December 2015

One of the seven areas of learning in EYFS relates to the physical development of the child. Teaching your children to follow healthy ways and healthy habits in life is really important.

Training your child- What are the areas to focus on?

Don’t restrict yourself on putting your effort only in making them learn how to brush their teeth or wash their hands before eating and doing the other daily routines. Also guide them in maintaining cleanliness during every day activities. That is what EYFS focuses on.

Explain to them why he/she is expected to follow this and that. Create awareness in the child. Let them understand that what they are doing doesn’t merely constrain itself to mimicking elders. This will make your efforts easier and your toddler will surprise you with better adherence to your instructions.

Read Also: Special Education Needs for Children [EYFS]

What to do and what not to do?

1. Teach Right. Teach Slow.

Give them clear and precise directions. Don’t give them confusing or hasty instructions and demand them to repeat when you’re done. Show them how to do it a multiple number of times.

2. Be Patient

Be patient and wait for improvements or results. Don’t get frustrated. This could take matters to the emotional side. Show the same amount of care and concern every time you deal with your child. Showing irritability can inhibit your child from seeking help from you anymore. Even if the child had repeated what you’ve taught once or twice previously, do not expect that he/she will do it right every time.

3. Give Treats

Motivate your child by offering a small and cheap treat, a chocolate or a coin to put in the piggy bank for a day of finishing their routines well.

4. Make Yourselves an Example to Follow

It is really annoying when the kids are required to follow a set of instructions and they watch you doing exactly the opposite. It will be really a struggle for them to understand the values you are trying to inculcate if you are not giving it any respect yourselves. Keep yourselves and your surroundings clean; as well as your floors, cupboards, toilet, kitchen etc.

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5. Encourage Participation

Encourage them to participate in doing chores, cleaning up, and tidying. Give them simple tasks like taking their dishes to the kitchen after eating or taking their used clothes to the laundry basket.

6. Monitor and Make Changes

Teaching is not merely giving confined sets of instructions to follow. You have to monitor your child’s progress continuously. You should be at their service when they need external help until they gain some sort of mastery over it. Notice what they do right and what they do not. Praise them for what they deserve. Do revisions of your mode of approach if required. If a specific way is too difficult for your child, devise a better way that your child finds easier to follow.

School inspections improve the quality and standard of schools. Hence it is the responsibility of each one of us to take care of our valuable schools and maintain its worthiness.

Dubai government have taken an initiative to improve the quality of private schools, known as Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). The KHDA inspection use four -point scale to rate the schools.

The four levels in the scale are as follows:

Outstanding
Good
Acceptable
unsatisfactory

KHDA publishes the rating of each inspected schools in its website. The rating of each school helps parents in deciding the school for their children. This obviously improves the standard of the school.

Read Also: KHDA and Surprise School Inspections [will they do it?]

Why school inspection matters?

School inspection is the process of monitoring and evaluating the academic performance and development of schools. The inspecting team inspects qualification and fitness of staff, provision and appliances of instructions, health and recreation activities, discipline among students, infrastructure, fee structure, attendance, subjects taught and examination results. They also look for personal development, welfare and behaviour, moral, cultural and spiritual growth of the children.

The inspection team assess quality of teaching based on their observation. To make the inspection beneficial, a proper relationship should be maintained between school authorities and the inspection team.

Here are some reasons why inspecting schools is necessary:

To grant approval from government:

Schools are inspected with respect of their pupil’s enrolment, number, teacher’s qualification, infrastructure, equipment, curriculum etc. If they meet all these necessities according to the requirement, then government nods approval.

To inspect for operational improvement:

The inspection team takes details about staffs, student population, school finance, academic programmes, co-curricular activities, health and sanitary aspects in the school. Based on this record, they call a meeting with school authorities to improve the operation of school.

To inspect the school’s programme recognition:

This is conducted to recognize and approve various academic performances. The team inspect in terms of quality, quantity, staffing and equipments which are used to present students effectively.

To inspect school if there is any situational demand:

Here the school is not inspected for measuring the productivity but for evaluating the specific case or situation. Such inspection is essential when there is any crisis.

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Inspections Evaluates and Sustains Quality

More inspection improves the standard of the school as the inspecting team focus on the development of the school. The suggestion put forth by inspection team is practical and accurate. Credibility and respectability of the inspection team is very much essential. Without proper inspection, no school will undergo development. Hence regular inspection is necessary for a school.