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A Global Community Making Learners Into Leaders - Nobel Explorers

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Communication with others is an essential part of every aspect of our entire life experience - our development, our personal lives, and in education. That's why it's important to teach children from an early age to communicate well, and for all of us to practice communicating with each other more effectively.

In this article, we'll explore some of the ways in which the communication process - personal and professional - can affect our learning and teaching processes. Teaching is, at its core, communication, so building good soft skills is vital to the transfer of knowledge. Learning, on the other hand, i nvolves listening and accepting information well.

In order to understand how to attain the most effective communication in the learning and teaching process, we'll first explore the meaning of communication itself. We'll do so using the simplified model and terms of Claude Shannon [1].

In the picture, we see a few components. The first one is the Sender, aka the information source - the person sending the message. If you're the one teaching, you are the one sending the message and this is you.

The second one is the . This is the physical system that is sending the signal or the message. What are you using to send the information? A picture or a film? A presentation? Are you talking and using body language? These mediums of communication are your channel, and you should use the best ones possible to transfer the information.

The Destination is the person receiving the message - student, child, partner. That is the one being taught (student) or the one in the process of learning. It is in the mutual interest of everyone involved in the process to get the best message possible.

Noise is the element which interferes with the communication, be it on the physical or psychological level. Noise impacts the message - changing it or erasing it. If you're using video for teaching, maybe the quality isn't the best, so the student's learning process has been negatively impacted.

Maybe the student is from a different background and will translate the message into something different than the Sender intended. For example, in the field of STEM studies, stereotypes are the noise which distracts women from becoming involved in STEM careers.

Finally, is the process the communicators use to make sure the messages sent and received are as close in meaning to each other as is possible.

Whether you're a teacher, an educator, or a parent helping your child with homework, your most important communication skill is the manner in which you present the material. For the child to understand and process a topic, it needs to be presented in an orderly fashion at a moderate pace. This gives the child time to hear and comprehend the material as it's presented.

It's important to remember is that communication is not only talking. Optimal communication always uses both verbal and visual communication tools. We don't only mean using pictures and videos in class - although, this is always a good way to get the message across - but also non-verbal communication.

Your body language is a language in itself. The more dynamic it is, the better the effect. It's been proven that educators who walk around and talk, and not just sit and read from the text, get better feedback from students. The best option is to combine dynamic, non-verbal presentation with expressive speech patterns, using repetition and emphasis in one's voice to make important concepts stand out.

The key is finding the best possible way to communicate the message you want to get across. You'll know if you're doing a good job by getting feedback - it can be from the child themselves so the sender is confident they understood the message, or it can be from someone from outside, whom you asked to monitor your presentation and give you tips [2].

In order to have the message transmitted in the way you intended, you have to learn the most effective method of communication. This is a skill that can be learned and improved upon over time, and there are a few steps you can follow in order to practice and master it. In the teaching process, it's incredibly important to send the message in the most effective and accurate way possible.

So, what counts as effective communication in the learning environment? No matter if it's educator-student communication or communication between two students working on a project, what is needed for effective communication is the same [4]:

Listening to others - In order for a two-way conversation to happen, one party must listen to what others have to say, processing information and understanding it

Maintaining eye contact with speakers - Eye contact not only helps to keep focus and heighten the feeling of personal conversation, but is vital for keeping the communication flow going.

Seeking opinions from others - Getting feedback is one of the best ways to see if the information has really been understood in the best way possible. This is especially important if you want to see if your partner, student, or child understands the message as clearly as you intend it.

Accepting ideas from others - This is vital, particularly if you're working in a group - your partner's ideas are as important as yours. Even educators need to remember this. Your student has ideas they can offer on how to make the learning process better. Be sure to listen to them and, if their idea is a good one, accept it.

Clear explanations - Things should be explained in an understandable manner in every form of communication involved in the learning process.

As teaching is basically communication, it's important to incorporate all aspects of the communication process (seen on the scheme above) in an environment with as little distracting noise as possible. Also, the teaching/communication process will work best when you have good general communication rapport with a child or student.

For this to happen, the child must know you're taking them seriously and that they can also tell you what they think and need. Power dynamics should be as felt as little as possible, so the communication can be open and frank. This also helps in getting good feedback from a child, in case the message isn't getting across well.

In her Ted Talk, Kris Prochaska explains how to have good communication with children and why it's important. She relates her real-life experience about how giving mindless answers to children gets no results, and doesn't benefit anyone. On the contrary, when she explained reasonably to her child the options of when to do their homework - now, or at recess with the teacher - the child herself made the decision to do the homework. In this simple example, Prochaska shows how having a good, reasonable conversation with a child can benefit their school performance [5].

Your communication as an educator is not the only communication process that the child can benefit from while learning. It's been shown that children communicating with other children can enhance their success in school.

Children's earliest communication is usually developed within the family. These first contacts become the model for the later ones they'll pick up during their school days. It has been noted that during the preschool period, a child becomes increasingly focused on interaction with other children, learning what they say and do with more interest.

This is why, in this phase of development, children acquire their first 'social status' - learning how to adapt and integrate into a group. If a child has a communication problem during this stage, it's likely they will develop an adaptation problem later on, which, naturally, will affect their personal life, as well as their education [3].

A child who is not at ease in their environment or with their friends will have a hard time focusing in school. Therefore, they will achieve less than desirable results. So, as you communicate with children, remember it's also important for them to learn to communicate with each other as well. You might even need to give them some guidance in this area.

Remember that when teaching a child, it is not only important to get the message across. It's important to be there for the child generally, and help them develop many crucial life skills. That's why understanding that collaborative learning improves critical thinking is so important [6].

Helping a child or a student develop critical thinking is one of the most useful things you can do for them. This way children can develop the skills necessary to judge on their own. They will judge about what is important, what is right or wrong, what is adequate, etc. This will help in their personal lives to judge what's best for them and for their environment. It's also a crucial skill to master so as to get the best out of their education. A child who can think critically can discern the important components of a text to learn, decide the best way to learn it, and accurately reproduce the knowledge they've gained. This is important in studying for a test, as well as later for a job or in life.

[1] https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/shannon-and-weaver-model-communication
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1705977/
[3] Nærland, T. and Martinsen, H. 2011, Child-child interactions and positive social focus among preschool children. Early Child Development and Care, 181 (3): 361-370,
[4] Hurley, E. A, Allen, B. A. and Boykin, A. W. 2009. Culture and the Interaction of Student Ethnicity with Reward Structure in Group Learning. Cognition and Instruction. 27 (2): 121-146.
[5] How to Get Your Kids to Listen and Engage - Kris Prochaska
[6] Gokhale, A. A.1995. Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking. Journal of Technology Education. 7 (1): 22-31 .

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Benefits of communication on the learning process - A Global Community Making Learners Into Leaders - Nobel Explorers

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Communication with others is an essential part of every aspect of our entire life experience - our development, our personal lives, and in education. That's why it's important to teach children from an early age to communicate well, and for all of us to practice communicating with each other more effectively.

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Book to build Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Book to build Culturally Responsive Teaching

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This book has great representation and great tool in your classrooms

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Why Making Music Matters and Early Childhood Development

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Why Making Music Matters and Early Childhood Development

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To better understand the effect of music in early childhood development, Carnegie Hall commissioned a new research paper from Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf, an expert in the field. Titled "Why Making Music Matters," her research points to several key reasons why investing in children early and often is critical to healthy development and a successful future-and that music can play a role in everyday interactions that support our next generation. The following is a summary of Dr. Wolf's findings.

Photo by Jennifer Taylor

From Carnegie Hall to rural villages in Haiti, the world is discovering how important it is to invest in young children and their families. Ensure their well-being, and down the line, everyone's mental and physical health, literacy levels, school success, employability, and human relationships improve. The more we learn, the clearer it becomes that live music can play a powerful role in this development from the very start. Studies have found that day-old infants breathe differently depending on whether they are listening to Mozart or Stravinsky, that music soothes premature babies (and their worried parents) in hospital nurseries, and that babies will listen calmly to a lullaby for twice as long as baby talk or adult speech.

Early childhood-from birth to age five-is a remarkable period in human development. At one year old, a baby's brain is 70 percent of its adult size; at three years, it has reached 85 percent and is already crisscrossed by the connections that provide for human thought and communication. Live music-and the human interaction that accompanies it-is one of the most intense, multi-sensory, and physically involving activities in which young children and their caregivers can engage together.

Making music-especially if it includes tapping, clapping, bouncing, and dancing-can develop fine and large motor control. Even simple games, songs, and back-and-forth play build brain and body coordination. If older children play an instrument, these kinds of growth continue. All this builds important connections across the many regions of the brain needed to carry out the complex actions and interactions humans require in order to thrive.
"The more we learn, the clearer it becomes that live music can play a powerful role in this development from the very start."
Music also builds intimacy. Young children build some of the most important relationships in their lives as infants and toddlers. If they are lucky enough to have caring and responsive caregivers, they develop a sense of security, the feeling that they will be followed, cared for, and protected, even as they explore new activities, take risks, make mistakes, and recover. Music can support these intimate exchanges. For example, when caregivers sing lullabies, they use pitch, rhythm, and lyrics to soothe, teach language, communicate hope and affection, and provide security as a child goes from wakefulness to sleep, or light to dark.

Humans are wired to be sensitive to sound patterns, and this sensitivity allows music to foster communication and imagination in young children. Even before babies talk, their babbling and sound-play helps to develop the neural pathways necessary for listening and speaking. Infants who hear language directed and responsive to them babble more and have larger vocabularies as toddlers. When they hear and see others singing as a part of daily life, young children quickly pick up the habit, using sound to explore new ways to understand or describe the world around them.

These early years are also when children learn how to express and manage their feelings, as well as figure out how to read other people's expressions and feelings, grasping how other minds work. Through music, children can invent games, songs, and stories that help them harness their feelings. Researchers observing music and movement classes have documented that participation in arts activities correlates with positive emotion for preschoolers and facilitates their ability to regulate their emotions. It may be that experience with musical concepts like stopping/starting, slowing down / speeding up, and verse/chorus provide children with the motivation to direct and modulate their behavior.

These benefits also apply to children's communications and interactions with others their age. Music, with its tempo and rhythm, verses and choruses, provides clear structures that help children learn the rules and routines for being together. A kindergartener has to watch and listen as she plays a percussion piece with her class; at home, music can be a way to practice cooperation or to connect across generations. Music can also model the structure of social interaction for children with histories of trauma or conditions like autism.

"Music can also model the structure of social interaction for children with histories of trauma or conditions like autism."

Music can help create community and a sense of belonging, as well. In their earliest years, children learn the languages and accents they hear at home; they absorb the songs and stories of their community, and along with them, beliefs and values.

In the US, one in four children has at least one immigrant parent, and early childhood care and preschools are a key intersection of immigration and education. In these settings, children learn the concepts of belonging and being an outsider. Sound-play and music can create a space in which young children, with the help of families and teachers, knit together new identities that combine their first languages and culture with those of their peers. When daycare and preschools feature the music of multiple cultures and homelands, they model an inclusive and connected world.

Finally, live music is a remarkable carrier of delight and excitement. These and other positive emotions are among humans' most vital resources: They attract others, lift our mood, and protect us from sadness and even illness. In a world in which families and children experience trauma from violence, war, and natural disasters, music and the other arts can play a powerful role in their healing.

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Why Making Music Matters Music and Early Childhood Development

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To better understand the effect of music in early childhood development, Carnegie Hall commissioned a new research paper from Dr. Dennie Palmer Wolf, an expert in the field. Titled "Why Making Music Matters," her research points to several key reasons why investing in children early and often is critical to healthy development and a successful future-and that music can play a role in everyday interactions that support our next generation.

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It takes a village to raise a child | Oluwadamilola Adelowo | TEDxPortHarcourtSalon

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You may have heard of family child care before - also sometimes referred to as in-home preschool, in-home child care, or home daycare - but maybe you're not exactly sure what it is or how to access it.

Family child care is one of many child care options out there. As a parent, you want to find the absolute best fit for your child and that means fully understanding your options and the benefits of each.

In this post, we will demystify family child care once and for all. We'll take a look at what it is and what the benefits are so you can make the right decision for your family.

How family child care works

A family child care program is a form of early childhood education in which a caregiver looks after children in their own home, often with the help of an assistant. A family child care program is typically licensed for between 6 and 12 children, although these numbers do vary by state and by type of child care license. Because of these small, intimate environments, you will see many opportunities for 1:1 interactions between the provider and each child, mixed age groups, and the opportunity for continuity of care (where a child stays with the same caregiver over a long period of time).

Licensing requirements for caregiver qualifications vary from state to state. You won't typically see a particular type of curriculum dictated by a state licensing agency, but you will see family child care programs programs based on different philosophies. You can find family child care built around the philosophies of Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, forest school, and others.

Each state has its own definition of when a program needs to attain a child care license versus when a program can operate as license-exempt. A licensed program will have to meet particular requirements and pass an inspection process to be sure their home is safe for children.

At Wonderschool, we expect providers to stay in compliance with their state licensing requirements whether they are a family child care program or center-based program. You can read more about the Wonderschool Quality and Safety Vision here.

Related: Child Care Options for Parents: Comparing Pros and Cons

Why so many names?

Because family child care programs are regulated by each individual state, there are many different legal and colloquial terms for them. For example, there's...

In-home preschool

In-home daycare

Home daycare

Group family daycare

Family daycare

Home preschool

...and more. At Wonderschool, we refer to home-based child care programs as family child care. "Family child care" includes both infant and toddler programs as well as programs for preschool-aged children, school-aged children, or mixed age programs.

In the end, all of these different terms do refer to the same overarching idea of a caregiver providing early care and education to young children in their home.

The benefits of family child care

Caregivers that choose this path are extremely dedicated to providing the best possible care for you and your child. Because care happens in their home, there's low staff turnover. This creates a more stable environment for your kid and helps build strong relationships between parents and the people you trust with your children.

The nature of family child care sometimes means that children interact with peers in other age groups. A family child care home may care for children from infants all the way up to school-age. Mixed age programs offer developmental benefits to younger and older children alike.

Family child care programs typically have small group sizes and low child-to-provider ratios. At the same time, children in group care reap the social and emotional benefits of engaging with other children.

Family child care is a grassroots movement based in local communities. Family child care is usually neighborhood-based, but you might also find many great family child care options close to your office if that works best for your family. It can be close and convenient, decrease commute times and building tighter knit communities.,

Lastly, the cost of sending your child to a family child care program is often on par with other care options, such as child care centers or preschools.

Is family child care right for me?

As a parent, you are best equipped to decide which option is right for you. Family child care has a lot of benefits, but not every environment is the perfect fit for every child or family, so it's worth taking the time to tour several programs and find the place that feels like it will work best.

For most working parents, child care is a necessity. Family child care is an affordable, community-friendly option. Once you've done your due diligence, you can rest easy knowing that your child is getting quality care from educators determined to help them succeed.

Choosing the best care for your child

Finding the best child care facility is tough. You need to weigh multiple pros and cons, from approach all the way to budget. Most importantly, you need to find somewhere where your child feels fully comfortable and will thrive. Somewhere that treats them with love and respect and helps them prepare for the challenges they'll face in the real world.

At Wonderschool, we work with the best educators and help them provide excellent child care. Our network of family child care programs, microschools, and forest schools has something for every preference.

Learn more about what we offer by exploring our network of programs today.

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What is Family Child Care? Your Guide to Home-based Early Education

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You may have heard of family child care before - also sometimes referred to as in-home preschool, in-home child care, or home daycare - but maybe you're not exactly sure what it is or how to access it. Family child care is one of many child care options out there.

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Family Child Care Record Keeping Guide, 9th Edition

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Family Child Care Record-Keeping Guide, Ninth Edition by Tom Copeland. Valuable tips for family child care (daycare) providers for keeping records and saving money on your taxes

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You Can Stop Fighting With Your Chidren!

Here is the bestselling book that will give you the know-how you need to be more effective with your children and more supportive of yourself. Enthusiastically praised by parents and professionals around the world, the down-to-earth, respectful approach of Faber and Mazlish makes relationships with children of all ages less stressful and more rewarding.

Their methods of communication, illustrated with delightful cartoons showing the skills in action, offer innovative ways to solve common problems.

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How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

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You Can Stop Fighting With Your Chidren! Here is the bestselling book that will give you the know-how you need to be more effective with your children and more supportive of yourself. Enthusiastically praised by parents and professionals around the world, the down-to-earth, respectful approach of Faber and Mazlish makes relationships with children of all ages less stressful and more rewarding.