A proposal to declutter educational tools and increase disposable time.

If you could learn efficiently by learning this reading comprehension method, would you like to take the course?

One day.

I was answering a survey regarding the development of teaching materials for a certain correspondence education program.

The material was about "reading comprehension."

"Learn efficiently"

At first glance, it feels like a very good thing.

A few years ago, I definitely would have jumped at it. But now, I feel like that's not the point.

The harmful effects of advance learning

When my eldest son was a preschooler, he did correspondence courses until he was in the lower grade of preschool. From the middle grade onwards, he studied at a preschool classroom.

Although we didn't do obvious "advance learning" like Kumon, when he entered elementary school, both parent and child felt that the math textbook was "too easy."

So, the first-grade math class might have been a series of "things already understood" for the child.

Even so, in the first grade, he was able to get through it somewhat happily due to the freshness of the "time spent at school."

However, as he progressed to the second and third grades, learning things he had "already understood" at a school he was used to attending might be boring, and if things went poorly, it could be a painful time.

It's a problem if you fall behind, but if you get too far ahead, class becomes boring.

This balance is very difficult.

However, by having preschoolers study hard, their "childhood time" is definitely being taken away.

Taking away the time to spend like a child, and making class time boring.In that sense, I feel I cannot unconditionally affirm "advance learning."

In that sense, I feel I cannot unconditionally affirm "advance learning."

Therefore, doesn't "learning efficiently" in correspondence education or cram schools not apply to children?

No matter how efficiently you learn, it doesn't mean the "time spent at school" will decrease.

Just because you understand something quickly doesn't mean you can use that time for something else.

Ah, how stifling childhood is.

Even though there are so many people involved in education

I felt this anew while answering this survey.

The contradiction that despite there being so many people involved in education, there is a 'teacher shortage'.

For those who dream of 'teaching children in a fun way,' perhaps cram schools are better than regular schools.

At a cram school, you can focus on creating lessons (depending on your position), but I hear that at school, there is almost no time available for lesson preparation.

Cram schools are overflowing in the city, and it seems that major prep schools even hold contests for 'teachers who are good at teaching'.

Even correspondence education curricula are meticulously crafted based on various research.

Even though there is such an abundance of 'learning outside of school'.
The time children spend at school remains unchanged.

Even though there are so many people with the power to guide children toward learning, it is not being utilized in public education.

Isn't that a waste?

Making the most of what is provided by the school

In the first place, while answering this survey, I realized that I myself have no idea what is being taught in 'elementary school Japanese' (lol).

I listen to the reading aloud, and there is homework for kanji.

But what is the Japanese curriculum??

So, I called out to my eldest son, who was being noisy saying 'I'm bored, I'm bored,' and said, 'Let's try reading the textbook together,' and opened his second-grade Japanese textbook.

Then, inside the textbook, there was a page that said, 'Let's make sentences'.

Ah! I can turn this into a game.

I suggested, "Let's take turns making sentences using the words that appear in this!" and we started playing.

My eldest son, who had said "Ugh, I don't want to!" when I told him to "read the textbook," started making sentences with enthusiasm once we started this game.

I think we both managed to make at least 15 sentences like this.

In the end, it got to the point where he said, "That's just a matter of phrasing!" so I let him win, but it was actually quite fun.

That's right.

We are not making full use of "what we already have."

When I start to feel anxious about my children's studies, I immediately seek help from "outside" sources like correspondence courses or cram schools.
(Some people might even tell their school teachers, "Please do something about this.")

But the textbooks and workbooks distributed at school are also excellent teaching materials.

When I opened the QR code on the cover of my child's kanji workbook, it was a website where you could practice writing kanji like this.

This is on the same level as Challenge Pad or Z-Kai (lol).

You can write it over and over again with this, you know?

A workbook only costs a few hundred yen, yet you can practice as many times as you want.

Doesn't that eliminate the need to write things 10 times in a kanji notebook?

And isn't there no need to buy commercial kanji workbooks either?

Ultimately, parents are not making full use of what is distributed by the school.

I've always thought, "There's a QR code on this," but I had almost never actually used it for studying.

However, before buying commercial workbooks or enrolling children in cram schools, we already possess many things we can utilize.

Of course, it takes time for parents to make full use of various tools to help their children learn.

Even this textbook play was something I could only do because I was free on my day off.

But if you are a dual-income couple in a situation where you have money but no time, and you pour money into cram schools or correspondence education, your child will end up with no time left.

On the other hand, if you are in a situation where you have time but no money, you can create time for parent-child learning using the minimal resources (textbooks) provided by the school.

Wait?
Isn't that better?

At least for me, that is more enjoyable.

Just as "decluttering" became a trend in the adult world, perhaps "decluttering" is also necessary when it comes to children's education.

Try not to introduce the concept of "addition" to how you spend time after school as much as possible.

Make the most of "what you already have."

I want to try many such fun ways to spend time.

Researching ways to save labor and learn happily with children without spending money.

Yes, I think my resigning from my job is for experiments like this.

Yondemy! will be back tomorrow.

Thank you again for today.