“Teaching children to study in groups: 5 unexpected benefits you need to know” Do you want to know the benefits of teaching children to study in groups? Read now to discover 5 unexpected things you need to know.
I. Unexpected benefits of teaching children to study in groups
1. Develop communication skills: Group study helps children practice communication skills naturally. Children will learn how to express their opinions, listen and understand the views of others. These are important skills that help children be confident and successful in life later on.
2. Learning from others: In groups, children will have the opportunity to learn from their peers. They can gain knowledge and skills that they do not know through sharing with others. This helps children to expand their knowledge and understanding in a comprehensive way.
3. Develops cooperation skills: Group work helps children learn to work together, coordinate and support each other to achieve a common goal. This is an important skill that helps children become good teammates in the future.
4. Create healthy competition: In groups, children will be stimulated by competition from other groups, which helps children develop a desire to learn and improve themselves in a positive way.
5. Practice time management skills: Dividing tasks, discussing and completing them within a certain time frame helps children practice time management skills effectively.
The benefits are just a small part of the good things that group study method brings to children. Applying this method not only helps children learn better but also reflects the light of children’s comprehensive development in social skills and thinking.
1. Develop communication skills
By participating in a study group, children will have the opportunity to interact and interact with their group mates. Through this, children will learn how to express their opinions, listen to others’ opinions, and develop their communication skills confidently. Discussing and exchanging ideas in a group also helps children learn how to persuade and gain knowledge to understand other people’s points of view.
Advantage:
- Children learn to listen and respect the opinions of others.
- Children develop the skills of persuasion and expressing opinions clearly.
- Through discussion, children have the opportunity to learn from different perspectives.
defect:
- Young children may be talkative and participate little in discussions, making it difficult to develop communication skills.
- Difficulty in managing and supporting children with more friendly communication skills.
2. Learn from others
Advantage:
– Learning from others helps children expand their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.
– Children have the opportunity to be exposed to different ideas and perspectives, thereby developing flexible and creative thinking.
Disadvantages:
– Asking questions of others can also cause confusion, understanding problems without guidance and supervision from adults.
– Children need to be guided on how to analyze information incorrectly, ask questions to learn more about an issue.
3. Build teamwork skills
Teamwork skills are an important skill that children need to develop from a young age. Group study not only helps children practice communication skills but also helps them learn to be reasonable, share and solve similar problems. To build teamwork skills for children, parents and teachers can apply the following methods:
3.1. Division of roles in the group
– In each group, game roles can be divided such as group leader, secretary, opinion presenter, opinion writer and job provider.
– Dividing game roles helps children understand their tasks in the group and learn how to ensure that they take on game roles proactively.
3.2. Promote cooperation and sharing
– Encourage children to cooperate and share their opinions and thoughts in groups.
– Teachers and parents can create interesting activities such as games, group discussions to provide cooperation and sharing among group members.
4. Increase self-confidence and self-reliance
Self-confidence and autonomy are two important factors that help children develop comprehensively. When participating in group study, children will have the opportunity to express their opinions and thoughts in front of a group of people. This helps children become more confident in communicating and expressing their opinions. At the same time, when assigned tasks in a group, children will learn to be independent, self-manage their time and work to complete the task effectively.
Advantage:
- Children are more encouraged when they have to present their opinions in front of a group.
- Through discussion and group work, children learn to manage their own time and work.
- Children have the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise and independence when participating in group activities.
Disadvantages:
- Sometimes, children can lose confidence if their opinions are not heard or applied by other members of the group.
- Self-control also requires maturity and struggle, and some children may have difficulty with this.
- In some cases, children may become overconfident and unreceptive to other people’s opinions.
5. Encourage creativity and multi-dimensional thinking
To facilitate children’s creativity and divergent thinking, teachers need to design diverse and interesting learning activities. Instead of teaching knowledge in a traditional way, encourage children to find their own way to solve problems. In this way, children will learn to think flexibly and find new solutions.
How to do:
- Using project-based learning, children are allowed to be creative and realize their ideas through products or projects.
- Create practice exercises and experiments to encourage children to explore multiple approaches and solve problems in their own way.
This not only helps children develop creativity but also creates a positive learning environment and motivates children to learn.
II. How group study can help children develop comprehensively
Practice communication skills and collaboration
When participating in group learning activities, children will have to constantly interact, exchange ideas and listen to others. This helps children develop communication skills naturally and effectively. In addition, through cooperation with other group members, children also learn how to work in groups, share responsibilities and agree with each other.
Promote creativity and problem solving
When discussing and working together in groups, children will be encouraged to come up with new ideas and find solutions to specific problems. This is a great basis for developing children’s creativity and problem-solving skills from an early age.
Promote competition and independence
In a group learning environment, children will have to compete and be independent to contribute and complete group tasks. This helps children develop healthy competitiveness and stimulates them to become independent in learning and life.
1. Encourage social interaction
To encourage social interaction in a learning group, teachers need to create opportunities for children to communicate, exchange ideas and cooperate with each other. This helps children develop communication skills, learn from each other and practice self-discipline through sharing and supporting each other in the learning process.
How to do:
- Divide children into groups in a balanced and careful manner to give each member the opportunity to participate in group activities.
- Ask groups to discuss, give opinions, and solve specific problems in the lesson.
- Promote social interaction by encouraging children to share ideas and support each other in the learning process.
2. Shaping active and creative thinking
Flexible and creative thinking are important skills that children need to develop from a young age. Group teaching methods help children have the opportunity to practice and apply the knowledge they have learned in real life. When participating in group activities, children will learn to think flexibly, come up with new and creative ideas to solve problems. This helps children develop the ability to think logically, be flexible in thinking and be creative in problem solving.
Advantage:
- Promote flexible thinking: When participating in group learning, children will be faced with many different opinions and perspectives from group members. This creates conditions for children to develop the ability to be flexible in thinking, accepting and actively considering different opinions to come up with the best solution.
- Encourage Creativity: Group learning creates an environment that fosters creativity in children through discussion, generating new ideas and finding independent solutions to learning problems. Children will learn to generate new ideas and gain the confidence to bring their ideas to life.
Disadvantages:
- Difficult to control: Group management and control can be difficult, especially when children are very young. There can be noise and disorder during learning.
- Risk of heterogeneity: There may be cases where some groups are more active, while others may be less active. This may affect the learning performance of children in the group.
3. Promote further learning and knowledge
To complete the learning process and then the knowledge results, group learning method plays an important role. When participating in group learning activities, children will have the opportunity to be exposed to different opinions and thoughts of their group mates. This helps to broaden their horizons, explore new approaches and solve problems, thereby providing a positive learning process for children.
Advantages of the learning method group:
- Children have the opportunity to learn from each other, exchange knowledge and experience
- Encourage collaboration and activist thinking
- Promote communication and social skills
- Provide opportunities for children to express their personal opinions and thoughts.
Disadvantages of the group of learning methods:
- Can cause uncontrollable, noisy situations in the classroom
- Difficulty in assessing individual students’ abilities when studying in groups
- Some children only focus on their group’s problem and forget about the other group’s problem.
4. Build trust and team spirit
Building trust and team spirit is an important part of implementing group learning methods. When children feel confident and supportive of each other, they are more likely to cooperate and focus on common learning goals. At the same time, team spirit also helps children develop social skills and group thinking, thereby creating a positive and effective learning environment.
How to build trust and team spirit:
- Encourage children to share their opinions and views in groups.
- Create opportunities for children to work in groups and solve problems together
- Positive feedback and increased team spirit
Building trust and team spirit not only helps children learn better but is also an important foundation for their future social and mental development.
5. Create opportunities to learn from others
When studying in groups, children will have the opportunity to learn from others in the group in a natural way. This helps children expand their knowledge, and at the same time learn to approach problems from many different angles. This also creates a diverse and rich learning environment, helping children develop flexible and creative thinking.
Advantage:
- Children can learn from the experiences and knowledge of others in the group.
- Being exposed to different perspectives helps children develop flexible and creative thinking.
- A diverse environment helps children expand their knowledge and understanding
Disadvantages:
- It is not always possible to be sure that children learn from others completely and accurately.
- Learning from others can also cause controversy or disagreement within the group.
- There may be children who refuse to learn from others and hold their own opinions.
III. How to apply effective group teaching methods for children
To apply effective group teaching methods for children, teachers need to take the following steps:
1. Instruct children before discussion
– Teachers need to guide the way to discuss scientifically and dangerously.
– Elect a group leader to direct the group members, along with recording the members’ opinions in the letter.
– Set a time for the group to pay attention to the workplace and give competitive size rewards.
2. Observe and remind children
– Teachers need to observe and remind children to do their own work and not pay attention to participating.
– To avoid children only learning about their group’s problems, teachers need to set rules for the group but ask at least 1 question and comment on other parts of the group.
3. Evaluation and feedback
– After the discussion, members need to evaluate the results of each group and give feedback so that children can improve in the next discussion.
– Feedback also helps children better understand their strengths and weaknesses in the group learning process.
1. Clearly define goals for each group
Setting clear goals for each group is an important step in ensuring that each group understands and focuses on the specific goal. Teachers must set specific learning goals for each group and help them understand what those goals are and how they will be achieved. This helps children focus and guides learning outcomes effectively.
Specific goals may include:
- Complete homework as required
- Discuss and propose solutions to a specific problem
- Presentation on a traded topic
2. Facilitate interaction and communication
To facilitate interaction and communication in learning groups, teachers need to pay attention to the following factors:
2.1. Create an open and comfortable space
– Create a spacious, comfortable and bright learning space so that children feel comfortable and focus on their studies.
– Provide enough learning tools and space so that children can automatically switch and work together.
2.2. Encourage children to express their opinions and thoughts
– Encourage children to express their ideas and thoughts confidently and without fear of criticism.
– Create conditions for children to share ideas, ask questions and discuss independently in groups.
2.3. Using the media file support utility
– Use learning aids such as boards, pictures, videos or technology devices to support interaction and communication in groups.
– Ensure that all children have the opportunity to access and use these convenient tools during the learning process.
3. Create diversity in team building
To create diversity in team building, educators need to pay attention to the analytical members of the team to have a variety of abilities, calculations, and architectures. This allows each team to learn from each other and develop different skills. At the same time, creating diversity also helps children learn to work with everyone, not just with people who are similar.
How to create diversity in team building:
- Divide members according to ability: To have a diverse group of students, teachers need to divide students into groups so that each group has a combination of good, average and weak students in one or more subjects.
- Grouping by Personality Type: Combining students with different personalities into one group helps children learn to work and communicate with everyone, not just those with similar personalities.
- Divide members by knowledge: For activity tools, teachers can also divide groups based on specific knowledge that students have learned, thereby creating diversity in the approach and problem solving of the topic.
4. Create problems and issues that are appropriate to your child’s level.
Creating problems and micro-problems that are appropriate to the level of the children is an important element of group teaching. This ensures that children are provided with opportunities to find solutions and stimulate curiosity and creativity. It is important to ensure that the problems and problems presented are neither too difficult nor too easy, and are appropriate to the ability and level of each group of children.
Advantage:
- Challenge children to find solutions and enhance logical thinking skills.
- Stimulate children’s creativity and curiosity.
Disadvantages:
- It is necessary to assess the child’s accuracy level in order to create appropriate problems.
- It shouldn’t be so difficult that children can’t solve it, nor should it be so easy that they don’t enjoy learning.
5. Adventure building after each group study session
After each group session, it is important to provide constructive feedback to help children better understand their strengths and areas for improvement. At the same time, feedback also helps teachers better understand the learning process of each group, thereby being able to adjust teaching methods to be more appropriate and effective.
Feedback from teachers
– Teachers need to create conditions for children to share their opinions about the group study session, thereby helping them feel listened to and cared for.
– In addition, teachers also need to give specific feedback on the strengths and areas for improvement of each group, helping children better understand their learning progress.
Feedback from team members
– Team members also need the opportunity to give feedback on how they work, and to assess the strengths and areas for improvement of the team.
– This way, each member will have the opportunity to self-evaluate and improve themselves during the group learning process.
IV. Advice and experience in teaching children in groups
1. Identify learning goals for each group
Before conducting group learning activities, teachers need to identify the learning objectives that each group needs to achieve. This helps children understand their tasks clearly and focus on completing the work according to instructions.
2. Facilitate rational and subsequent operations
For effective group learning, teachers need to create conditions for children to cooperate and communicate with each other naturally. This can be done by creating a comfortable space, encouraging children to exchange ideas and listen to each other’s opinions.
3. Feedback and evaluation properly
After each group of learning activities, teachers need to give feedback and evaluate the work of each group properly. This helps children understand their strengths and weaknesses and have opportunities to improve in the next learning period.
1. Create openness and active interaction
To create openness and positive interaction in the learning group, teachers need to create a comfortable and safe environment for children. In this way, children will easily share architectural ideas, discuss and support each other in the learning process.
How to do:
- Teachers need to encourage children to be able to give their opinions and thoughts automatically, without being imposed.
- Create conditions for children to express their curiosity and learn from each other through discussion and exchange of ideas.
- Encourage children to learn from opposing opinions, build listening skills, and respect the architectural opinions of others.
2. Identify the roles and responsibilities of each team member
To ensure the effectiveness of group work, it is important to define the roles and responsibilities of each group member. First, you must clearly identify the person who will be the group leader, the person responsible for organizing, assigning tasks and monitoring the progress of the work. In addition, it is necessary to define the roles of each other member such as writer, presenter, speaker, discussant and architect.
Specific roles may include:
- Team Leader: Responsible for organizing, assigning work and monitoring the team’s work progress.
- Writer: Record ideas, discussion results and assigned work in the group.
- Presenter: Prepare and present group results to the class or the entire group.
- Presenter: Prepare and present group ideas, information, or projects to the class or the entire group.
- Discussant: Give opinions, participate in the discussion process and provide solutions to the assigned problem.
- Ideation: Participates in generating ideas, evaluating, and providing solutions to specific problems.
Defining the roles and responsibilities of each group member will help the forum group learning activities become organized, effective and everyone has the opportunity to maximize their mobilization capacity.
3. Create opportunities for children to express themselves and their architectural ideas
For group learning to be effective, it is important to provide opportunities for children to express themselves and their architectural ideas. When participating in a group, children need to be encouraged to spontaneously give their opinions and contribute their architectural ideas during the learning process. This helps children develop communication skills, logical thinking and confidence in presenting their ideas.
How to do:
- Encourage children to participate in group discussion activities.
- Ask questions and encourage children to give their personal opinions and justify their views.
- Teachers need to create a safe and comfortable space for children to confidently express themselves.
4. Energize and support children’s approaches and solutions
To create dynamism and support for children’s approaches and solutions, teachers need to show respect and trust in students’ abilities. This helps children feel more confident in the learning process and can realize their ideas. At the same time, teachers also need to be proactive, stimulate children to come up with their own ideas and solutions, and create conditions for children to show creativity and autonomy in learning.
Children’s approaches and solutions can be supported through:
- Encourage children to engage in the work of asking questions and finding answers for themselves.
- Encourage students to be able to carry out their ideas and opinions in group activities.
- Provide opportunities for children to express their creativity through art activities, hands-on activities and presentations.
5. Ask questions and encourage children to search for answers in the group
Encouraging children to ask questions and seek answers in a group setting is a great way to stimulate their curiosity and logical thinking. By asking questions, children have the opportunity to express their opinions, seek information, and think creatively to solve problems. This not only helps children develop their thinking skills, but also trains their ability to communicate and cooperate in a group.
Advantage:
- Encourage curiosity and creativity: Asking questions will encourage children to find answers, hypothesize and reason to solve problems, thereby developing logical and creative thinking skills.
- Enhance communication skills: Children will learn how to present ideas, listen and give feedback in groups, thereby practicing effective communication skills further.
- Promote cooperative learning: Finding answers in groups encourages children to learn and help each other, creating a positive and collaborative learning environment.
Disadvantages:
- Difficulty in time control: Searching for answers in groups can lead to work spending too much time on a particular problem, causing time waste in the learning process.
- Not ensuring fairness: It may happen that some children excel in finding answers, while others may fall behind. This can affect the work in the group.
By teaching children in groups, we help them develop communication skills, learn from others and work effectively in groups. This helps them become more confident and social when they grow up.
