by asking questions.

• Let them play with things that intrigue them. For example, turn your kitchen into a laboratory.

• Let them mix wheat flour and water to make a dough.

• Try mixing baking soda with vinegar and show them the froth.

Involve them with everyday activities that use some science and technology. Tell them to video chat with a faraway relative. See videos and do DIYs with them. You can use play dough to make a phone or a computer. You can also teach them coding and watch them make mistakes.

Accessing the right books and games

Children love to play and learn. The right kind of books and toys can help parents spark children’s love of technology. And today, thankfully, we have a world full of options available. Subscribe to magazines that include information about Science, technology, engineering, and math. Video games can also help them to understand the subject.

Parents can give opportunity for kids to make it so much more by connecting it to life. For example, help them discover outdoor games in the garden. Please encourage them to observe wildlife, insects, etc. You can play with flashcards to help them identify phone parts, computer parts, and others. Maybe you can plant something in your garden and wait for it to grow.

Be supportive and encouraging

The best way to help them develop a love for the subjects is by being with them 100%.  Do an Experiment every week and talk about its fun facts. Be supportive even when your child is weak in that area. Constantly give them the support that they look for. If you are a busy person, take some time for the kids.        

Parents can talk about their growing up years, where they were less demanding and more imaginative. Give them unstructured time to help them discover their love for the subject. Be prepared to listen to them when they have questions. Please talk about the positive effects and help foster their curiosity.

Conclusion:

Many people have a false impression that Science is boring as a subject. Show them that it isn’t true. Remind your kids that technology is for everyone, not only for brainiacs. It can even better their grades eventually. They need encouragement and nudges throughout. It takes months of hard work to see the results. 

In short, you have the power to shape your kid’s future. So, go and exercise it wisely! 

“When Words Fail, Music Speaks”

Can you imagine your life without Music? Absolutely No! Music is one of the great arts that plays a significant role in humankind. Music has both positive and negative effects for all. However, for students, it offers more benefits. How?

Do your kids listen to Music when learning? Worried whether it may give a negative impact on your kid’s academic performance? Or looking to improve your child’s concentration in studies with the help of music? Then this blog post is for you.

In this blog, you’ll gain some knowledge on how music helps students in learning. Ready to explore in-depth? Here we go:

How does Music Help Students Learn?

1. Help to Focus

While doing a task like reading or writing, students’ minds may wander easily. This may lead to a lack of focus in reading. The most practical way for students to stay focused while learning is by listening to Music. Adding gentle music in-ears will block the background noise and allow the brain to focus on what they’re doing. So, instead of letting the distracting sounds, try listening to music when learning.

2. Enhance Performance

To enhance academic performance, students need something to stay focused, right? Music can be the right option to help you with it.

Researchers claim that Music can activate both the right and left sides of the brain. As you listen to music, it improves your brain functionality and helps in absorbing information. Hence, one can easily enhance their learning progress in Math, reading, and other subjects. It gently helps the kids in scoring good grades in their academics.

3. Reduce Anxiety

When a student cannot be able to deal with a particular subject, then it may create some psychological blocks like “Anxiety”. It frustrates the students’ thoughts and leads to negativity. So, how would they beat it? Just by listening or playing music.

If you experience anxiety while reading something, try listening to rock, hip-hop, or classic songs. The rhythms and uplifting tunes may help you manage your irritation and give added support to your mind.

4. Lower your Stress level

When the exams are near, students experience tremendous pressure and stress to get good scores. Or even when the deadlines are approaching to submit the assignments, they may get a bit stressed.

The best stress-reliever for those learners is “Music”. It is an excellent source for the people who feel stressed in this busy world. It will comfort the mental zone of a person and let them feel relaxed while doing some job like reading or writing.

So, turn on a soothing soundtrack and pay attention to the changes that occur in your body. You may notice that your heartbeat becomes slower, and you feel a bit relaxed. This is because some songs will be motivating, supporting, or inspiring. Enjoy the music while learning and reduce your stress level!

5. Improves Memory

Experts say that Music is tightly linked to memory. Do you know how? Human memory usually sticks to the things that are easier to process and store. For instance, you may have memorized song lyrics that are easier to learn. This is how the brain works. It simply understands the patterns in a better way. So, when studying, if you are accompanied with songs in your ears, it will help you memorize the complicated contents. Hence you can store the data in your brain when you read through it.

6. Improves Brain Function

Some students used to listen to music when reading. But, they don’t know how it influences them.

The human brain is a fascinating thing in anatomy. It understands languages, recognizes shapes, and a lot more at the age of four. How?

Studies have shown that Music offers several effects on human brains. That is, it acts as a medium and helps the kids in enhancing their brain function. Experts claim that Music is one of the great sources that serve the cognitive exercise for the brain to train for facing future challenges. Also, a study has claimed that students who learn with music had completed more questions in the allotted time and got more answers correct.

Closure

If you still have the question, “Does music help students to learn?” Definitely Yes! It enhances the power of students’ emotional state. Also, it provides a healthy, positive mental state. This improves the brain to function better. Hence, learning with songs can help the students to build more substantial memory power and mental state.

We hope the information mentioned above might have served you with good things. The information is not for consumption only; try implementing it in your real life. So, plug in a good song and begin your learning progress!

Note: For a specific time, the human body and mind require some silence. Hence, don’t listen to music continuously.

We wish you the best:)