Covid- 19 & Learning

Covid-19 took the world by storm, and in a flash there were restrictions put on everyone all over the globe. Confining the majority of the world’s population indoors was a necessary precaution to keeping us all safe from infection; however it did come at a large cost to societies worldwide.

As difficult a time as it was, one of the biggest impacts of the three years of Covid-19 unfortunately hit children and students. Parents struggled to cope with their children’s school closures, lack of socialisation, increased screen time for entertainment and distance learning as their only means of study. 

The shutdown of schools in Hong Kong created a massive ‘learning loss’ according to researchers, specifically in English literacy. Spelling, grammar and punctuation were found to have plummeted in test scores in comparison to pre-Covid test results.

Now that schools have reopened worldwide, it's time to strengthen those fundamental skills which may have slipped away during the pandemic. 

The good news is there are fun, engaging ways you can support your child's spelling and grammar development! 

At Kiddikraft, there are specially curated programmes designed for students who have experienced this type of ‘learning loss’ over the course of the pandemic. Our specialized spelling, phonics and grammar classes are designed to be fun and innovative, using a variety of strategies to get our students back on track. Students who have enrolled in these programs are making astounding progress and continue to improve.

 Assess Your Child's Spelling and Grammar Skills

The first step at Kiddikraft would be to assess where your child’s spelling and grammar skills stand. We generally start by having them do some simple writing exercises, like describing their daily activitiy or writing a short story. To be able to place our students in classes at the correct level, we look for the following-

·  Consistently misspelled common words (there/their/they're, your/you're)

·  Little or no use of punctuation like full stops, commas or quotation marks

·  Run-on sentences or sentence fragments

·  Subject-verb disagreement ("he don't" instead of "he doesn't")

If you notice significant issues in the above areas, it's best to address them now before they become a habit. We are fully equipped to help your child, all it takes is the initial assessment, and they will be ready to begin their journey to better writing and overall English literacy skills.

Remediation and practice

To strengthen spelling, Kiddikraft has your child practice the specific words they struggle with. Flashcards, copying words out, and using each word in a sentence are all effective techniques. 

For grammar, we work through exercises together from a workbook. With simplified explanations of the rules of grammar and taking the time to identify proper examples, the majority of our students are able to polish their grammar at their own pace.

With regular practice, their skills improve over weeks and months; we patiently encourage and motivate our students and work closely with parents so the children get support from all sides. 

Once their spelling and grammar fundamentals are solid, get them writing more to apply what they've learned. Writing stories, letters, or journal entries are all enjoyable and valuable in this process.

Strengthening skills that may have slipped during distance learning will take dedication, but with adequate support, your child can get back on track and become a confident writer. Their future teachers will thank you!

Kiddikraft have incorporated common spelling rules and word patterns in our curriculum, like dropping the final "e" before adding "ing". We make spelling fun for your child by using interactive activities, word games, and flash cards. Their hard work will pay off, helping them become confident writers and life-long learners, which is our goal.

We also encourage your child to keep a daily journal to freely express their thoughts, experiences  and dreams.

Often, our students will be asked to write letters or emails to family and friends to help them practice using proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This encourages imaginative thinking and gives them room to have fun with writing.

Although distance learning presents many challenges, your child can build strong spelling and grammar skills with classes at Kiddikraft.