Parents guide - mentoring kids to align their interests with school courses

Satya Gunampalli3rd Mar, 2013.

Mentoring kids on how to align their interests with school programs.

Deeper learning takes time.

© www.learning2innovate.com 2

Are your kids entering high school? Too much information and choices? Most kids in 8th grade do not know what they want to do in their life and that is understandable.

As parents and educators, we all assume that when kids are getting good grades, they are actually understanding and learning the concepts. Are they really learning what they need to be successful?


Let us look at research data

Deeper learning happens only when kids are allowed to explore and experiment.

Learning takes time. When sufficient time is not allocated to internalize the concepts, kids forget what they “supposed” to have learnt.

I have no idea what I

want to do in the future.

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US education – 2012 stats

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4.0 million public school students are expected to enroll in 9th grade.

3.4 million students are expected to graduate from high school.

1.8 million bachelor’s degrees but only 5% are Engineers and 33% are STEM majors.

937,000 associate’s degrees; 1.8 million bachelor's degrees; 756,000 master's degrees; and 174,700 doctor's degrees.

• - Source: http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372


2005 Math and Science Proficiency – 4th Grade

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/09X.xml


In 2012, 28% of high school freshmen, around one million students, expressed an interest in pursuing a STEM career.

Unfortunately, more than half of those students (57 percent) will lose that interest by the time they reach their final year of high school.

1/3 will end up with STEM degree and 5% with an engineering degree.

By 2018, There will be 8M STEM jobs, but not enough qualified work force.

Graduation rates and available jobs

Learning redefined for knowledge age 9

USA ranking – PISA test (OECD)17, 31, 23 (Reading, Math, Science)


STEM jobs from 1950-2007

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/36Xa.xml

http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/edTool/36Xa.xml

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No major change for United States

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College graduation rate by income in US

54% of higher income group

30% middle income groups.

9% lower income group


As a Parent, what can I do to ensure my kids are engaged in deep learning and are ready for 21st century challenges?

Communication

Collaboration and team work

Critical thinking and problem solving

Creativity and innovation

Computational thinking

Cross cultural understanding

21st century learning: skills to master


Align your kids capabilities and interests with 21st century skills needed.

• When kids are engaged, they learn better.

• Make sure they are bit challenged and their interests (and not yours) match with school programs.

Taking too many

subjects or advanced courses is

not the answer


There are many free MOOC courses online. Most of these are 8-10 weeks and require 5-6 hours a week work. (see Coursera.org, Edx, Udacity)

If a course is suitable for self-learning using online resources, it is better to do them online. Ex: Programming, web technologies.

Take school courses and programs that are not well suited for online. Public speaking, debate and team working are best done in school environment.

What if school programs are not good?


Focus on grades and GPA makes kids learn for the tests. That is the real problem with many education systems (US and India included).

When deeper learning and mastering content is the goal, grades follow with no effort.

Finland model proves this is the case.

Do not focus on grades but real learning


To educate kids who are able to experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and experiencing the natural world; use appropriate scientific principles in making personal decisions; engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about matters of scientific and technological concern; and increase their economic productivity through the use of the knowledge, understanding, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers.

- National Science Education Standards

Role of parents and educators


All Employers

expect their

employees to

• Bring passion to work place.

• Go beyond the job description and take initiatives

• Identify problems• Come up with new ideas• Find solutions and ways to implement them.

Skills/capabilities that all Fortune 500 need and expect


Learning takes time and motivation

Gap between jobs available and unemployed work force is growing.

Unless parents provide opportunities for kids to learn 21st century skills early on, it would be lot harder to catch up later. Educational reforms are on paper for a long time and conflicting interests in the society are effectively maintaining status-quo.

Parents have no options but to invest more time and be involved with kids education.


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Parents guide - mentoring kids to align their interests with school courses

Education

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