Chess is a two-player board game played on a square board with 64 smaller squares, arranged in eight rows and columns. Each player begins with sixteen pieces, including pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, a queen, and a king. The goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king, leading to the end of the game.
Chess has some academic benefits too. The learning skills and memory could be improved by chess. Many sites offer chess learn online. There are coaching classes for beginners that help them to develop skills. Students of all levels can join the chess learn class. Monthly challenges are provided to the students who are willing the chess learn. A very popular site for chess learning is chessklub.com which is highly recommended.
Chess could be very beneficial for students. The benefits are discussed below:
1. Memory and concentration:
Chess improves your memory and concentration. As you are focused on your game, it improves your visual memory. It’s interesting to note that expert chess players show better identification with a specific sort of memory: auditory memory. This is the capacity to recall what you’ve realized through hearing. By concentrating you get to memorize your previous games and it would be easy for you to learn new techniques. Memory and concentration work side by side to each other.
2. Reading skills:
Yes, you read it right. Chess will improve your reading skills too. Different studies showed that chess improves IQ level but the reason how it increases your reading skills is that the process of learning and reading involves understanding, thinking comprehension, and analysis. You will quickly solve your problems and obstacles if you are a chess player.
3. Creativity:
You could be a critical thinker if you play chess. That is why because you keep on thinking in your mind about tactics that how to defeat your opponent or how to kill his King. You will develop your logic faster. Playing a real game of chess is very complex so you could very creative if you want to “checkmate” your opponent.
4. Planning:
If you memorize yourself when you were a young person, possibly you will remember a few things that you have managed without thinking about the outcomes. You realize what is the trademark highlight of all chess players, they design and anticipate constantly, regardless of where they are. While playing chess, arranging is additionally significant, which turns into the piece of the character and makes the individual consistently adhere to those principles. Chess can make you a good planner too.
5. Strategic thinking:
Chess is a game of strategy, requiring a planned approach to outwit opponents. Just as military leaders strategize, chess players position their pieces in a strategic battle. Learning these skills through practice enhances strategic thinking, valuable beyond the game. It aids in everyday decision-making, benefiting not only soldiers and players but anyone facing challenges. Critical thinking also proves vital in academics and workplaces, ensuring preparedness and alternate solutions.
The main thing is the abilities that are being educated through this game go a long way from the board and set up the individual for life troubles, and issues, show them how to address those deterrents imaginatively. In the outcome showing children how to play chess, can be probably the best thing that you will accomplish for them.
Today, teachers focus on growing kids with a social responsibility to build better futures. Twin is a great tool to integrate into your lectures in order to grow kids with a technology know how and an urge to solve world’s problems. How can you use Twin in classrooms? We came up with 5 tips for you to use Twin as a complementary tool for your ongoing curriculum.
Students love learning interesting facts about science. It would be great to learn about these facts in an exciting competition, wouldn’t be? STEM Quest Show is a Youtube show designed by Twin in collaboration with Creative Futures Imperial College London and Royal Academy of Engineering. The shows welcome students from all over the world. It is a one hour of science discussion with interesting and funny facts about science!
Twin Science Kits give kids the opportunity to design many projects from autonomous cars to robots, art projects to flashlights. Divide the classroom into groups and assign a project for each theme of the lecture. Students can develop their soft skills when they are part of a team. They will also learn a lot about science behind the daily technologies while having fun.
3- Recommend one activity from Twing App everyday.
Twing is a free application designed for kids to discover their talents. The app includes hundreds of experiments and teaches science in the funniest way. With 138 skill set and 6 different character journeys, kids can focus on their favorite fields from robotics to art. You can choose one experiment that fits your topic of the day and recommend your students to complete it. Do not forget to share your experiences in classroom!
4- Let your students design their own game with Twin Code Lab.
Coding might seem tough when you first meet. Twin Code Lab makes it easier for you with block coding experience. It is an online platform that students can use on their desktop. Its simplified features make it fun to learn programming step by step. With coding, students can design thousands of creative projects. You can divide the classroom into groups and ask each group to design their own games. Then, you can play these games all together.
5- Integrate 100 weeks Twin Robotic Curriculum to your lectures.
Artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and many more… They look complicated at the beginning but actually they are very easy to develop. The Twin Robotic Curriculum aims to teach daily technologies with connections to daily life challenges. Geliştirdiğimiz Twin setleriyle uyumlu 100 weeks curriculum is compatible with Twin Science Kits. It engages students with basic engineering concepts besides a socially responsible mindset. Your students can upload their codes into Twin Coding Module and create infinite number of projects!
How do you think it would be if you had to go to school with a mask on your face in your childhood? Probably most of you will answer this with a clear “No.”. Just like you imagine, kids can be sad and nervous about the new normal period. Making sure that they can get through this period properly, parent-teacher relationships are crucial.
Understand each other’s perspectives of education
It might be tough for parents to start school this year. The risk of getting the disease and concerns about their children’s growth might be issues that take their time a lot. Such questions directed to teacher might also keep you busy for hours.
For teachers, a similar situation is valid. They did not know what a pandemic is when they were younger. It is a new experince for them as well parents. Besides, we know that they all missed their students a lot. They miss you too!
Now, it is time to cooperate in order to get through this situation as well as possible. The main idea is to understand how both parties think about the hybrid education system. This way, you can make sure that kids get the proper education besides developing themselves. We came up with 10 suggestions to guide you on this journey.
What can you do as a parent?
Share the information about your kid with his teachers.
Clearly state how you have been through the online education period. Tell them what you failed at.
Express how your kids seem to feel with online exams and homeworksç
Share your concerns about the whole period with them.
Never forget to make sure that you appreciate and respect the efforts of the teacher 🙂
What can you do as a teacher?
Ask the families and students about their concerns.
Share your experiences with them. Tell them what worked before and what didn’t.
Inform the parents with the true information you get from government officials.
Share online platforms that can encourage kids’ mental and emotional development with them.
Make sure you appreciate parents’ contributions to understand and help during this period.
You will go through a unique journey that no one has been before. Try to understand that it’s in your hands to make the most of it. Get as much learning from this period as possible. Twin is always here to guide you in good times and bad times. You can have a look at Twin Science Kits to add up a little bit of color to your homeschooling!
Each kid has a unique personality and they all follow different journeys for learning. However, their developments are similar in some parts. They all walk first then run! We came up with several tips that fit every age group for you. Remember not to compare kids with one another. This might demotivate them for their own interests since each kid is special in his/her own journey.
Pre-School
Let them make friends!
At the ages of 5-7, kids discover social groups and communication. Friendships gain high importance at this time of the development. They can discover what it means to be alone. Especially if they go to kindergarten they might experience this more than the other kids.
Boost their self confidence.
You can teach them how to take responsibilities by giving them small tasks. They can take the trash out or carry the keys when you go out. This way, they can have a high self esteem and grow up to be responsible adults.
Increase their attention span.
All these devices around them might have a negative impact on their focus. In order to increase their concentration span, you can develop games for memory or mathematics together. It is also nice to have a limit for electronic devices.
Let them run, let them jump!
Kids have a great energy at these ages. Do not put a barrier on their way of expressing their excitement. It is beneficial for them to do exercises at these ages for a healthy development. It might be tough to find areas to do sports in big cities. You can arrange weekly walks in such cases.
Improve their sleeping schedule.
Sleep has a great impact on healthy development of your kids. Make sure that they go to bed early so that they can get up early and have energy to start the day next morning.
Primary School
Encourage them to read more.
Your kids will learn how to read between 7-10. Maybe, they already learned it. It might be confusing to learn how to write and how to spell words. The best way to enhance this process is to read books. You can arrange reading hours every day as a family so that kids turn it into a habit at the early ages.
Help them discover themselves.
At these stages of life, your kids get to know more and more people. Friends are important to build an identity and feel belonging. Make sure to guide them softly these times. You can discover Twing for them to understand their area of interests. Twing is a free mobile application that serves hundreds of activities for kids to discover themselves.
Tell them rules with reasons.
As kids grow up, they learn the rules of society and how to implement them. At these times explain the idea behind each rule so that they understand why they need to obey these rules. This way, they can grow up to great citizens contributing to the world.
Middle School
Guide them during puberty.
Puberty makes a lot of changes physically and mentally in kids. Their perspectives of life develop at this stage and they start questioning abstract concepts such as love, faith and the meaning of life. You can guide them during these severe changes. Teach them how to cope with emotional up and downs.
Get a hobby.
Hobbies are beneficial for locating their energy and improving their attention span. Learn together what they like whether it is sports or arts. Having a hobby to spend some time on will surely help them relax.
Listen.
This stage is where the kids have emotional changes quickly with the start of puberty. Make sure you listen to their problems and stories. Provide them a medium where they can ask any question they have to you. Sharing is caring.
A good sleep is the key to a better learning experience. A poor sleeping schedule may affect your kids’ growth in a highly negative way leading problems in attention span. Why should we care about our children’s sleeping schedule? What happens as a result of a poor sleep? Why is sleep so important to enhace learning. We came up with 5 important points to answer these questions.
1. Proper sleep fosters planning skills.
Lack of sleep may cause damage on brain’s area which is responsible from planning and problem solving. Thus, kids have trouble in figuring out easy tasks or they lose their school materials. They might also find it difficult to prioritize their homeworks. An insufficient amount of sleep also decreases kids’ response time.
2. A poor sleep makes them angry and weak.
Kids’ bodies produce energy to start the next day better while sleeping. If a kid cannot get proper sleep, he might feel frustrated. They might have trouble joining in teamworks and adopting to what is around them. If your kids suffer from such issues for more than 2-4 weeks, consult your doctor.
3. A good sleep increases attention span.
According to researches, lack of sleep cause brain to feel like sleeping while awake. So, kids that cannot get enough sleep may have a decrease in their attention span. They may have trouble in focusing. They have a great tendency to make mistakes or concentrate on something for a period of time.
4. Sleeping enhances memory.
When kids do not get enough sleep, their memory is affected at the first place. A brain that lacks sleep has difficulties on focusing. So, it makes it a lot more difficult to remember new things properly. A poor sleeping schedule might also damage the forming of memories. For example, if a kid learns a new topic at school, he may forget it the next day.
5. Sleep affects creativity.
Creativity is connected to memory and attention. Lack of sleep affects these two as well as creativity negatively. Brain refreshes itself during sleep. A brain that doesn’t do so, cannot produce something new. Thus, you cannot expect a kids who doesn’t get enough sleep to be creative.
The term STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is progressively becoming an important fixture in education and the world economy. The reason for this is that the careers of the future will most certainly be centered around STEM fields, while also invoking 21st century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, cultural awareness, collaboration and problem-solving. When done well, STEM education complements the development of 21st century skills. Hence, many teachers are starting to integrate STEM in their lessons. But what are the benefits for kids? In this article, we talk about ten advantages of receiving a STEM education in child’s development.
1. Improves creativity
We’ve heard the saying “thinking outside of the box”, right? Well, creativity is truly the centerpiece of a STEM education. STEM students are encouraged to come up with unique ideas and to take on an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex issues.
2. Increases team collaboration
Often times in the real world and in the workplace, teams are required to solve and complete multifaceted problems. In light of this, STEM education prioritizes collaboration and teamwork in its syllabus to teach to kids the importance of communication and leadership towards achieving common goals.
3. Develops communication skills
Communication skills are perhaps the most important of all life skills. Having the ability to discuss and convey complex concepts to others while also learning from one another will be the key to achieving success in a child’s life as they grow up. Group activities in STEM promote sociable skills like active listening, open-mindedness, and open them up to giving and receiving constructive feedback.
4. Empowers critical thinking skills
The kind of material offered in a STEM education is focused on engaging kids in critical thinking. Critical thinking is the process of actively conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, and evaluating information through observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication. As such, students will be encouraged to answer questions or solve problems not based on memorization but based on actively engaging with the material to understand the issue at hand and solve it using logic. These kinds of situations better reflect what is expected of them in the workplace – experiencing situations like this early in their education will better prepare them for their futures.
5. Boosts curiosity
STEM is all about empowering kids to ask “why” and “how” questions. STEM will provide students the opportunity to explore their imaginations to come up with imaginative solutions. Curious students are invested in their education and are the driving force of innovation and discovery.
6. Improves cognitive skills
Cognitive skills are the brain-based skills that enhance thinking, reading and learning. Much like a muscle, it can be exercised and strengthened through training. When engaged in STEM subjects, students can develop and strengthen their cognitive skills and learn the basics of coding and engineering in primary schools. This approach will develop kids’ cognitive abilities and aid them in the speed and quality of their problem-solving skills.
7. Introduces STEM careers at early ages
Studies show that a majority of careers will be centered around STEM subjects or will have STEM components to them. By introducing STEM at an early stage of a child’s life, you are introducing them to a world of opportunities and nurturing the skills needed to succeed in the 21st-century.
8. Teaches how to take initiative
Learning is evolving into more of a fun activity. STEM gives curious students the skills to tackle problems confidently and facilitates a more positive feeling about learning, greater self-confidence in students, and diffuses negative biases that contribute to the growth of individuals who are curious, confident and take the initiative when dealing with challenges.
9. Enhances media literacy
Unlike other curriculums, STEM students learn by research and inquiry. Inquiry requires students to engage in active learning by generating their own driving questions and seeking out answers through reading and research. In this way, they can apply what they have learned to daily life.
10. Boosts social-emotional learning (SEL)
Social-emotional abilities bring about happiness and success in life. STEM education encourages children to improve their SEL skills before becoming active members of society. Aside from personal development, including SEL strategies in teaching empower students to learn more academically.
Twin is a complete educational program which makes learning playful, individual, and wholesome. Using any of our five kits, kids will learn about robotics, science, and technology like never before. They design, build and code with electronic modules to create an infinite number of projects.
