Best method of learning...

For a while i worked with a tutorial center or as we call it here "Lesson"... It just basically means a place where we gather young kids and teach them on one-to-one basis... well, thats the idea... in an ideal situation but its not usually like that. But anyways, i worked there for a while as a second job...

There's this kid that got my attention, she was quite slow compared with her mates... she could never get the simple concepts...

She found it hard to retain simple ideas passed to her. She had serious challenge with addition and other mathematical concept...

Normally, we ask them to count with their fingers and even toes sometimes... but even with this she still was slow compared to others.

That made her loose interest in academics. At some point she stopped trying...

She gets punished often, never did her assignment and to top it all she had no friends, she was like the outcast no one wanted to relate with...

Well, this is the situation i met... and personally, i tried to help the best way i could. I knew everyone had a point of entry... but i could not find her own. I felt helpless too because i could not help her... i pitied her.

Then one day in the middle of the market i had a small faint voice that got louder at each call..."uncle"... the title of the male tutor (aunty for the female)... i turned and saw her... she seems excited... i had never seen her happy before... i greeted her and her mum and left.

Now this is what caught my attention: she was happy, attending to customers with no problem with calculation.

That evening when we got to class, she was back in the class mood with the smile gone... and then it hit me... thats it!

I asked her, shola - not her real name, whats 50 - 30, with head bowed she went on for a few minutes and couldn't figure it out... then i said, if i buy 30 Naira biscuit and give you 50 Naira... how much change will i collect? And in a few seconds, 20 Naira she said...

I was so excited... i said, shola... when asked to subtract or add... just think of it as money... think if it like a customer at mummy's shop with money...

With that she got better... really so much better...

Although, she sort of over did it... she went ahead to add naira in examinations and tests too...

But ignoring that, it actually helped her to think of mathematics as something she enjoys doing...

No doubt, she will make a good accountant one day... but that will not be possible because the road to that is too difficult for her...

Now, here's my point... what if we create a familiar environment of learning for every child? Ofcourse this might not apply to every kid... some just need 'iron hand'... but basically, the reason some of these kids don't want to go to school is because we make academics boring and much harder than it should be... we can relate with these children in ways they can understand... we can make it fun.

This piece is dedicated "shola"... my dear student, where ever you are... i hope you're doing well.

May 2015 be fruitful.