Life-long Learning Requires Tools for Longevity,
Not Cramming
APEX,
N.C., July 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Two big
transitions for school-age children are moving from elementary to
middle school and middle to high school. Often these moves are
accompanied by the realization that academic expectations are
different.
Gone are the days of rote memorization. Studying now is a very
personalized experience and one that can be enhanced through parent
involvement. With the school year starting soon, parents have a
natural opportunity to get involved in their child's progress.
Is your child someone who thrives on peace and quiet or works
best with a little background music? Was the lesson they learned
taught by a teacher or was it self-guided? Do they lean on
memorization skills then wonder why they cannot remember the
information a few weeks later?
The act of studying has changed over the years as teachers work
to improve the success rates of their students. At Peak Charter
Academy in Apex, North Carolina,
students are guided by leaders and teachers who focus on whole
child learning and parental partnerships. It's one reason they've
outperformed the local district since opening in 2017.
Peak Principal Kacey Gorman has
spent 11 years teaching students and guiding their learning process
as teacher, dean, and now principal. She believes parental
involvement, whether it be just in the initial direction of
studying, or the daily guidance of it, is vitally important.
"Many of our parents still have the perception that just
cramming the night before and trying to memorize everything can
take the place of actually knowing something," Gorman said. "It's
important to work with the parents to provide them with the skills
so they can work with their kids over time and see the
difference."
Ready to enroll your student? National Heritage Academies
operates 100 schools in nine states. Use our school finder to
locate one near you: NHA School Finder.
While memorization is still an important element of learning,
it's not the long-term solution for life-long learning, she
said.
"Can kids memorize something to ace a test? Absolutely, they can
go in and do it, but typically, when you focus on just
memorization, a week later you're not going to be able to recall
much of that information," Gorman said. "You're compartmentalizing
it for a short amount of time instead of internalizing what you are
truly trying to learn."
For Peak Charter Academy Dean Savannah Angel, these lessons
played out in real life. Angel is starting her first year as a dean
after earning NHA's Excellence in Teaching Award for the 2022-23
school year. She has taught for eight years and has been with Peak
since its opening.
"I was the kid who could just sit there and absorb in class and
not have to study," Angel said. "I didn't develop study skills
until it was almost too late. I was in college and struggling
because I didn't home in on those skills earlier. I use that in
parent-teacher conferences to talk about how important study skills
are, how this is the time to make those mistakes to form those
healthy habits, because it's so much easier to do now and take
those long-lasting skills into higher education."
The challenge is everyone may need something different when they
study. Angel said increased interaction at home can help guide that
process of understanding.
"Have conversations at the dinner table about what your child is
learning," Angel said. "Have them tell you more about what they're
learning and why they think they're learning it. How can they apply
it? We talk about the CER method in science (Claim – Evidence –
Reasoning). That can be applied at home. Say the student wants a
cell phone, the parent can say 'give me a claim, evidence and a
reasoning for it.' That helps the child understand there needs to
be reasoning behind the information."
Peak Charter Academy Dean Savannah
Angel:
"Learning isn't memorizing and regurgitating, it
needs to be understanding and applying."
If a student is struggling with vocabulary, Angel said reading
just about anything can help improve that, whether it's street
signs or the back of a cereal box. Modeling is also a very
effective way to inspire your child to learn and study. If they see
their parents reading, it shows them the importance and value of
that activity, so they're more apt to pick up a book. Parents can
model that CER method with their children as well.
"Just doing drills over and over again isn't fun for anyone.
Learning isn't memorizing and regurgitating, it needs to be
understanding and applying. I think switching that mentality of
drilling them with flash cards until everyone is in tears at the
dinner table is important. No one is going to benefit from
that."
There are clues to look for if you think your child is
struggling with how to study, Gorman said. When you start to notice
these indications, reach out to your child's teacher to develop a
plan.
"If you see that they're not studying at all, and this is a kid
who is making A's and all the sudden is failing, what's happening?
It's trial and error to some extent, and that's one thing that I do
mention to parents – sometimes you just have to try it and get a
sense of how well they did with it. Start with that quiet study.
See how it works. Watch your child's body language and be mindful
of their attentiveness and that environment."
You may need to move in a different direction after that. Some
children benefit from associating information with other things,
such as word puzzles, pictures, or songs. Others need to absorb
information in smaller bits with frequent breaks in-between.
Regardless of the technique, Angel knows parents can make a
difference.
"When parents are involved in the learning process, so many good
things happen. It's building that rapport with parents so learning
doesn't just stop once they leave the building. We give them the
tools to help them at home."
Want to learn more about how NHA supports teachers and
students to achieve at National Heritage Academies partner-schools?
Visit nhaschools.com.
ABOUT PEAK CHARTER ACADEMY and NHA:
Peak Charter
Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in
Apex, North Carolina, serving
students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the
National Heritage Academies network, which includes 100
tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 68,000
students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine
states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com. To find the
nearest charter school near you, use the NHA school finder.
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SOURCE National Heritage Academies