CAE Essay: How children learn best


 CAE Writing Task

Choose two points to discuss. State which one out of the two is better.

In your class you discussed how children learn best:

  1. doing things
  2. listening or reading
  3. seeing and looking at things.

For the past decades experts on pedagogy have been trying to find better and more effective ways of teaching youngsters. Through trial and error we have reached the stage where we have a more or less clear picture of what works best. While the implications of modern teaching are not clear-cut, I believe that doing and seeing things produce best results.

It is true that children can be easily triggered by visual stimuli.  Dynamic animations draw their attention to fictional imagery, giving rise to the abundance of educational cartoons. Books with fancy illustrations make maths and history more comprehensible than plain, black and white drawings scantily insterted on  every -teenth page. Visual materials are so much fun they set brains in motion.

But this exposure to pictures and colours would be of no practical value if it was not for applying the knowledge in practical activities. I think this explains the popularity of drama and hands-on science in a school curriculum. Acting on stage enables children to express emotions and try on different perspectives, thereby teaching them social skills. By the same token, gaining practical experience in science helps them see processes in action, where children can follow how abstract notions materialize. Combined with the element of fun, doing and manipulating with things put a child in an active position and are bound to foster a sense of achievement.  

To conclude, I believe that while visual stimuli can present knowledge in an engaging way, it is doing things that enables youngsters to truly acquire knowledge. It activates all senses and puts the child at central stage instead of resigning the to the position of an onlooker. Moreover, the sense of achievement and element of fun inherent in experiencing things have a tremendous potential in forming habits.  


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