Tutoring is a very
difficult profession because not only do you have to take care of understanding
the needs of the children but also impart knowledge to them in a very creative
manner. In this blog; I have tried to enumerate the points which can help
instill creativity in children through tutoring.
I know looking at the subject of
this blog, you might be wondering what exactly do I mean by innovation; and how
can it be taught through tutoring?
I will definitely try my level best to explain this predicament in this blog.
But first let me start with some of my personal observations. I know many of
you might have seen “Disney channel” which showcases various shows which depict
creativity amongst kids. One of the shows which caught my attention was “Hanna
Montana”. In this show, we see a minor girl which by the way has grown up to
become an adult by now but the point is that she is creative and talented.
Alongwith that she also manages to complete her class work and home work like a
normal child and also changes her personality to become a pop star known as “Hannah
Montana”. Now, looking at this show, I was very astonished to find that
children do have hidden talents in them but it needs to be developed further to
grow into something bigger and better. Although this can be argued with the
fact that it is parent’s genes which affect a child’s natural talent. In the “Hannah
Montana” show; her father is a singer and so obviously she had the talent to
become a pop star. But the same cannot be said about his brother who unlike the
father and daughter is completely different and does not enjoy singing. So now
the question arises how do we determine whether a child will develop a
particular trait from their parents in long term? The other question being can
innovation be developed in students since early childhood? The answers are
quite difficult to find.
Let me take another example.
Sachin Tendulkar is unarguably one of the best batsmen in the world. So can we
then safely assume that his son Arjun will follow the footsteps of his father
and become a cricketer? It is very difficult to answer this question. But we
are already seeing him practicing in the nets batting like his dad
nevertheless; he still has a long way to go. We have also seen the son of
Bishan Singh Bedi, Angad Bedi starring in movies. Bishan Singh Bedi was a great
Indian cricketer; but his son has not followed the footsteps of the father; and
is trying to make his own mark in the Bollywood industry. So can we safely say
that if any of the parents of the child are creative; then the child has an
in-built creativity of its own which needs to be enhanced? The answer to this
question is quite subjective.
The other question is how to
gauge the creativity in the children? Like I have already said my times in my
previous blogs; every child is unique with different qualities which need to be
nourished. Many times a we find that a child is not good at studies; but is
good at our extra-curricular activities. That does not mean that he is a dud;
but it reflects that he is different with his own identity. This is a lesser
known fact that some children find their uniqueness in early childhood; while
others learn it later after facing lots of difficulties. But the major task of
the tutor is to encourage
children; and try to find out their creative side. Then try to amalgamate it
with the studies; so that education can be fun for them.
Now, let us look at the following
points to get a fair idea about how to encourage and instill creativity in
children while teaching them:
· If you find that a child is good at creating
drawings. Instead of making him understand everything theoretically; ask him to
draw images of things that he understands. After every step guide him; so that
he knows where he needs to improve. This kind of creative learning can instill
lot of confidence in the child. It also helps them to retain the information
for a longer period of time.
· Similarly, if the child has a knack of writing
stories on its own. Encourage them to write creatively after explaining them
the chapters. This will make them write things on their own about the lessons
taught; which will register in their brain for a longer time than making them
cram everything in one goes.
· The third criterion is when you find that the
child has lot of interest in seeing cartoons and animations. In this case;
although the process is lengthy, if you can display the lessons in the form of
a picture gallery or animated series to the child, they can understand the
lesson in a much better way; and also remember it for a very long time.
Although the methods suggested in this blog look quite simple to
use, many online tutors have still not found the winning combination of holding
on to the interests of the children. If you have any suggestions that can be
used to enhance creativity of children through tutoring; please send
us your comments and feedback by following us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com
PracTutor
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12806 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243-2311
United States
