The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the world for us as we know it. The world has been forced into the digital age at speeds that will make your heads spin. Even those that did not propagate the option of working from home or homeschooling were forced to embrace it. Research in the UAE and data from over 130 parents, showed that the perception of home-schooling was mainly positive, and this change was welcomed by a large part of the parent body. Armed with this knowledge, academics from not only the Middle East but throughout the world have come forth with learning programs and lesson plans to help parents encourage home learning.

Every parent and student had to familiarize themselves with the concept of an online classroom, group communication, and software-based homework submission. Most reservations about the online method of learning were laid to rest as a very insignificant percentage of students reported a decline in interest or other related negative feedback. As e-learning became a way of life, more and more content emerged online with apps, programs and online platforms being dedicated to this style of education. One such online platform which is especially very favored by schools in Dubai is the Australian-owned Blake E-learning’s Mathseeds. Blake E-learning along with 3P Learning—the team behind the world’s most used educational website – Mathseeds created this leading, global EdTech platform.

Mathseeds is the perfect early learning maths program to form a strong base for math students. It syncs with all your devices for your convenience and can be set up in minutes. This program includes a personalised path with downloadable worksheets and a curriculum to support your pace of learning and math level. Fun characters and lessons use real-world examples and accompany you through your learning journey while providing instant assessments and reports, so you are aware of your progress. Numeracy skills and curriculum topics starting right from kindergarten to Grade 3 are covered in depth.

Homeschooling also requires increased parent/teacher involvement with lesson planning and guidance. This is where Mathseeds comes in to provide you with adaptive lessons and worksheets perfectly suited to your grade or topic. Skills can be practiced online or offline and cover activities that may not be convenient for you to create at home.

Mathseeds provides you with a free 30-day trial and each subscription gives you access for up to 4 children, so it becomes cost-effective as well. Instead of lining up your bookshelves with different workbooks, you can get the award-winning Mathseeds Essential Skills workbook series which flawlessly complements the online Mathseeds program. Each guide provides a 36-week training and learning sequence with assessment tasks like the Driving Tests area and end of map quizzes.

Once you have determined the area of interest for your child… it could be geometry or puzzles etc, you can use Mathseeds to customize and suit your child’s lessons to fuel his interest in the subject. The use of ‘Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) such as toys, characters, etc greatly increases the interest in the topic and proves beneficial.

According to research in the GCC areas about early childhood education, math is one of the key competencies that affects a child’s learning outcome. Through these years, maths can prove to be a daunting subject for some, but it is easily interchanged with one of the most enjoyable subjects with the use of correct teaching methods and resources. This is where Mathseeds comes in and ensures children achieve mastery. A strong foundation in maths eventually builds critical thinking skills and logical reasoning. This later transforms into the overall cognitive development of a child.

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They say where words fail, music speaks. Much in the same way, music can be medicine for the mind. Lilting music is found to affect the unborn child positively. We have all seen even an infant enjoying the lullaby his mother sings to him or the familiar tune that his favourite toy plays. Music soothes the soul and is the language that everybody speaks right from the beginning. In GCC areas, music plays a wide role in religious, social and interpersonal lives.

Musical experiences help form cognitive and neural pathways in the early development years of a child. Matatalab delves deeper into the role of assimilating non-musical skills with music and observing the results. They find that multiple neural systems are hence engaged and so it fosters communication between both hemispheres of the brain and accelerates development, particularly in the areas of language acquisition, mathematical learning and reading skills. Studies in the Middle East have shown that children who learn to play an instrument and are consistent with their practice have shown an incredible increase in their IQ levels by 3 points.

Matatalab uses STEM learning to help students develop essential skills and social-emotional learning which will have a positive impact on the future of these learners. Matatalab’s solutions are a combination of tools that require the use of devices as well as offline play and screen-free coding. The Matatalab platform holds the attention of the students while entertaining them and inspiring them to explore and learn more. Its solutions combine subjects taught in school along with coding in ways that stimulate children to gain more knowledge. And adding to its repertoire it now introduces a musical add-on accessory that you can use in tandem with all tools on the platform. It encourages children to develop a liking for music.

Matatalab is a technology, education company, established in 2017, that is reshaping the way that children between the ages of 3 to 9 years can learn coding. In Dubai as well as the rest of the UAE, the use of Matatalab’s coding robots has been exponential and it has become a much-sought-after tool by educational establishments for their ground-breaking STEAM solutions. It now includes an Innovative Music Learning Tool where children can learn how to compose their favourite melody and through its various combinations also create their very own. This music add-on accessory has 16 Alto Clef Music Blocks, 16 Treble Clef Music Blocks, 10 melody blocks with pre-set melodies that kids can combine with robots or scenes they create while learning how to code and 3 double-sided music warm-up cards. Additionally, these patented tools help in sensory development as well.

Learning to string a musical piece together using these music blocks improves coordination and memory. With the correct teacher guidance and parent encouragement, these students can become more socially adept and better at coping with anxiety. They are also poised to become better communicators. Using Matatalabs music add-on accessory improves listening skills as in addition to instructions from the teacher, they also need to listen for speed, rhythm and pitch.

This accessory allows you to shuffle through the Do, Re, Me… Ti scale of notes and learn composition and beats through programming. In this manner, children can often compose their own songs. This activity also allows them to build up their patience and perseverance, which are handy skills to master when tackling difficult challenges faced later on in life. Reading and composing music is translated by the brain into the physical motion of playing that instrument thereby improving hand-eye coordination. Improve your creativity by adding that beautiful song to your coding adventure.

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During my growing-up years in Dubai, my mother would write small clues and hide them all around the house. Then my friends and I would split up into teams and find the treasure. This was our favourite game as it would give us a chance to explore the great outdoors and the clues would be so mentally stimulating or sometimes even humorous, that we would spend time mulling over them or excitedly laughing over their hilarity. That’s my earliest memory of the much-loved game of treasure hunting; which has now become a very interesting career for some, given advancements in technology and expertise.

Playing this game is organised in many childcare centres in the Middle East as it not only keeps the children distracted but also enhances their self-confidence and problem-solving skills. It encourages them to work in teams and creates bonds between the players. Rewards and discoveries instill a sense of achievement within the players while solving the mysteries makes them more confident in taking up future challenges.

For the uninitiated, Treasure Hunt is a game where you are provided with clues, one leading to the other. The final clue leads you to the treasure. The first person to retrieve the treasure wins. Alternatively, the simpler form is to hand over a list to the players and the first team or person to get all the items from that list is declared the winner.

Playing this game with kids helps them develop patience and social skills. They need to decipher the cryptic clues and not give up when they get stuck as the whole game depends on each clue. If there is a participant team, each player gets a turn to read and solve the clue. So patiently waiting your turn is key. Being completed focused while the others are having their turn is also vital as you could contribute your thinking skills or creativity and win the game together as a team. Reading maps or clues, following directions and navigating them, teach the children many necessary life skills such as listening and concentration. Playing this game bolsters the very important requisite of social skills. They learn how to communicate effectively and act responsibly. Working in the outdoors is also a great opportunity, especially in the UAE to explore nature and get some fresh air and exercise – A much-needed change from hours of screen time.

Robotify, which is an online platform aims at teaching children coding and believes in the bright future of automation. They aim at providing accessible and affordable learning for all. It is a popular brand used in schools throughout the GCC. Introducing this platform to the children can free up the parents’ time while also giving your children something fun and intuitive to focus on. Building on the age-old game of treasure hunting, Robotify introduces its new course called The Underwater World of Treasure Hunter where you explore the depths of the ocean in a remotely operated vehicle – The Robot LIR. Similar to the original, you will explore, collect data and clues and come across sunken pirate ships and deep-sea creatures in addition to a dark abyss holding a giant secret.

This new course from Robotify also introduces the children to a career in Marine Biology. Without the use of any external hardware, the learner is introduced to the underwater world and the magic it holds. He can use functions, loops, and variables to control the robot exploring the ocean. The learner needs to collect, store, and retrieve data thereby learning to program and at the same time much about life underwater.

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The world and especially the GCC area is still divided when it comes to whether grading students in the school is beneficial or detrimental to their learning. The grading system is just a concrete system to judge your academic accomplishment. However, it is not the sole measure as they can sometimes be unreliable. There can be myriad reasons why a student may not have been able to perform well on a test or have performed extremely well. However, it is a known fact that good grades have a great impact on lifetime earnings. So if you plan to get a degree or pursue higher studies, you can’t afford to dismiss grades as insignificant, even if you may have reservations about them.

Keeping that in mind, CodeMonkey has taken into account feedback from its users and implemented it into refining their grading system. CodeMonkey is an award-winning online platform that teaches programming to students in a fun and gamified manner. It teaches coding languages like CoffeeScript and Python. Teachers, parents and Kids alike can use this platform to their benefit and now with its new grading system, they can all evaluate the learning journey even better. Previously the grading for the courses included only a limited number of options for filtering. But now, teachers can filter progress for all or even one of the selected courses and calculate overall performance. The grades can now be viewed in a numeric, alphabetic or percentile format after selecting from the Quiz drop-down menus. Code Monkey even makes it possible now for teachers to generate a course certificate once the student completes the course.

Good grades usually open a lot of doors for students, most of which lead to good colleges and universities and there onwards to good jobs. Therefore grades out of high school matter if further, higher education is to be pursued in college or university. Many colleges in the Middle East place a lot of importance on the grade point average or GPA score of the student while considering his application for acceptance. In the professional fields of medical school or law school etc, there is immense competition and so grades are usually the deciding factor of who gains acceptance into the institution. The best graduate schools can afford to take only the best so grades with an average B or lower may not even be considered, This builds pressure sometimes on the student which proves disadvantageous in the long run.

The UAE is usually generous in awarding funding to a student to pursue further education. But they too are required to deliberate mainly over the grades and then look at other achievements of the student. Higher grades can lead to more scholarships. While lower scores, sometimes can negatively impact a student’s future by immersing him in debt. Becoming a part of a scholarly organization or honor society can sometimes open the door for such students to special funding and consequent opportunities. He may thus be able to travel abroad or be a campus leader with the help of such involvement.

Post studies, the first employers who absorb freshers straight out of college also consider grades while hiring for jobs at entry level. While the smaller employers may not expect to see excellent GPA scores but the big fry will. 67% of companies surveyed confirmed that they screened candidates by their GPA as it was the sole indicator of the applicant’s technical ability and competence to do the job that he was hired for. The higher the grades the higher the possibility that the employee would successfully be able to complete tasks given with minimal need for supervision.

The all-new grading system at CodeMonkey makes it easier for users to clarify what topics have been understood and what have not. Recent studies in Dubai have found that the confidence of the students was tied to their grades, and barely any familial support and encouragement could change that opinion for them. It could be said that grades have more benefits than discredits to their name.

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Learning is beneficial to all, but the teaching-learning process can be different as per the understanding of the educator or the set guidelines by the institute. Often there is a debate about whether to teach a classroom full of students or focus on individualized learning to direct all energies toward one student. There are many different styles of teaching, but today let us elaborate on the advantages of personalized learning.

What is personalized learning?

Personalization means customizing the way of teaching to suit the needs of the learner. It also depends on the pace and capabilities of the student to understand the topic. The teacher pays great emphasis on whether the child is able to fully grasp the concept and only then decides to move to the next chapter or explanation. This technique does get a little tedious to execute, as tailoring lessons as per each individual child’s needs, skills, and interests, is a difficult task. Nonetheless, the elite schools of Dubai, especially those following the International Baccalaureate curriculum, tend to customize the teaching plan as per the readiness of the student.

Benefits of Personalized Teaching Method

#1 Deeper Understanding

It makes a lot of difference when the teacher teaches 50 students together vs. just one child. When so many kids are attending the lecture, it is hard to keep track of all and without even your realization, there may be kids who are yawning away or chit-chatting at the back bench. You can’t even tell whether the student is gaining more confidence on the topic or getting more confused. However, when there is one-on-one teaching, it is so much easier to pause and enquire to the student whether he/she is on the same page as you are. Based on the input of the child, you can then alter a bit and make studies more meaningful. The Mathletics Platform which is quite the talk of the town in Dubai and other Middle East regions can be used by teachers as an excellent teaching aid to drive down important concepts of Math to an individual student in a personalized classroom environment.

#2 Better Communication

Some students are shy, while others are bold and don’t think twice before asking their doubts or queries. Asking a question in front of your peers may feel like an embarrassing situation, so they refrain from letting their doubts out in the first place. This can affect the student adversely, as he may not be able to understand the topic with clarity. In one-to-one teaching, one has no such fear of ‘asking a silly question’, as no one’s watching or judging them, and hence, the student feels the most comfortable even getting the silliest doubts cleared.

#3 Good Bonding

It’s best suited when the teacher becomes your friend and there is seamless communication between the two. This teacher-student camaraderie can allow the educator to not just impart education but be a friend, advisor, guide, and life coach to the kid. In today’s complex world, alongside decent IQ, one needs to possess a great EQ (Emotional Intelligence). This helps an individual understand his own emotions and also that of others in a better manner. EQ helps build relations and reduces stress in one’s life.

#4 Improves Retention

When the content and teaching method are to the liking of the student, it is apparent that retention is better. If the student is a visual learner, then he prefers seeing pictures and learning through a pictorial representation of content through graphs, storylines, flashcards, and colorful presentation slides. If he is more of a kinaesthetic learner, then the teacher might have to arrange for objects and teaching aids that can be felt by hand. Some examples are; clay set, an abacus, a puzzle, sandpaper, and even Lego blocks. Basically, anything that the child can feel & touch and move around freely in the surrounding. The Mathletics app available in GCC and UAE regions features assessments at the end of every lesson plan, which will help students practice concepts that have been taught so that they can put their learning to the test.

Overall, the personalized learning approach aims to enhance the traditional education system by focusing on quality, rather than merely completing the syllabus.

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