School Promotion |

How does Parent Persona help your school?

18th June 201817th June 2018 by Yomi Ojo

When you speak in a language that is familiar to your prospects, you are instantly compensated with their attentions.

Just before you continue: This article is a continuation of last week’s blog where we introduced the concept of parent persona and how to create one for your school. It may be helpful to read it before this one if you miss it last week.

Photo credit: belleafricana

When I was young, I used to excitedly follow my mum into the local markets to do some shopping. In the midst of thousands of people, any time she hears ‘Mama Yomi’ (meaning Yomi’s mum) or her name, ”come and buy this, buy that,” she is bound to turn her head and look the way of the caller. Dogmatically, I followed suit.

It is an undeniable fact that when you speak in a language that is familiar to your prospects, you are instantly compensated with their attentions. Even if you have never met before.

Understanding your prospective and current parents through Parent Persona is an integral part of your marketing success and school growth. Failure to do so is subjecting yourself to be ‘fooled by randomness’ which cannot be sustained in the midst of highly competitive private school market.

If you take a look at your Parent Persona, your will discover some interesting patterns you never thought of before now. For example, if a good number of your parents work in the banking sector, it is an indication that there are things you do in your school that attract bankers. Once this is established, this is a good place to start, just take these 3 steps:

Look at individual parent persona in this category of bankers to find out what exactly it is. You may find out that your after-school service fits in into their busy schedules.
The next thing is to get your marketing team to craft messages that may be themed like this ‘We appreciate your busy schedule and help you keep your kids busy till you are ready to leave for the day’. You may even be generous enough to add ‘at no extra cost’ if you really mean it. This is called empathy in its simplest terms.
Lastly, look out for where bankers hang out- it could be a group of bankers on facebook or WhatsApp. You can even walk into banking halls to reach out to more of them with your message.

Depending on the peculiarity of your school, you may discover trends like most parents in your school are celebrities, politicians, IT gurus, entrepreneurs, civil servant, live in a particular location, are within certain age range, like to play a particular game, are of same tribe or religion (if they are Christians, find out their churches Pentecostals, Protestants, Orthodox etc), marital status etc. If you need to call them or send a survey in order to probe further, please do!

It is important to note that these patterns can come in different shapes and sizes. It may even look as trivial as most of them play a chess game. If this is the case, STEM could be your own joker to woo prospective parents because chess is an analytical game. As long as it works for you: it is legitimate and okay.

THE BELLS SCHOOLS ALUMNI, LUNCHING THE INDOOR SPORTS FACILITIES

You will observe a packet of patterns for you to work with if your parent persona is done thoroughly (guess game is not allowed). Once this is observed, just follow the steps listed above.

One a final note, I will share my personal experience of how parent persona worked for me. Just recently, I was invited to speak to parents of final year pupils of Standard Bearers Schools Lekki Lagos alongside with representatives of some top schools in Nigeria.

In order not to be seeing as competing with schools there present, I offered to be the last speaker. When it was my turn to speak, the first thing I did was to tell my audience that I am also a parent and I also have a 10 years old daughter looking to gain admission into secondary school. This provided a strong bond between us.

Photo credit: Standard Bearers School, LekkiS Musical Recitals

What is your ideal school?

The next thing I did was to ask them this simple question: ‘what is your ideal school?’ Out of all the inspiring answers, one of them particularly caught my attention most: she said her son likes music and she will like to support him to become a DJ in future. Her ideal school is the school that shows a strong interest in music as part of its extra curricular activities. All the schools that spoke lost the chance to address this woman’s pain points even if they have such facility in place.

For questions and follow up or if you need help creating a parent personal for your school, send an email to yomi@schoolscompass.com.ng or drop a comment

How important is Parent Persona to your school’s marketing strategy?

13th June 201812th June 2018 by Yomi Ojo

All successful marketing starts with buyer personas – Author Anonymous

Yeah, you’ve got that smashing billboard yelling to motorists and pedestrians about great things about your school and telling them why they should consider your school. You also have all sorts of beautifully designed (by a designer who is probably not a parent or not the type you expect in your school) flyers garnished with your marketing messages (also put together by a copywriter who is as guilty as your graphic designer).

No matter how impressive your marketing messages and materials are, your marketing strategy will fall flat if it doesn’t speak directly to the heart of mission-appropriate families who are most likely to benefit from your school community. A good school marketing strategy starts with a firm handle on your Parent Personas

What is Parent Persona?

A Parent persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal parent based on market research and real data about your existing parents. The good thing about parent persona is that it works for you, independent of how low or high your marketing budget is.

Now that we have established the importance of parent persona to our enrollment, the next thing is ‘How do we go about this?’

To create parent personas, get the list of all parents/families who have spent at least two sessions in your school (based on the assumption that they have paid for your services at least 6 terms ). You may create a spreadsheet for this. Find out the following information about them and populate your spreadsheet.

Name: Bring it to live, give it a real name – Mr. Ojo, Mrs Yusuf, Ms Uche etc. It helps you to connect and make a realistic guess where it requires
Demographic Details Include information such as such as age, income level, education, employment details, marital Status, gender etc
Interests and desires. Do they enjoy traveling, clubbing, etc? What is their level of internet savviness?
Pain Points: Identify why they choose your school over others, why do they leave their previous school?
Customers’ journey: How do they find out about your school when they first visited?

These points are in exhaustible and not one-size-fits-all, you can tweak them to suit your specific purposes. At the end of this exercise, you will have something like this for each record of parents:

After understanding your parents and where they hang out, you’ll get a better sense of the channels that will work best in advertising to them

5 HIGHLY EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO BOOST ENROLLMENT RATES IN YOUR SCHOOL

8th June 2018 by SchoolsCompass

The Nigerian private school sector is highly saturated and as such, it is becoming increasingly difficult for school owners to grow student enrollment consistently. Parent, guardians and decision makers are becoming more sophisticated and selective as they look to settle down with an institution which caters to the immediate educational needs of their wards and most importantly sets them on the right path to a successful career and future.

While there are many uncontrollable factors that affect the growth of enrollment rates, here are some of the most effective hands-on strategies that help your school leverage its strengths to stand out in a fully saturated market and boost enrollment rates for your private school in Nigeria.

Create and Communicate a Strong Brand

In order to establish your school in your community and successfully market it far and wide, it is important to create a remarkable brand. So much more than just a catchy logo and great graphics, your school’s brand is that defining factor that differentiates you from the crowd. It describes your story, your unique advantage and communicates why your school is the top choice amongst the rest.
To craft a strong brand that sets your school apart from the other private schools in Nigeria, find out what it is that makes your school special; what influenced parents in selecting your school as final choice for their wards; do you have programs that help struggling learners; are there counseling opportunities; what special extracurricular activities to your offer enrollees. Responses garnered from this come together to define your school’s unique selling point(s) which helps you form a solid brand identity and as a result boost enrollment rates.

Build a User-friendly Informative Website

Your school’s website is one of the most important marketing and communication tool at your disposal. Parents will look to the web to research every school online before settling on their final choice. An easy to navigate website must be populated with all relevant information regarding the school, a parent needs to make a decision. Your website should communicate your brand effectively, display school programs, show testimonials and present enrollment information. Most importantly, for your website to help drive enrollment rates for your school it must reflect your brand as well as your unique approach to learning and guidance for students at all stages of their life.

Launch a Parent Ambassador Program

Word of mouth is by far the most effective strategy leveraged by Nigerian schools to boost enrollment rates. Take advantage of your existing pool of highly satisfied parents and access their networks by recruiting them as Parent Ambassadors for your school. These parents boost your grassroots marketing efforts by reaching out to other parents in their family network, church network, neighborhoods, and workplace.
The ideal Parent Ambassador is selected as a result of their visible passion for the school, their reputation and credibility within their network, relevant connections in the community and most importantly their willingness to join the program. To support this program, an active forum should be created – preferably online with a Facebook Group – where important information is shared and the Parent Ambassadors are constantly inspired to be active. Incentives for the Parent Ambassadors may be decided upon based on your discretion.

Financial Aid

Every parent desires the best education for their child; however, most are unable to meet up with the financial implications of enrolling their child in a top performing school. Offering financial aid to such parents is a great way to attract and retain more students in your school. Financial aid can come in the form of flexible fee payment, access to school loans, and access to grants and scholarships.
For schools using services such as School Credit*, their parents are granted access to collateral-free loans to meet their tuition needs at an affordable interest rate. These loans are processed with minimal documentation and disbursed within 24 hours of approval. Financially savvy parents will naturally gravitate towards these schools, and as result enrollment rates begin to grow. The added advantage of this service is it also allows schools to take out loans to invest in the infrastructural development of their schools which in turn also delivers a positive effect on enrollment rates.

Online Marketing

Increasingly, schools are taking advantage of the internet and social media to create a wider reach in the market. Your first step should be to create a social media account, most importantly Facebook and Twitter, and share special events, stories, accomplishments, and announcements with the general public; if setting this up is too tedious to add to your overwhelmingly full to-do list, AllPro Tech can handle this process at no cost. Encourage students, teachers, and parents to get involved on these platforms. Parent Ambassadors should be encouraged to leave positive and educative reviews on the school’s social media pages.
Online and social media adverts must be well designed, direct and engaging. With the use of social media platforms advertising tools, schools are able to hyper-target their adverts, thereby delivering tailored promotional messages to a specific audience. This is a great and cost-effective way to boost enrolment rates.

Conclusion

Generating and consistently growing enrollment rates is arguably one of the most daunting tasks faced by the school administrator in Nigeria, adopting the right strategies and implementing them in a timely and effective manner is the difference between a constantly struggling school and a highly sort after top performing school. Feel free to try out the strategies listed in this article and leave a comment on your progress below.

First published by Allprotech.

Top 4 Reasons Effective Speaking Skills are Important for Teachers by Esther Omodiagbe

28th February 20189th February 2018 by Oluwaseyi Adelaju

Is the ability to speak effectively important for teachers? The answer is a resounding yes.

Professional educators keep themselves continuously on an upward learning curve. They know that in addition to regularly upgrading their technical competence, one critical skill that can greatly increase their effectiveness in the classroom and enhance their credibility is the ability to speak effectively.

The ability to speak effectively is a pivotal skill required for almost facet of the teaching profession. Teachers depend on their verbal abilities to carry out their primary responsibility of knowledge sharing. Also, teaching staff communicates vital information about themselves and their schools every time they interface with parents, prospective parents and other stakeholders.

Here are top 4 reasons teaching staff should constantly strive to sharpen their speaking skills:

1. Impact Positively the Speaking Skills of their Students

There is no doubt that the verbal abilities of a teaching staff will to some extent affect the speaking skills of his or her students. Teachers who speak confidently and correctly will set a positive standard for their students to emulate.

2. Create the Right First Impression

First impression matters. Teachers who exhibit effective speaking skills command positive attention and project themselves as true professionals. In addition, when it comes to making an impact with parents, nothing impresses them like teachers who have taken time to work on their speaking skills.

3. Increase Effectiveness in the Classroom

Photo Credit: Doveland International School

Effective speaking skills will enable teachers to articulate their ideas with clarity when teaching, as well as make their classes more interesting and engaging.

4. Enhance the Competitive Advantage of Schools

Top educational institutions know that the spoken communication of their teachers can speak volumes about their brand, and ultimately give them an edge over less articulate competitors. One of my clients told me recently that she wanted to change her children’s school. When I asked the reason for her decision, she explained that she has observed that some of her children’s teachers do not speak well. On the positive side, teachers who speak will help to enhance the competitive advantage of their schools, which can boost enrollment.

Do you want to stand out, increase your professional credibility, and create a positive impression about yourself as a teacher? Then give attention to regularly improving your speaking skills.

“Talking and eloquence are not the same: to speak, and to speak well, are two things.” – Ben Johson

Post contributed by Esther Omodiagbe. Follow her on Twitter to learn more.

Schools With Amazing Sports Facilities in Nigeria

26th January 201826th January 2018 by SchoolsCompass

Grade-conscious parents tend to question the rationale for sporting activities in schools; Little do they know that the benefit of sports in school isn’t merely physical. Sports has been identified to play a major role in building the self-esteem and mental alertness of a child; it is a constitutional part of a child’s life.

The Case for Sports in Schools

Of course, a child should study hard to excel in examinations, this, however, should not be to the detriment of enjoying the health and vigour of life which engaging in sporting activities provides. All work and no play makes the proverbial Jack a dull boy. Children who actively participate in sports have been reported to exhibit increased social relations and higher self-esteem. Sports, therefore, meets the physical, emotional, social, physiological and intellectual needs of learners. Through play, children are able to relate with their unacquainted world and gain the desired experiences.

Top schools in Nigeria do not only integrate sports into their curriculum, they provide facilities that enable students recognize and develop their sporting talents. In no particular order, here are top schools in Nigeria with amazing sports facilities.

DOVELAND INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

There is a standard basketball court in the school where students come out to play and interact. Do you know that it has been discovered basketball build endurance and develop concentration and self-discipline in students? it is a social sports that teaches students how to become a good team player.

THE WHITE DOVE SCHOOLS

White dove Schools has a Football pitch with a natural turf. Majority of students in schools have a great passion for football. With a football pitch in a school, it will help the dreams and passion of those students to keep burning.

SILVERSANDS HIGH SCHOOL

Many believe that Acrobatic exercise should be done by adults but the best time to start this Acrobatic exercise is during childhood. It is a source of physical well-being and it helps the flexibility of the body. Silversand has an acrobatic class for the children.

Silversands High School encourages cycling as a sports activity in their environment. it has been discovered that cycling is aerobic which help to work out the heart, blood vessel and lungs.

IMAAD SCHOOLS LEKKI

Image Source: Imaad Schools

Sports activities are not limited by age. Imaad school has a field where pupils are allowed to participate in any sports activities. Imaad school practice Judo sport which originated from Japan. It’s a martial art that is celebrated worldwide. Many parents don’t know that Judo sports add lots of value to their children such as respect, self-esteem, friendship, loyalty, courage for what is right, honor, self-control, modesty etc

THE BELL COMPREHENSIVE SECONDARY SCHOOL

The Bell Comprehensive Secondary school is known for its indoor sports activities such as long tennis, basketball, volleyball etc. Playing indoor sport is an excellent measure where children spend their leisure time. it has also been discovered that indoor sports activities aid relaxation and social interaction in children.

Summary

We don’t think our list is exhaustive and we will be happy to add more schools. To add your school to this list, simply comment with the name of your school in the box below, sign up or log in to your profile on SchoolsCompass and upload the image of your sports facilities.

Thanks for helping Nigerian parents choose the best schools for their wards.

7 Reasons Why Your School Should Teach Coding Today

12th January 201812th January 2018 by Oluwaseyi Adelaju

Education-is-the-passport-to-the-future-for-tomorrow-belongs-to-those-who-prepare-for-it-today._-Malcolm-X

The best system of education is the one that prepares learners for the workplace of the future. According to international acclaimed teacher Brian Aspinall, Future-ready students need to be creative. They need to know how to communicate their ideas and how to collaborate as problem solvers. To master these and other twenty-first-century requirements, they will need to be critical thinkers.

According to Techopedia, coding refers to creating computer programming code. Coding, in the simplest of terms, is telling a computer what you want it to do, which involves typing in step-by-step commands for the computer to follow. Code powers computers and computers power many everyday objects like phones, watches, microwaves and cars. In fact, almost anything powered by electricity uses code. Here are few reasons why your school should teach students how to code today.

1. It Makes Students Active Learners

Image Source: SchoolsCompass Coding Club

“Active learning” according to Teaching Commons means students engage with the material, participate in the class, and collaborate with each other. In a coding class, students don’t simply listen and memorize; instead, they demonstrate a process, analyze an argument, or apply a concept to a real-world situation. With coding, your students become content creators rather than consumers as they are empowered to express themselves in really cool ways.

2. Coding Improves Academic Performance

According to Tynker, Coding significantly improve the learning of key subjects such as Mathematics and Writing. Children who learn how to code finds it easier to visualize abstract concepts in a Mathematics class; This consequently lets them apply math to real-world situations and makes math fun and creative. Also, kids who code understand the value of concision and planning, which results in better writing skills.

3. Coding is Another Form of Literacy

Just as “Must be a Computer Literate” became a key phrase in every job advert, coding is set to be another form of literacy everyone will be required to have very soon. According to Jan Cuny – Program Officer, National Science FoundationAll of the today’s kids will need—along with reading, writing, and arithmetic—a basic understanding of computation and the role that it plays across a wide range of disciplines. Coding teaches storytelling with games and animations; It is a new type of literacy and will be a large part of future jobs. will.i.am – Musician/The Black Eyed Peas and Entrepreneur advocates that starting at 8 years old, Children should learn to read and write code.”

4. Coding Engenders Creativity and Confidence

Kids learn through experimentation and strengthen their brains when they code, allowing them to embrace their creativity. Parents enthusiastically report that they’ve noticed their kids’ confidence building as they learn to problem-solve through coding. Because learners are required to bend, join, break and combine code in a way it wasn’t designed to, coding affords them the opportunity to take risks and fail safely which builds innovation and self-reliance. Susan Wojcicki – Senior Vice President, Google believes that If we want our young women to feel empowered, creative, and confident as adults, a great option is to expose them to computer programming in their youth.

5. Coding Builds Valuable Soft Skills in Learners

In today’s world where adverts and notifications are ubiquitous, and reduced attention span is causing more accidents than ever before, learners naturally develop better focus and concentration as they write more complicated code. They also develop problem-solving and critical/analytical thinking abilities which will make them excel in whatever profession they choose. In the words of Nicholas Negroponte – Founder and Chairman Emeritus of MIT’s Media Lab once shared that “Programming allows you to think about thinking, and while debugging you learn to learn.”

6. It Prepares Learners for the Future

Computer science opens more doors for students than any other discipline in today’s world. Learning even the basics will help students in virtually any career—from architecture to zoology. Salman Khan – Founder, Khan Academy believes that To prepare humanity for the next 100 years, we need more of our children to learn computer programming skills, regardless of their future profession. Along with reading and writing, the ability to program is going to define what an educated person is.

7. Parents Love It

80% of parents want schools to teach computer programming, and students love it. A poll organized by TechGen Africa research team found that 8 out of 10 parents want schools to teach computer science so children grow up not just using technology but learning how to create it. According to a mum, with any other co-curricular activity, like baseball camp, you get a great reaction from people, but when you say your son is learning to code … it’s a bit of a different stare!

Introducing… SchoolsCompass Coding and Robotics Club

As part of our edu-service delivery, we are committed to developing early the next generation of software developers by initiating Robotics& Coding Clubs in our subscribed schools. SchoolsCompassCODING CLUB empowers students to learn programmatic thinking, computer logic, software and mobile application development and lots more through a structured practical-based curriculum that makes personalised learning as well as peer-to-peer education possible.

Some of our success stories…

Tobi Adeyemi

Tobi Adeyemi, a 10 years old Grade 5 pupil Developed 2 games; Ping-pong 1 (Tennis) and Bug Killer. We find Tobi very amazing because he makes a lot of advancement on every task completed in class.

Ebuka Agarua

Ebuka Agarua a 10 years old Grade 6 pupil developed his first game; Hide and Seek. Ebuka is very attentive and dedicated and we find him very logical as regards problem-solving.

Fill the form below for more information on how your school can partner with SchoolCompass to discover and empower the next generation of developers.

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How Schools in Nigeria Celebrated Independence Day

5th October 20175th October 2017 by Oluwaseyi Adelaju

October 1st will always be a memorable day for Nigeria and Nigerians, a day of festive and historic remembrance. It’s a day when everyone including schools celebrates our National day as well as culture.It’s a remarkable day well spent with friends, families, teachers, colleagues and so on. Schools act as an example to the immediate community to show the importance of educating our young ones about not just our history but also how different cultures came to be, placing emphasis on the unity of a nation. Here are few of our schools who joined in the National/cultural day celebration;

1. The White Dove Schools Sangotedo, Lagos

2. Ladela Schools Wuse 2, Abuja

3. Chrisland School Abuja

4. Almond School Ajah-Lekki, Lagos

5. Doveland International School Abuja

6. New Hall International School Lekki, Lagos

7. Adorable Toes School Ogidan, Lagos

8. Dukeland International School Idimu, Lagos

9. Standard Bearers School Lekki, Lagos

10. Pinefield Schools Lekki, Lagos

11. Treasure Chest Children’s Place Badore-Addo, Lagos

12. Learning Ladder Montessori Badore-Addo, Lagos

13. The Oaktree School Ikeja, Lagos

14. Tenderfeet International School Badore-Ajah, Lagos

15. Surefoot International School Calabar, Cross River State

16. Clavont International School Satellite Town, Lagos

17. DCP International School Surulere, Lagos

Dear parents, if you are still looking out for the best schools for your ward, schoolscompass is all you need. Getting an ideal school is just a click away. Schoolscompass is the gateway to showing you schools with unique, modern facilities and conducive learning environment with certified teachers who holds the children with high priority at heart.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAYGROUPS

4th October 20174th October 2017 by Oluwaseyi Adelaju

With social interaction playing a major role in creating a stimulating environment for children to learn and play, playgroups have significantly become a platform for children and parents to obtain optimum development. Playgroups enable children to develop social skills by exposing them to making more friends that can last a lifetime. It gives them some alone time with their parents allowing them to play more. Parents on the other hand also tend to gain from the playgroups as they are able to interact with other parents in the group, share ideas, concerns, and experiences, learn from other parents and as well build up their social networks.

Playgroups are filled with lots of fun and offer children great support as well as their respective parent as this gives them time to relax and rid themselves of all sorts of tension, work stress. Through playgroups, children’s language development and communication grow stronger, their emotional confidence, physical activity, imagination, and creativity are all heightened. It assists children to become ready for the formal environment and it also opens the opportunity to attend excursions/events.

Playgroup is an informal session where mums, dads, grandparents, caregivers, children, and babies meet together in a relaxed environment. They are set up and run by parents and caregivers, with a range of activities designed to meet the needs of the children attending. -Playgroup Australia

PLAYGROUP ACTIVITIES

Singing- Activities such as this brings the children closer making them share common rhymes and also teaching them how to memorize things. Singing improves a child’s memory and it acts as a prerequisite skill for reading. Singing also helps your child enhance his vocabulary and, depending on the songs, can teach him about science, history, and culture.

According to a blog post on How Singing to children may help the development of language skills by Amelia Hill from parents and parenting, Daniel Dwase, editor of the online Child Development Guide, said “Music assists in the development of a child’s speech,” he said. “Singing nursery rhymes and simple songs teach children how language is constructed and assists with the acquisition of language. Singing songs with your child will also teach them about tone, beat, and rhythm.

“Even better than just singing, though, is to teach songs with actions and encourage your child to dance along to the music, they will learn balance, co-ordination, body awareness and rhythm,” he said

Arts and Craft- This draws a child’s focus to the world of art and through this, most children tend to further develop their artistry as they grow older. This also brings a connection between the children in the group and helps the child to demonstrate/develop self-control and patience.

According to an article on The Benefits of Art for Kids, the International Child Art Foundation said, “Research indicates that a child who is exposed to the arts acquires a special ability to think creatively, be original, discover, innovate, and create intellectual property—key attributes for individual success and social prosperity in the twenty-first century.”

Outdoor Play- Activities done outside such as football, basketball and so on improves the child’s physical strength/state as well as mental. Sports activities help keep the child in good shape both external and internal. It is a perfect place for kids to be kids with the freedom to shout, jump, run, hop or skip.

We also know babies sleep better at night if they’ve had some fresh air and sunshine during the day, according to a study called The Relationship Between Daytime Exposure to Light and Night-time Sleep in 6-12 Week Old Infants.-Importance of outdoor play activities for kids, NCT

Imaginative Play-

Such as making up stories and putting them into an act helps the child assimilate ideas quickly and they are able to groom themselves in the drama world. It fosters mental growth by creating opportunities for trying out new ideas, ways of thinking and problem-solving (helps the brain develop creativity).

An important benefit of early pretend play may be its enhancement of the child’s capacity for cognitive flexibility and, ultimately, creativity (Russ, 2004; Singer & Singer, 2005). Russ, for example, in longitudinal studies, found that early imaginative play was associated with increased creative performance years later (Russ, 2004; Russ, & Fiorelli, 2010).- The Need for Pretend Play in Child Development, Psychological Today

Trips- This can involve activities such as camping, site seeing to help the child know more about their environment and also to learn new things that wouldn’t be taught in the school environment. Trips aid children with new experiences and increase their understanding of the world around them.

Playgroups are very important at the early stages of a child’s development and so parents and schools should engage more in such activities with their kids and their students as well as encourage them to help their development process.

Visit schoolscompass.co.ng for ideal schools for your wards.

WHAT METHOD OF TEACHING BEST SUIT A CHILD?

22nd September 2017 by Oluwaseyi Adelaju

Irrespective of the child’s age, parents take responsibilities for their children. With children being taught by different teachers, one is faced with the reality that they are exposed to different teaching methods with no way to measure which teaching method is most-effective.

Ever wondered about the teaching method being used by the school and how effective they are to the learners? Parents and teachers should have a ready answer to the question of what the most-appropriate teaching method should be. Children differ and so do learning methods. While a child can grasp a concept faster through singing, the other might find singing a distraction to learning. Taking out time as a parent or teacher to figure out how a child learns can go a long way as there are several ways of making children learn; Let’s review some teaching methods.

Role Play

According to Ian Glover on TEL, Role-play is a technique that allows students to explore realistic situations by interacting with other people in a managed way in order to develop experience and trial different strategies in a supported environment. Depending on the intention of the activity, participants might be playing a role similar to their own (or their likely one in the future) or could play the opposite part of the conversation or interaction. Both options provide the possibility of significant learning, with the former allowing experience to be gained and the latter encouraging the student to develop an understanding of the situation from the ‘opposite’ point of view.

This method of teaching is mostly used during literature classes. It can also be adapted for in-class activities that don’t have to be focused on literature only. Such activities can be implemented to the storytelling lessons, history knowledge, and the likes of it.

Demonstration

The demonstration method involves the teacher educating the class by showing rather than by merely explaining the concept to be learned. The teacher ensures learning by making the learners engaged in activities that involve the actual display of what is being taught.

According to Heather Coffey on LEARN NC the teacher, or some other expert on the topic being taught, performs the tasks step-by-step so that the learner will eventually be able to complete the same task independently when using the demonstration method in the classroom. The eventual goal is for learners to not only duplicate the task, but to recognize how to problem-solve when unexpected obstacles or problems arise. After performing the demonstration, the teacher’s role becomes supporting students in their attempts, providing guidance and feedback, and offering suggestions for alternative approaches.

Group Work

Group work usually involves groups of students formally working together on projects or assignment, though it may sometimes take place in formal classroom settings. When setting group work tasks, it can be useful to consider student availability, resources necessary, and expected outcomes. – TIC

Some students find learning easier when they are allowed to work in groups or pairs. Through these, students are able to help themselves and communicate their difficulties to their friends rather than the teachers.

Recitation

Photo Credit: Crescent Nursery and Primary School

Recitation is a direct, teacher-centered approach in which the teacher asks specific short answer questions with a specific answer in mind. Incorrect answers are usually corrected by the teacher or by the class. A teacher may use probing questions in order to help the class come to the correct answer. The repetition of question and answer helps information retention. It is best used for the memorization of facts–base level knowledge. – Valeri, Adam & Racheal

This method of teaching is most suitable when it involves calculations, works of literature, etc. It aids the recall of names, words, formulas, processes, etc.

Field Trips

Photo Credit: New Hall International Schools

A field trip is a visit to a place outside the regular classroom which is designed to achieve certain objectives, which cannot be achieved as well by using other means. – Liga and Agen

Most, if not all students enjoy time outside school walls. A field trip is one of the best methods to teach students especially when it comes to geographical topics involving nature, history of a country, state or community. Students get to actually see the world from a whole new perspective and also get insights on the real nature of things.

Quizzes.

Photo Credit: Doveland International Schools

This method of teaching is every teacher best in that they enjoy giving quizzes to students to know how much they have learned and how much they as a teacher has been able to instill in them

Children learn through several means. Teachers, as well as parents, need to identify the most appropriate learning methods/experience for the children. Finding an ideal school that cares about your child’s growth is just a click away, kindly visit Schoolscompass.com.ng and you are sure to get much more than you expected.

Wakaa! The Musical Live in Abuja

18th September 201718th September 2017 by SchoolsCompass

The legendary Albert Einstein once said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” The best education is the one that makes the learners fully aware of their social environment and prepares them to excel in it. According to Dr. Mahfuz Judeh of Applied Science Private University, “Rigorous learning is essential in conveying information and knowledge to students. But in addition to that, it is better for teacher to focus also on learning with entertainment”

SchoolsCompass, Nigeria’s number one support giver to Schools has partnered with Terakulture to provide schools the opportunity to make learning with entertainment possible for students by bringing Wakaa! the Musicals to Abuja.°Wakaa! The Musical is a play about the trials, successes, and experiences of graduates with varied backgrounds. It educates learners on the reality of after school and how the choices they are making today can affect their lives in the not-so-distant future.

The story reveals the struggles and challenges young people face in present-day Nigeria and abroad. WAKAA! The Musical takes viewers on an emotional roller coaster while presenting a strong satire of Nigeria’s politics.

Wakaa! will be live in Abuja from September 23rd – 28th at The Regent Secondary School, Abuja. Also between September 30th – October 1st at Transcorp Hilton Hotel by 7 pm.

Another Reason Your School Should See This Play

The pupils in your school might be the next Nollywood Stars. Exposure to high-quality stage performance such as Wakaa! has a greater chance of inspiring them to pursue their dreams. Your school literary, drama and art team will be able to acquire real-life experiences which can make your school different from every other.

It does not end there…
SchoolsCompass has negotiated on your behalf. Now you can get tickets for the performance at a rate cheaper than any other outlets (including Terrakulture itself) when you book with SchoolsCompass. Your school also stands a special chance to be featured in our upcoming blog story on “Schools that Excel in Arts”.
Click This Link to Order for a Ticket Now or call SchoolsCompass on +234 1 2958 029

When you speak in a language that is familiar to your prospects, you are instantly compensated with their attentions.