Homework Help : Out Of The Classroom

Raimie's science subject now covers about plants and animals. He has a hazy idea of how different plant types look like and all, so when he did his homework, he got his answers wrong.

In his workbook, he put banana plant in the wood category and said he wasn't sure how a rose plant looks like, let alone what is a fern! So what Mommy and Daddy did to help him learn about plants? Rather than have him memorise all of the info from a book, looking at pictures; armed with his science book, we took him out to Putrajaya's Botanic Park (Taman Botani).

He got to learn, touch and see all sorts of plants there and it was a good experience because not only he got to learn, we got our workout too!

The downside of having him out and about was, he sure can lose focus and wander about really quick! We were trying to show him the firework plant, and he was busy looking and poking at ants! :D

Next week, we are taking his to the National Science Centre. This is one boy who loves his science.

Comments

  1. i think it really make a good sense to go out for field learning, as this is how you get to know the real thing..

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  2. classroom learning is ok but may not be that efficient.. maybe the teachers should have taken the initiative to bring in samples of real plants for the students?? :)

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  3. but sadly throughout my studies, i really rarely had the chance for field learning.. especially experiments in textbooks, i only gotta memorise them :(

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  4. It is a great way to learn and is much more interesting than a textbook. This way they get to touch and feel and experience things in real life.

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  5. Which reminds me, with technology and fastfood and less of farm visits and such, pretty soon, our kids would think chicken grow on trees. Oops! I know of people coming in from Sgp to Malaysia to show their kids how fowls look like. Honest!

    Just an idea, you may want to take pictures of the various plants and trees so that Raimie has a pictorial reference whenever he's unsure.

    Is the subject in English? See, with the flip-flop in languages for this subject, I'm now confused!

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  6. @SK,
    Samples and field trips for kids are not easy to arrange. I myself take my own initiative for my son's learning. As a parent, I have to be responsbile too. ^^

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  7. @Japan Australia,
    and nothing beats being outdoors and enjoying the fresh air too! :)

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  8. @HappySurfer,
    Tell me about it. My son, whenever we got back to my hometown, would always go missing and usually he's at our neigbour's chicken coop - looking at chicken, ducks and the lot.

    I made a point of showing him how meat came to our plate. He's seen cows slaughtered before. Nothing gross about showing where our food comes from, right?

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  9. @HappySurfer,
    His textbooks and workbooks are in dual language but it is taught in English for his year. Confusing? I should say!

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  10. I would probably fail too cos I have no idea what a firework plant is ... LOL!

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  11. Aww so cool. When I was younger, I didn't get many chances to go out for hands-on experience of my own.. I try my best to make do with what's around me tho.. I love going to the NSC!

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  12. @Nick,
    Don't worry - most plants at Taman Botani have information/names placed for visitors. ^^

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  13. @Bella,
    My hands-on experiences when I was small came from playing. :p

    My son doesn't have much opportunity to be let loose and explore the neighborhood on his own. I'd be scared stiff to let him do that. Anyway, nothing much to see in my neighborhood. Just a lot of parking spaces. XD

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  14. So, it is in English. Good to start picking up the language young. Thanks for the info, Lina.

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  15. @HappySurfer,
    I think most now do start young. Kindies are almost always conducted in English - Smart Readers, Qdees, etc. :)

    It's when they go into school that their English start deteriorate because of usage of other languages for learning. Don't you think?

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  16. haha poking at ants! i remember doing that myself. XD you've got quite a style with educating your own child, i love the real-life teaching, instead of just memorizing from the text book kinda way. it made studying so boring.

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  17. @levian,
    I too poked a lot of insects when I was his age. ^^

    I can' deal with reading text-book only that's why we thought hands-on experience would be better. Not only for my son but for us too!

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  18. Salute you and your hubby, kuios to your boy... this is the right way to learn about nature mar! Definitely not sitting in the classroom with thick encyclopedia!

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  19. @Alice,
    And kudos to you with your hands-on teaching to your kiddos. I need to learn from you. ^^

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  20. that's a good way to teach him, very nice job for mommy and daddy!

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  21. @Ayie,
    We are trying. Not sure whether its working or not. ^^

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