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2023-2024 News Parent Zone Article Parents Zone

Intelligent Learning Through Exercise

Written by: Fung Ji Hei, Game Therapist

 

I just participated in a professional development exchange activity for teachers in Taiwan, and witnessed how Taiwan’s education system emphasizes using exercise to cultivate children’s growth. This has given me new inspiration, and I hope to share it with all parents. One of the schools we visited for the exchange could be called a “mini sports university” – “Tiger Forest Elementary School”. As soon as I stepped into the school, the students greeted us with the government-promoted fitness exercises. They followed the rhythm to raise their hands and move their bodies, doing all kinds of warm-up movements. It made me feel like they were as lively as little tigers, and I felt like I had entered a forest full of little tigers.

 

Exercise Can Strengthen Children’s Learning Ability

Principal Liu of Tiger Forest Elementary School said that the school is a key government school focused on the physical development of the students, and believes that exercise can strengthen their learning ability. They are based on the research of John J. Ratey, MD, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and advocate the “Anytime Exercise” program. This program encourages students to exercise at any time. During breaks, students run to any part of the playground to exercise, some play dodgeball, some climb on the jungle gym, and some play badminton. All the students enjoy every moment of exercise.

 

The Benefits of Exercise – Strengthening Brain Function

It is well known that exercise has the effect of strengthening the body and health. In Ratey’s research, he points out more about the benefits of exercise for the brain. He describes the brain as an information processing center, where information is transmitted through different pathways using different messengers (chemicals). During exercise, the brain can effectively produce more messengers and strengthen the pathways, making the transmission of information faster and more accurate.

When applying this theory to learning, students can strengthen their brain function through exercise, thereby enhancing their learning effectiveness. Research has proven that exercise can improve students’ concentration and memory, which are essential conditions for successful learning. In addition, exercise can cause the brain to produce Dopamine (a chemical that creates a sense of happiness), allowing students to learn happily, and naturally achieving better results.

 

How to get children to love exercise?

To let children enjoy the time and benefits of exercise, parents need to help children love exercise. Here are three suggestions:

  1. Anytime Exercise : Provide more opportunities for children to exercise, such as giving them appropriate time, tools, and venues, while parents should also pay attention to the safety of the environment.
  2. Healthy Exercise : Teach children to exercise for the sake of health, and emphasize the benefits of exercise to health.
  3. Exercise Together : Exercise with children more often, enjoy the moments of exercise, and cherish the quality time between parents and children.
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2023-2024 News Parent Zone Article Parents Zone

The Parent-Child Relationship of “One Chases, One Walks”

Written by: Ms. Ng Yee Kam, Founder and CEO of Family Dynamics,  Marriage and Family Therapist & Child Play Therapist

 

Many parents complain that as their children grow older, they become less willing to talk to their parents, and the relationship becomes more distant and indifferent. Parents begin to not know what is on their children’s minds, what their school life is like, and what their friends are like. As far as the eye can see, it’s all gaming, watching TV, surfing the internet, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Instagram! Parents inevitably develop a sense of unease, because it feels like they have lost connection with their beloved children. The more uneasy parents become, the more they want to pull their children back. But the methods they use are often questioning, regulating, criticizing, and blaming, showing a lack of understanding and trust towards their children’s behavior. From the children’s perspective, the parents’ “concern” and “care” feel like control and unreasonableness. As a result, the more the parents want to get closer to their children, the more the children want to avoid their parents! This chasing creates a tense and awkward parent-child relationship, which is truly a pity!

 

Whether it’s the evolution of society or the nurturing of the next generation, the role of parents is the most important. Parents have multiple responsibilities: care, provision, guidance, and demonstration. The best way to connect the relationship between parents and children and create positive interactions is the way parents convey love and care, which can make children truly feel it. Sometimes parents may be surprised and ask, “Isn’t this how I show concern? How could he not feel it?” In fact, each child’s needs may be different, and the way they crave care may also be different. If parents do not approach it from the child’s perspective, but only selfishly use their own perspective to understand and the methods they are used to in showing care, even if parents “circle around” the child, the same result may occur: one chases, one walks!

For children to truly feel their parents’ love and care, the key lies in whether the parents’ focus is on the children themselves, or only on the children’s performance. If the parents’ care is focused on the child, the child will definitely feel it, and they will respond in a positive way. If the parents’ concern is only about the child’s performance, the child will eventually become alienated from the parents, and may even shut them out.

 

If we compare the following examples of what parents say to their children, we can see the difference between “caring for the child” and “caring for the child’s performance”:

When parents come home from work and ask their children:

A “Did you have a happy day at school today?”

B “Did you finish your homework today?”

When the child gets a 65 on a test, the parents say:

A “Are you feeling disappointed with this score? Perhaps you feel unhappy, you can share your feelings with me!”

B “You’ve been lazy and unfocused, how can you get good grades like this? If you don’t work harder, you’ll fail again next time, and might even have to repeat the grade!”

In the busy pace of life, it is not easy to establish a good parent-child relationship! Establishing positive interactions and connections with your children is the only way to provide them with continuous encouragement and support as they grow up. If you’re not careful and choose the wrong way of expressing yourself, even though the parents may have a lot of love in their hearts, the children may not accept it!

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2023-2024 News Latest News Parent Zone Article Parents Zone

What You Need to Know About E-Learning

Written by: Director of Program Development, Carmen Leung

 

After the pandemic, e-learning has become inevitable. Parents also download various tablet computer programs for their children to use, hoping that they can learn through interactive or entertaining visuals and sounds. Which animations and applications are beneficial for children’s learning? What should parents pay attention to when using multimedia to help their children learn?

 

Using e-learning according to age

In the preschool years, as the brain regions responsible for the five senses are developing rapidly, the author does not recommend that children aged 0 to 2 frequently or excessively rely on using television or tablet computers for learning. This is because the images on television or tablet computers are flashing at an extremely high frequency, and the young child’s eyes and brain will constantly receive stimulation unconsciously. Over time, visual stimulation becomes a habit, and brain development is also affected, leading to a decrease in concentration.

Some parents say, “My child is very focused when watching TV and playing with the iPhone, but they don’t have the patience for books, so I bought a lot of educational animations for them to watch.” Have parents ever thought that if the eyes and brain are used to constant stimulation, relatively static things like books and teacher explanations will naturally become uninteresting? If you continue to let young children rely on rich visuals to learn, what will happen when they eventually need to face book-based learning in the future?

For children aged 2 and above, as their brain development is more mature, parents can allow their children aged 2 and above to use television and computers for learning, but within limits. The time should start from no more than 15 minutes per day, and can be gradually increased as the child gets older. This is because as children grow older, the high-frequency flickering of computers or televisions will have a relatively lower impact on brain development.

 

Recommendation to use multiple learning modes

Although screen displays have an impact on children’s concentration, the author does not believe that using television and computers for learning has no merit. Multimedia or computer programs can increase the fun and interactivity of learning, making children more interested in learning and learning faster and more. However, in addition to using highly interactive multimedia for learning, children also need to adapt to other less interactive learning modes, such as books and one-way lectures, and find the enjoyment in learning from them. Parents should provide their children with diversified learning paths, such as taking them to the library, playing educational games with them, visiting museums, walking on nature trails, or even teaching them to read English menus at restaurants, so that children can try different learning modes and methods, and find the joy of learning.

 

 

How to choose suitable multimedia electronic learning products?

– The product should preferably not have non-learning elements that children can download or open by themselves. For example, if a child is using an iPhone or iPad for learning, parents should not let the child access other apps, ensuring that the child is learning rather than playing.

– Products with segmented or sectioned learning should be used. Many parents find that when it’s time for the child to stop using electronic devices, the child may have negative emotional reactions. Therefore, the author suggests that the product should be divided into different chapters, and parents can limit the child to only view or complete one chapter at a time.

– The product should have interactive elements and require the child to respond in different ways. If a multimedia product only provides a one-way teaching mode, it is not a good product. For example, if the product only allows the child to sit and listen to information, or watch without needing to respond, we call this “one-way learning,” which should be avoided. Products that allow children to sing together, do actions together, spell words together, read aloud, and answer questions are the ones that should be chosen.

– For example, some products may allow children to respond, but each time it’s the same type of answer, such as pressing a button to respond. In this case, the child’s responses will be relatively slow, turning into a “robotic” style of learning, which can affect their future learning motivation and ability to think from multiple perspectives. Products like this should be avoided.

 

Time for using electronic devices

The time spent using electronic devices for learning should not be too long, and parents should also set a daily or weekly time limit for their children to use electronic devices. For example, children can only use the computer for a maximum of half an hour after completing their homework. If the half-hour is up, the child must honor the commitment and stop using the device. Parents can also work with their children to set a daily schedule, allocating time for homework, play, extracurricular activities, and using electronic devices. This helps children understand that everything needs to be planned and moderated, which not only trains their self-management skills but also effectively limits the time spent using electronic devices.

 

Using electronic devices as a reward

If children enjoy using electronic devices for learning (which they often do), parents can consider using device usage as a reward. For example, if the child finishes their meal in half an hour or completes their homework with quality, they can be allowed to use the electronic device for thirty minutes.

 

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2023-2024 News Parent Zone Article Parents Zone

Learning to Solve Problems with Wisdom

Written by: Octopus parent, Mr. Thomas Chiu

 

Mom: “If Mommy gets captured by the Gruffalo (the monster from the cartoon) and taken into the forest, what should we do?”

Hei Hei: “I will cook a meal for the Gruffalo to eat, because if the Gruffalo is full, it won’t eat Mommy! And Mommy said that after eating the meal, she can have the dishes!”

That was a conversation between the mother and Hei Hei. I greatly appreciate Hei Hei’s creativity, but I am most delighted that he tries to solve the problem with wisdom, rather than immediately resorting to violence to directly eliminate the obstacle, such as beating or even “killing” the Gruffalo and then rescuing Mommy. Or finding the police to arrest the Gruffalo, and then rescuing Mommy – these would be direct methods.

What’s wrong with the Gruffalo capturing Mommy because it was hungry? Does the solution have to be to eliminate it? If we let the Gruffalo eat its fill, it will naturally release Mommy! We should be able to accommodate each other’s ways of living; it doesn’t always have to be a life-or-death situation. I want my child to have their own stance, but at the same time, they need to learn to be tolerant of others, including their actions and even their mistakes. If we do not agree with someone’s behavior, we should try to persuade them with our own words and arguments.

It is always better to solve problems with wisdom rather than resorting to various forms of violence. There are always win-win solutions, as long as all parties make an effort to find them.

Focus on Interests, Not Positions

The author has read a famous book on negotiation techniques, titled “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In,” which introduces five principles of “Principled Negotiation” that are very useful. One of the principles is to “Focus on Interests, Not Positions.” In today’s society, where there are various conflicts, if the parties involved can prioritize the public interest over their own positions, and not just oppose each other because you are on the left and I am on the right, or because of differing positions, without the need for one side to emerge victorious, then even if your position or the side you support wins, what is the cost to society? Has the public interest truly increased because your position has prevailed?

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2023-2024 News

Joint School Film Appreciation Activity

Dear Parents,

      Our school has received funding from the Home-School Cooperation Committee to organize a “Joint School Movie Appreciation”. This event will be held jointly with Heng Fa Chuen Lutheran Day Nursery. This is a cartoon film produced by Disney. The content describes the emotional changes of different characters, allowing children to understand that they have different emotional ups and downs. It is suitable for children to watch. One parent is welcome to accompany their child. If parents are unable to accompany their children, teachers will take care of the students to and from the school. If students do not participate in this event, they do not need to return to school on that day.

The details are listed below:

Date: 12th July,2024 (Friday)
Gathering time : Students : 9:00am at school

Parents : 9:15am at the East Gate

Show Time : 10:00am- 12:10 noon
Venue : Cinema City , Winner Centre,, Chai Wan
Movie : Inside Out 2
Dismissal time Half day session :   Direct dismisses at the cinema for those accompanied by parents

                               12:30 noon at school for those not accompanied by parents

Whole day session : Normal school hours 4:15pm at school

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2023-2024 News

Billingual VBS

Dear Parents, Last year, our school held a week of English Bible Week in July, allowing students to study the English Bible in a pleasant environment, and the effect was satisfactory. This year, it will continue to be organized by the Lutheran Church, Hong Kong Synod. The curriculum will base on American culture, led by bilingual (Cantonese and English) instructors, and supplemented by digital video recordings taught by the professors of Concordia University, Texas. Different themes are brought out in lively forms such as dancing and singing, creative handicrafts, group games, Bible stories, and small theaters so that the kids may learn about Jesus’ love. The details are as follows: Date:            15th July, 2024 (Monday) to 19th July, 2024 (Friday) Time:           10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Target:         All students Fee            Free Remark ︰ Activities will take place during class lessons.
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2023-2024 News

Announcement of Results of Bible Verses Reciting Competition

Dear Parents,

The Bible Verses Reciting Competition has successfully concluded on 24th May , 2024 (Friday).

 The success of this competition is due to the support of parents and the hard work of students. Principal Lai & Ms. Grace Li acted as the judges of the competition. Under their fair and impartial judgement,

one outstanding performer was selected from each class. The award ceremony will be held during the Graduation Ceremony on 22nd June , 2024 (Saturday). The winners of the Merit Award were as follows:

Name Class
Wong Tsz Yat K1A
Yeung Kan Fei K2A
Sze Kwan Yu K3A

 

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2023-2024 News

”Parent’s Corner” Page

Dear Parents:

Our school received funding from the Education Bureau to optimize the “Parents’ Corner” page and add a number of articles suitable for parents to read, such as: “Promoting children’s health”, “Promoting parents’ physical and mental health”, “Promoting home-school cooperation”, “Understanding Child Development”different types of articles .

Our school will regularly update articles from different experts on the school website “Parent Garden — Parent Garden Articles” every month, hoping to help parents better understand their children’s growth and development. Parents are encouraged to make good use of resources and read different articles regularly

School Website :https://www.sjlk.edu.hk