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Techniques of Effective Learning
Natalia Kirilina
Sergei Kirilin
This book contains effective learning techniques which help children learn better, retain a greater amount of information, reduce study time before exams, write without mistakes, learn another language faster, and prepare essays and summaries more quickly and easily. Parents can also join in the learning process with their children.
Techniques of Effective Learning
Natalia Kirilina
Sergei Kirilin
Illustrator Alyona Bondarenko
© Natalia Kirilina, 2024
© Sergei Kirilin, 2024
© Alyona Bondarenko, illustrations, 2024
ISBN 978-5-0062-7960-5
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Introduction
A question that concerns many parents is whether or not they should help their children learn and how they can find the time for it.
In our project “Glad to Learn”, we teach parents how to help their children learn more effectively, delegate homework responsibility, improve memory, and reduce study time.
Unfortunately, parents are not always able to set aside time in their fast-paced lives to help their children with their schoolwork. Likewise, children do not always listen to their moms or dads without having something to say.
Some parents think that teaching their children themselves is out of the question for them.
In this book you will learn whether or not children should be helped with their learning process and how this can be done in a time-efficient manner.
Ideally, the main goal of an adult is to help the child organize their time and divide their energy.
Parents should not do their children’s assignments for them, give answers, or hover over them for hours making sure they write each letter correctly.
However, practice shows that this is what actually happens.
Parents sit with their children all evening doing homework, explaining the material, learning poems and foreign words, doing crafts and pictures.
The role which used to be fulfilled by the teacher is now being put on the shoulders of parents.
This naturally leads to the question, why do we even need school at all?
Unfortunately, it is not possible to incite quick change on the education system.
That is why we must accept the rules of the game and play by them.
Busy parents wonder how they can free up time for themselves instead of spending it all on teaching their children.
The first option is to find a good school which can be given full responsibility for educating their child, and thus leaving the parents out of the equation.
This only works well when the child can study in a school where teachers are invested in their students. Schools like this which also offer free tuition are becoming fewer and fewer with every year, while the number of private schools is increasing.
If you have the ability to send your child to such a school then do your best to send them there. The money that you will put into this kind of education will be paid off by the free time you will gain.
The advantage of this solution is that the responsibility for the results is taken on by the school.
The main disadvantage of this solution is the cost.
The second option is to hire a tutor.
The advantage of this option is that your child will be taught individually, and the tutor will focus on their specific problems. If you find a good tutor, they will certainly help with most of your problems and save you time.
However, this option has a few drawbacks of its own relating to the quality of tutors nowadays.
Furthermore, most tutors are interested in long-term work and will tell you right off the bat that the process will be long and costly.
The second issue is that once the tutor is removed, results are lost. All of the tutor’s knowledge leaves with them and the child only knows what they know. Without a tutor, students can rarely continue learning the subject further very well.
The third issue is that the parent must make a choice of which subject to give preference to if the child has problems with a large number of subjects since hiring a tutor for 8—19 subjects at one time is very wasteful.
The fourth issue is that no one will hire a tutor for subjects the child is doing well in. In the end, the child will only progress in their weak areas, and their most important strong points will practically stop developing.
The third option is to teach the child how to learn. As one famous cartoon puts it, “Better to learn all day and then fly for only half an hour.”
The advantages of this approach are:
The child will get a foundation of knowledge and skills which will allow them to memorize important information from the first try and process it and apply it. Later in the future, they will be able to at least feel like a fish in water in the world of information, and they will be able to understand the things around them.
Moreover, mental work is always paid several times higher than physical work.
A tutor simply gives your child a fish while you will be teaching your child how to fish. This way, no matter who the teacher is, your child will be able to easily learn and master any information, prepare for exams, receive scholarships for university, etc., without any interference and without your involvement.
The biggest disadvantage to this solution is that it requires setting aside additional time for the child to learn, as well as diving into the process yourself and helping your child make the first steps in the beginning.
There is simply no time or energy left to put in additional learning time into an already full schedule.
However, herein lies the most insidious problem of teaching children: the use of outdated methods of learning which take up significantly more time than needed.
It can be compared to chopping a tree with a dull ax or sawing wood with a dull saw. It requires more effort, but produces less of a result.
What you can do to help your child learn better:
Use methods for improving concentration
Use the general to specific approach and special schedule organizers (helpers) for presenting information
Use image-based principles for memorizing formulas, dates, definitions
Use techniques of structuring information for presentations, summaries, and recitations
Use techniques of delegating homework to the children
Use methods of memorizing foreign words
Use mnemonic devices
All of these techniques are taught in the book you hold in your hands.
You will learn the techniques of effective learning, how to work with information correctly. You will gain skills for quickly taking in new information. You will learn how to effectively help your children learn how to memorize a large amount of information over a short period time and how to do homework on their own. You will also free up time for yourself and fulfill your wishes while your children are learning happily on their own.
Happy Learning!
Reviews
I am not good at promoting things, but this is perhaps the best book for parents of young students. The book describes a large number of techniques for making the learning process easier. You no longer need to go in search of, collecting bit by bit, whatever might help you in the learning process.
Everything is included in this book:
How to memorize large amounts of information and difficult names
How to learn foreign words
How to correct mistakes in vocabulary words
How to increase reading speed
How to quickly summarize a paragraph, focusing on the main idea
How to remember numbers, dates, telephone numbers, and much more
Besides this, the book also describes the psychological aspects of learning.
How to talk with the teacher the right way
How to increase a child’s self-esteem
How to motivate, and so on.
Our brains (and the brains of children) are capable of a great number of things, we only need to know how to correctly memorize, reproduce, repeat, present. If we do this using specific algorithms then we will waste significantly less time and effort and have guaranteed results.
I am writing this with such certainty because I myself am studying and applying the techniques of effective learning and I can see they work.
Now my oldest child is only in preschool but we are already using some of the techniques with him.
“Green pen” for motivation
Mnemonic “Cartoon” for foreign words
Correct repetition according to the “forgetting curve” of Ebbinghaus for optimum memorization
Mind maps for structuring information and training connected speech
“Funnel” technique for eliminating mistakes
“Artist” technique for memorizing poems
And many others.
After trying these methods for myself and my child I am convinced that learning can be easier, faster, more interesting, and produce better results.
To all parents who see this, if you do more than just read this book and actually implement at least part of the recommendations in your life, you will immediately notice positive results and see how much the learning process of your child has improved in school.
It will boost your child’s school performance and self-esteem while at the same time reduce the time spent on homework.
Parents will spend less time stressing about the process and will save money on tutors.
Teach your child how to learn and it will be the best investment for your whole family.
Svetlana Grigorieva
I was fortunate to be able to read the book Techniques for Effective Learning. Encyclopedia for parents of schoolchildren. I could relate to every line and it brought back memories of my own school experience, causing me to analyze and rethink the motives behind the actions and teaching styles of the teachers. There were some things from the book which I had already applied instinctively myself back then, for example, associations, and these techniques have always worked. The book is laid out very nicely. I enjoyed the description of the four ways people take in information. It is very comprehendible and clear. It is written in a way that is very easy to read and understand with many examples of practical uses of the techniques. The book is a wealth of tools for teaching any school subject and more. It reveals how to set attainable goals and reach them, and also how to improve self-esteem, something some adults could learn as well. The descriptive mnemonics are truly marvelous. The most important thing is that they are easy to master and can be used in a playful manner. Practically any problem that a family could face when teaching a child is shed light on. The only thing left is to open the book to the right page and try to implement what is written in your situation. In a word, the book is wonderful. I am glad I have it.
Vera Zakharova
The current state of the education system can be summarized in one word: CHAOS. There is a complete lack of any actual kind of system. While some try to hold on to the Soviet system (at least there was something back then), others look five steps ahead and go in search of a new way of doing things. I don’t know about other students, but my son could not be interested by the Soviet system; they tried but it didn’t work :) We had to look forward. For a long time (two years) I searched for different approaches, methods, systems, and I found a lot in the American education system. Despite how Americans might be criticized, it was a necessary measure for me. I found small bits of information which strangely worked, and worked successfully. Thanks to these I later found myself on Renata Kirilina’s blog where she (which I am really thankful for!!!) describes and explains the innovative methods in detail, clearly and concisely.
The book Techniques for Effective Learning from A to Z, in my opinion, is the education system of the future. If anyone is looking five steps ahead then this is the book for them. All the methods work, and many I have already tested myself during lessons with my son. Some of the techniques in the book were like a new discovery for me, and we are sure to try them out.
I will definitely buy the paper version of the book as soon as it is out. I highly recommend it for any parents of school-age children.
Ira Greeva
I want to tell you about the book Techniques of Effective Learning from A to Z. Encyclopedia for parents of schoolchildren by Renata Kirilina and Sergey Kirilin. It is a dream come true! Finally there is a book which contains all known techniques for effective learning. I was very interested to read Renata Kirilina’s articles on VK and was worried that a lot of time would need to be spent finding the right article at the right time. Now everything is in one book with very concise headings, as always by these authors. My daughter is going into the first grade next year and this book is like a gift to me. I have become more confident and relaxed. I know how to help my daughter with her future in school.
The book is just great! It is difficult to even pick out some articles as they all contain very useful observations.
I regret not knowing a lot of it myself when I was a student and wasting a lot of time.
I can’t wait for the printed version. I recommend it not only for parents of school-age children but also to university students and school teachers!
Sveta Ryazanova
I have decided to review the book Techniques for Effective Learning from A to Z by Renata Kirilina. It is truly a wealth of information.
