I do, I see, I understand

Lalitha Sundaram

I have been teaching pre-primary and primary school students for the past 20 years. Both through my personal observations and reading, I have understood, to some extent, the best ways of encouraging children to learn in the classroom.

There should be no “hard academics” in pre-primary school. Children need to understand living and adjusting with their peers and learn the necessary skills for doing so. They are “kinesthetic learners” and they learn through their physical movements and play. They learn best through listening, speaking, and role play. They also learn by active participation and not passive listening. They can memorize easily but can also forget unless there is regular recap and repetition. They cannot grasp abstract ideas and they learn best through direct experiences or talking about their life experiences.

In primary school, they can be introduced to reading and writing. The most important areas of learning in primary school are languages and numeracy. Science and social studies should be limited to what they can and have experienced directly. Music, dance, and art are activities they enjoy most and should form an integral part of the curriculum.

I share below, some activities that I use with my students, which are based on the above understandings.

R U hungry (pre-primary) – The students play act a restaurant, acting both as diners and serving staff. Different foods are available as flash cards and served. Children learn words related to different types of food and the appropriate courtesy words, phrases, and sentences for ordering them and thanking the serving staff.

Manners bingo (pre-primary) – The teacher puts up a bingo chart on the board which has different pictures depicting the good and not-so-good manners. Similar bingo cards are distributed to children. As the teacher selects a bingo cell, children who have the same picture cards would be encouraged to say a few words about the picture and talk about it.

At the primary school, the picture cards can be replaced with words which children can read and talk about.

All about me (pre-primary) – The teacher helps the child prepare a small booklet about him/herself with personal and family details, photos, and drawings. Parents are encouraged to go through the booklet with the child at home and talk to them.

The activity can be repeated in primary with the addition of sentences written by the child.

Guess the fairy tale (primary) – The teacher gives clues about a fairy tale one by one until a child is able to identify the tale. Then the children are encouraged to tell the story with each child saying one sentence. This activity promotes listening, relating, and speaking skills.

Fun with grammar (primary) – The teacher divides the class into two groups and helps them decide a grammar topic; say adjectives. One of the groups will read a sentence from a flash card and the other group will have to guess the adjective in that sentence. The chance then passes on to the other group. All the simpler grammar concepts can be covered similarly.

Improving vocabulary – It is important to widen the vocabulary base of children to enable them to express themselves. It is best to actually show them objects, actions, and relations. In case of objects, actions, and relations which are not easily accessible in and around the school, PPTs can be used to show visuals related to these ideas.

Games – I use games like musical chairs, dog and the bone, etc., with a learning orientation so that children learn language skills and vocabulary while playing.

Free play – Apart from the above academics related activities and games, children should have a lot of time for free play, individually and in groups for them to learn social skills and for the sheer joy of playing.

I am sure both teachers and the children will enjoy these activities.

The author is an Educational Consultant and freelancer. She can be reached at lallisundar@gmail.com.