Children learn best when they can touch, explore, and actually be active in teaching concepts instead of just learning from textbooks. This blog will expand on how experiential learning in children is changing the learning process, to generate a deeper insight and a long-term knowledge base. Explore practical experiential learning activities for students that can be implemented both in institutions like CBSE schools in Alandi, Pune. You can learn more about how such an efficient approach could be applied to grow children holistically and help students to be better prepared to enter the real world.
Let’s see what World Peace School, one of the best CBSE board schools in Pune, has to say about you.
What Is Experiential Learning?
Experiential learning for children is a practical type of learning that takes place when students acquire knowledge by direct experience, reflection, and action instead of passively absorbing information. The approach uses more than one sense and mode of thinking simultaneously and establishes complex learning as complex experiences, more comfortable with real-world problem-solving scenarios.
This style acknowledges that children are inherently curious explorers and learn best when they are able to handle objects themselves, perform experiments, and see the outcomes of their actions immediately. Instead of children being told the scientific principles, children in experiential learning activities for students get to explore the scientific principles through guided investigation and exploration.
Such a strategy is not confined to science laboratories but to any other topic, including science and literature circles that ask students to re-enact historical events, and problem-solving in the real world, where students are invited to apply some concept of numbers to a real-world problem.
Why Experiential Learning Matters in Child Development
The advantages of experiential learning for children in schools go well beyond high-test results and include key elements of cognitive, social, and emotional growth that are all too frequently neglected in traditional learning settings.
Hands-on learning experiences increase cognitive development in children. It has been proven that through active involvement in the learning activities, memory retention becomes more effective, critical thinking abilities are improved, and problem-solving skills are developed that can be applied in new circumstances. By touching things and seeing cause-and-effect relationships with their own eyes, children develop neural networks to help process and remember more information in the long term.
The process of emotional intelligence comes about as a child goes through the experiences and failures of experiential learning. They also learn to cope with frustration when the experiments fail to work out, share the discovery with other children in the classroom, and feel competent when difficult tasks are completed successfully. This emotional development helps in strength and flexibility to deal with challenges in the future.
How Experiential Learning Supports CBSE Curriculum
CBSE curriculum framework explicitly promotes activity-based learning and real-life application of concepts, thus it is very much compatible with experiential learning methodologies. This is also synchronized to ensure that the kind of experiential learning activity given to the students does not alter but rather complements the set academic objectives.
Hands-on laboratory experiences, field trips, and investigation-based learning are important benefits of science education. Students who are studying photosynthesis, such as, can experiment with various light levels, plant growth patterns, and analysis to understand biological processes instead of rote learning definitions in a textbook.
Concepts in mathematics are more approachable when they are introduced as a result of real-world applications and manipulative materials. Geometric students can create shapes, to quantify angles, and find out spatial relationships in the construction work of building projects that could be converted to real and meaningful objects.
Social studies are made real through role plays, historical simulations, and community participation programs. Those who study ancient civilizations can create artifacts, participate in simulated archeological excavations, and present their findings to demonstrate an understanding of historical concepts and cultural practices.
Examples of Experiential Learning at World Peace School, Pune
World Peace School is an example of a school that has been innovative in applying experiential learning to students in different grades and in other subject areas. Their practice demonstrates how theoretical ideas can be turned into interesting practical learning activities.
Science laboratories include student-planned experiments, during which children develop hypotheses, carry out an investigation, and report on their findings to others. Recent projects have been a study of the quality of water in local streams, research on renewable energy sources, and exploring the physics of simple machines by building challenges.
Scenarios of real-world problem solving are included in math lessons, like the planning of school gardens, computation of materials and requirements of construction projects, and data analysis of surveys conducted by students. The apps assist students to learn how mathematical concepts are applicable in everyday life.
Role of Parents in Supporting Experiential Learning
The parental contribution to enhancing the benefits of experiential learning within schools rests on the provision of a favorable home environment and extracurricular activities that supplement experiences in classrooms.
Providing exploration opportunities at home helps to continue learning after school. Basic kitchen chemistry experiments, nature observation logs, and household construction projects are examples of rich learning that can be used to supplement formal education.
Encouraging questions and investigation helps maintain the curiosity that drives experiential learning for children. When parents tell children why and how, they can work towards obtaining answers because they can discover answers by observing, researching, and experimenting instead of giving them answers directly.
Challenges of Traditional Learning Without Experience
The old teaching and learning techniques, which are arelecture-basedd and work well in the delivery of information, fail to support the numerous learning styles, and are not likely to assist the learning people to be able to apply what they learn in real-life situations.
Passive learning usually results in shallow learning that cannot be applied in new environments. Students can memorize facts to get good marks, and fail to apply concepts in new problems or new situations where the ability to think creatively and adapt is needed.
A lack of engagement may result in a lack of motivation and interest in learning. In cases where students are passive consumers of information, they may build up negative connotations towards education, and they may not become self-motivated to learn further.
Absence of the development of practical skills leaves students in a sorry state as they are ill-equipped to address the demands of later academic and professional life that involve practical problem-solving skills, teamwork skills, and problem-solving skills that are critical to the tasks and cannot be developed in the absence of practice and experience.
There is less retention when the information is not linked with meaningful experiences or usefulness. Students are likely to forget quickly what they thought was important in their tests but not relevant to their lives and interests.
Final Thoughts
Child-centered learning is a radical approach to learning that satisfies the needs diversified needs of modern learners and provides them with the skills needed to survive in the dynamic world. The benefits of experiential learning in schools go way beyond academic success to include social, emotional, and creative growth, which underlies lifelong success.
The teachers and parents can create high learning conditions where the students can learn skills of critical thinking, skills of collaboration deep knowledge of academic concepts by arranging experiential learning opportunities among the students. This guide offers expertise and motivation to lead the way in supporting experiential learning methods that celebrate the way children learn in relation to achieving the highest academic standards and equipping students to address future challenges.