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1329 days ago

Are "Learning Skills" effective"? What about TEACHING?

Robin Hicks from FOCUS Learning Centre Napier

We see much being made of "Learning Skills" lately in our education system. Sadly we are also seeing huge drops in the standard of achievement. This is borne out in international testing, and I'm sure, from your own experiences with your children. I hear it all the time, especially since Lockdown... "my kids can't DO anything!" There is nothing wrong with these trendy new "skills", except they are totally ineffective if the children don't KNOW anything! And sadly that is what we see regularly. You simply can't "problem solve" or "think critically" or "make connections" if you don't have a sound basic knowledge base to build this higher thinking on. Even "Communication" is of questionable value if you don't have something of substance to say! (unless, of course, you want to be a politician! ;))It appears our school systems are developing a high proportion of children who cannot read or write correctly and effectively; physically and/or creatively, who struggle with basic maths, and who have little to no general knowledge. The research on the critical nature of all these in a child's cognitive development is overwhelming! but far too often the response these days seems to be "there is an app for that"! Hardly surprising kids lose confidence and show minimal resilience!
The answer, however, is very simple: TEACH them! Build a strong base of knowledge and skills! Letting young children "work it out for themselves", being "taught" by other students who really should be being enriched and challenged in their own learning, or simply plonking them in front of a screen continues to prove to be a dismal failure for all but a few.
Here at FOCUS we teach kids. Computers are OK for practice, but NOT for learning... we believe that is the job of TEACHERS.

More messages from your neighbours
4 hours ago

Test Your Wits! Today's Riddle Will Keep You Guessing!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

Only one colour, but not one size,
Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.
Present in the sun, but not in rain,
Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.
What is it?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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3 days ago

Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.

John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!

As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!

John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.

Share your question below now ⬇️

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