In today's world, general knowledge is critical for your child's
growth and success. There are various choices available for
today's generation. The key is to learn and gain more knowledge
about different areas. It is especially important for them to
learn beyond the classroom. Going beyond academics helps
children excel in different areas. A child's success depends on
how much he or she is learning from the surroundings.
The information that your child gathers and the learning that (s)he has will develop his or her mental abilities. This directly affects how (s)he will perform not only in school, but also in personal and professional life later. As parents, we want the best for our children. We put all our efforts and focus on doing what is best for them. It is important to know what general knowledge means for your child and how do they benefit from it. All the knowledge and life skills that your child acquires will help build their confidence and skills.
General Knowledge and Holistic Development
Building your child's identity
Learning goes hand in hand with growing up because as soon as
your child is born, the process of learning starts. (S)he sees
things, hears various sounds and feels the temperature. The
child then forms an initial idea of the world, which constantly
helps in the development of your child. As the child grows up,
this idea of the world constantly keeps changing and providing
holistic development.
The initial stages of development of your child are important
for his/her mental, social and physical growth. The learning
during the age of 6 - 12 plays an important role. The general
knowledge that your child acquires during this stage will open
different avenues for them. It will also help improve their
social skills, emotional skills, reasoning skills and thinking
skills to name a few. Your child will form an identity during
this stage, which will help your child in forming their own
opinion about the world.
There's more to general knowledge than textbooks
General knowledge [1]
plays a huge role in the holistic development of your child. The
learning from basic education becomes his/her strong and sturdy
trunk. Your child's awareness and general knowledge become the
fruits and leaves for your child's tree. When it comes to
general knowledge, schools focus primarily on fixed academic
curriculum and might not necessarily teach bits like - the
reason behind special days, knowing important facts about the
country, stories from the lives of famous people and various
interesting science facts etc. This extra bit of knowledge is
beyond academics but is important.
General knowledge that helps your child's holistic development is actually a very broad topic. It can cover a variety of topics. In simple words, general knowledge refers to the knowledge of a vast number of topics. Many parents often run into challenges like:
- what all topics should we cover based on the age of the child
- depth of the information for each selected topic
- ways to simplify the information and teach the kid in an engaging manner
- methods to re-enforce the learning so that the child retains maximum possible information
A child is like a sponge who is ready to absorb all the provided
information. As a parent, you need to ensure that your
child is absorbing the right things and getting the right
direction.
Benefits of General Knowledge
Knowledge brings more knowledge
It is true that once you set your child on the path of learning,
it will continue as long as your child shows interest.
Participating in a GK quiz or answering general knowledge
questions in a fun way will make them look forward to it.
Playing games to re-enforce the concepts will make learning fun
and measurable. The more your child knows, the more it will lead
to him/her learning. Sports, Personalities, Monuments,
Interesting Science Facts, etc. are some general
knowledge topics that you can introduce to your child because
they will help build a good foundation. Once your child gets
interested in the basic information, their curiosity will drive
them to know more and more about a topic.
Improved Mental Processes
Knowledge and mental stimulation play a huge role in sharpening
the gears of your child's brain. If your child is exposed to
more knowledge-based stimulants, he/she will have higher
thinking ability. Your child's perception skills, comprehensive
ability and communication skills can greatly increase. Your
child can think creatively and objectively. But a lot depends on
the direction and encouragement that you can provide to your
child.
Boost in Self-esteem and Confidence
A well established general knowledge will help in developing
your child's self-identity. The more your child knows, the more
resourceful he will be. This will make your child feel confident
about himself/herself. Basic identity formation of your child
happens during the initial period of 5-10 years of age. A
lot of it depends on the kind of life skills and general
knowledge your child is learning. Hence, your child will develop
a better sense of self - a more confident, friendly and outgoing
self.
Accolades and prizes in General Knowledge Olympiads
In today's world, there is an emphasis on the co-curricular
aspects of academia. Various forms of competitions like general
knowledge quizzes and olympiads have become really popular.
These olympiads test your child's knowledge and skills. With a
few practice tests, your child can really do well in such
competitions. But, what adds the true value to the learning is
exposure and experience of different pieces of general
knowledge. For example, a question about Republic Day in a
practice test may help your child get the date correct, but the
true value is only if your child understands the meaning of
being a republic. This exposure comes from learning beyond
academics.
What should your child learn?
"What" should your child learn - is a difficult question. The
topics and information that you can expose your child to are
very vast. What your child learns during the initial stage will
reflect in his/her growth. In fact, many western countries are
implementing new alternative methods of teaching and learning.
Alternative schools and no-curriculum system etc. have been
initiated in some countries because the knowledge that children
need is not being met. These give importance to the holistic
development of children, rather than focusing on the fixed
academic structure. As a parent, one key point to focus on is
your child's learning from his/her surroundings. This will
strengthen your child's awareness and general knowledge. Let's
look at some of the key things that can form a child's
foundation in general knowledge.
Learning about India and All Things Indian
In the initial learning phase, parents need to increase the
child's awareness and general knowledge of the place where they
live. Making your child aware of the concept of a nation is
important. Make your child familiar with various national
symbols such as the national anthem, national bird, national
flag, national animal etc. Other general knowledge topics [2]
such as important days, culture, monuments, famous
personalities, freedom fighters, Prime Minister and President -
help inculcate a sense of belongingness and familiarity in your
child.
Festivals and Religions
We are a part of such a secular and diverse nation. As a parent,
you need to inculcate the values of cultural sensitivity and
awareness in your child. This cannot be usually achieved just by
reading school textbooks. We need to teach children about
festivals and the reason behind their celebration. A child
should be eased onto topics like religion, faith and ideology as
early as possible because they need to understand these topics.
Ecology and Us
Children need to be familiar with the physical world. They
should be able to identify body parts, different body processes
and senses. There is also a need to make your child aware of the
environment, of animals and birds and the types of season. They
should also be able to identify various forms of geographies
such as mountains, seas, oceans, deserts etc. You also need to
make your child understand the issue of climate change. Your
child learning about issues of global warming etc will help
him/her develop a sense of responsibility and consciousness.
Sports
Sports play a big role in your child's growth. Your child needs
to familiarize himself/herself with the kind of sports that are
popular in the country. He/she should be able to identify famous
sportspersons and know which sport that person belongs to.
Participation in sports help develop your child's motor skills
as well as physical wellbeing. So, it is important for a child
to know about different sports and participate in a sport of
their choice.
Life Skills
Life skills play a very pivotal role in your child's life because it will shape how your child will grow up to be. Nowadays, even schools are focusing on learning of life skills by introducing it in the curriculum. Self-control, awareness, empathy, critical thinking, decision making etc. are skills that your child needs to witness and experience to learn. It is our duty as a parent that we develop these life skills in our child's life.
How should your child learn?
It is necessary as parents to realise that learning is a process
that is beyond academics of a classroom. Learning is about
experiencing and understanding what goes around you from a
rational perspective. For the best retention, you need to
provide the learning in such a way that it is interesting, fun
and simple. If you are trying to improve your child's general
knowledge, you have to do it by providing bite-sized
information. The child will be able to easily absorb such
information.
General Knowledge learning plan available on StudyHills
help children to learn in a way that doesn't feel like classroom
learning. As parents, you need to enable your child to have
information in such a way that they gain experience from it.
This will result in your child's success because learning is all
about growing and achieving.