Despite the hardship faced in Nigeria due to the poor economy, there are still ways parents and teachers can help their wards improve their learning ability in order to excel. Education, they say, is the key to success, but then, one would consider if due to the hardship in Nigeria, parents and teachers can still focus on giving their wards the best of education they deserve to propel them and prepare them for the future.
As some parents would ask, ‘what can I do to help my children get good grades in school? How can I improve their learning ability?’ As known parents would not be happy seeing their children always performing poorly in class, they would want their children to come out tops, even up to tertiary institution, which is always a thing of joy.
You hear words like, “The person that came out first in your class does he have two heads?”, and it is worse off if the child comes out last in class, you see the child being chided by both teachers and peers calling him/her shameful names like ‘olodo!’ ‘dullard!’ ’empty heads’ or ’empty brains’.
These are no good stories but then, there are ways for parents and teachers to improve the learning ability of their children.
During an interview, Mrs. Blessing Emmanuel, a mother and teacher, shares her thoughts on how one can help the children in learning. “As a mother, you can improve your children’s learning by creating time for them. You should be a best friend to your children. It is not just working all the time, you should sit with them and assist them too because they need you there, they can’t do it alone.
“If the teachers are doing their part and the parents too, it will help the children to learn faster”, she said.
Mrs. Magdalene, a working class mother of three, also voices her opinion, thus, “It is not easy as a working mother, but it is not supposed to be a yardstick to abandon my children’s academics and learning. What I do is that after the day’s activity I engage them with their assignments and offer assistance. Anything that I find lacking I try to give extra-moral lessons.
“When teachers give assignments they receive complaints from children that ‘my mummy said she is tired or my mother said she does not understand it hence they bring it back to the teachers, which becomes a problem because it now seems like what the teachers taught nothing was taken back home to be practiced”.
She advised that parents in this category should go to the teachers and ask for ways to help, and any children lacking behind they should help them with extra lessons and make out time to be involved in the children’s learning.
Improving on children ‘s learning ability can also be done by creating an environment conducive for learning. It should be applicable both in school and home. In schools, where there are no good facilities for learning, some children might not be able to learn well. A conductive learning environment can be online materials like YouTube educational channels, MathWay, Wolfram Alpha, and online platforms like Google classroom.
Parents should not fold their hands leaving everything in the hands of the children; they can be part of the child’s education by assisting in little ways like assignments and engaging them.
Helping the child to write, as some parents are fond of, really would not help the child. If a child fails any assignment, corrections should be made and taught to the child. Extra lessons can be of great help to help either after school or at home if need be.
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” but there are games that can help improve the child’s learning, which you can engage them in as a parent. For example, Math bingo, Sukodu for children, language and reading games online like word search, word scramble, puzzle games, riddles and many more. These games can build the child’s brain and retainability. So, instead of the films in phones they spend time watching, they can utilize their time well by learning and having fun too.
Another way parents can help improve their children’s learning ability is attending Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meetings. This is one mostly ignored by parents and guardians. It creates an avenue for parents to learn and be involved in their children’s school activities, learning ways to impact them more. Parents should create time out of their busy schedules and attend PTA meetings.
A good way intelligent parents use in improving their children’s performance and keen for learning is by encouraging them with rewards. A parent promises a child a present if he improves in his performance, this can help greatly.
In an interview with The Nigerian Observer, Pastor (Mrs) Joseph Omoikhe, proprietress of Cardle Group of Schools, said the management of her school discovered that the girls performed better than the boys academically. When a research was carried out, she said, “We found out that those house chores you give to the girls make the girl child responsible, and because of that same attitude is put into their academic work”.
This reveals that the learning ability of the child can be both developed in home and school; hence, the parents should engage the children. There is a saying that “learning is a journey, not a destination” and every parent ought to take the child by the hand and walk them through the journey so they can be proud of them.
