Being an aunt to a 9 year old active child and well into my mid-thirties, I still dread the days when I was told to read something (that I didn’t understand much), memorize it and put it down on paper during my exams. And I very well remember that I used to erase my entire memory the moment I walked out of that examination hall with a sigh of relief. On a sincerely note, I sometimes wonder why we are putting the next generation through the same experience.
Recently, I came across an article by the famous psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus about “The Forgetting Curve”. This article features the study that in traditional learning, like the one we did, we are bound to forget about 80% of what we have learnt in the first 30 days! Now, I know for sure that I was a normal student following the normal norms of forgetting immediately after I was done with my exams. It simply cleared all my self-doubts that I had as a child. Knowing this I would never want my child to go through the introspection that I went through about my learning abilities.
So, what is the solution! I came across a concept known as Real time education. I found it very interesting. Basically, it is “Learning by Doing”. By working on small real projects, our children can make the connection between the theorical concepts that they have/ will come across and their application.
While I was trying to console my bhabi on her complaints that my niece is not interested in science, I came across a product called EZEEKONNECT. Out of curiosity, I visited their website. They claimed two things- “Learn while you play” and “Play while you learn” and all the while this was about science and electronics learning activities. This kind of caught my attention. Logging onto my Amazon application, I quickly thought of gifting a box to my niece on her birthday. But before actually giving it to her, I thought I will try it out myself. But to my amazement, I really enjoyed and learned through all the practical experiences and the videos that they provide.
Today I can proudly say that with my first kit I have made 28 projects. And my niece being of a few generations after me, she is stuck on to the activities like a barnacle. And to my disappointment and pride, she has been able to complete ¬¬¬24 activities. Now both of us are eagerly waiting for the next boxes. All said and done, my niece has forgotten about the mobile. My brother and Bhabi are really glad that I got my niece involved in this Real time learning activity.