The outside world beyond the cloistered spaces of school can often seem complicated to children, something best left for “when I am older”.
Reading or watching the news can also appear to be a dry and boring affair for children who have much more entertaining alternatives to spend their time on. But there are significant benefits to developing an interest in current affairs early, and anywhere between upper primary to junior college is a good time to get started.
Excelling in Academics
To begin with, your child will be expected to have matured enough intellectually and emotionally to begin to grasp the big picture, and their classes will increasingly reflect these expectations through readings and assessments that are linked to major political, economic or social issues.
An essay question may require your child to discuss at length the pros and cons of digitalisation, or propose solutions for cyber-bullying, for example.
Meanwhile, an English comprehension passage may be about the increasing popularity of e-commerce, and an oral topic may lead to the examiner asking your child for their viewpoints on a particular global issue, such as pollution, and substantiating their opinions.
Your child will have to be aware of what is happening in the world around them to meet these new demands in the classroom.
Developing Critical Thinking Skills
Learning about current affairs also helps your child develop their critical thinking and resilience. Today’s world is more interconnected than ever before, and will likely be even more so in the future.
This means that, as your child grows older, they will find that understanding the world’s ‘whats’, ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ becomes increasingly important in whatever they do. Why did this happen? What does this mean for my future? How can I best react or prepare for that future?
These are the questions that a good grasp of current affairs will help them answer, and the ability to examine global issues critically and put them in context will only become more valuable over time.
Future-Proofing Your Child
In a few years’ time, your child will have to make important choices about his or her tertiary education which will shape their professional careers in the decades to come, and understanding what is happening in the larger world around them will inform their decisions.
For example, the ongoing tensions between the United States and China have major repercussions on a small country like Singapore and the livelihood of its citizens.
Being able to understand these repercussions helps people identify opportunities and better plan for the future.
With that said, your child does not have to jump into the deep end to begin with. Children are naturally curious, but getting them to scan the newspaper daily or sit through a half-hour news bulletin might not be the best way of getting them interested. Instead, you might want to think about the ways big issues have an impact on you and your child on a daily basis. Instead of faraway events, consider directing your child’s attention to something closer to home.
For instance, when your child complains about a particularly hot day, tell them that, because of global warming from the burning of fossil fuels, temperatures in Singapore are nearly one degree Celsius higher on average than in the 1950s. 2019 was also Singapore’s hottest year on record.
Or, if you want to impress upon them the speed at which the world is changing today, tell them stories of what school was like for you as a child, compared to what it is like for them now. The Ministry of Education announced in March that all Secondary 1 students will have a laptop or tablet provided by the school by 2024 for learning purposes. Compare this to 20–25 years ago, when the OHP (overhead projector) seemed like a quantum leap from chalk and blackboards.
From this starting point, it may be easier to convince your child to explore more deeply into the subjects that really interest them. Your child’s teachers will assign them readings or multimedia resources for class. If you are able to, guide your child along by recommending related material on YouTube, or an article you came across that you found helpful.
Raising a Well Rounded and Intellectual Child
There is a lot of good (and not so good) content available online, and by getting actively involved in curating which content your child consumes, you can give them a head start in acquiring critical skill sets.
At the same time, you will also be able to guide their introduction to sensitive or controversial issues, and prevent them from stumbling upon inappropriate content.
As parents, you have an important role to play in finding the balance between complete ignorance and too much too soon for your child when it comes to finding out more about the world.
Developing an interest in current affairs is best done early so it becomes a habit and a mindset. Over time, as children become more familiar with important issues such as climate change, they will find that crafting convincing answers and arguments for their assignments gets easier and easier.
The same applies outside of the classroom, when taking on leadership roles or speaking convincingly before an audience.
Putting the World into Your Child’s Hands
The ability to adopt a global perspective when making personal or local decisions about the future is only getting more important in today’s world.
This starts from building a strong foundation of knowledge and understanding of current affairs.
At The Learning Lab, we expose our students to lesson materials that are curated from a wide variety of texts from world-class publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters and the Atlantic. We also show students video clips or documentaries concerning natural disasters or global warming, for example.
These materials are developed and regularly refreshed by a dedicated team of subject specialists. Through in-class presentations and media studies, we help our students learn to read and think critically, and to express their opinions confidently and persuasively.
Click here to find out more about how we bring the world into our classrooms for your child.
The Learning Lab is now at 9 locations. Find a location that suits your needs.
If you have any questions about our range of programmes or class schedules, you may contact us at 6733 8711 or drop us an email at enquiry@thelearninglab.com.sg.
The Learning Lab is now at 9 locations. Find a location that suits your needs.
If you have any questions about our programmes, please email us at enquiry@thelearninglab.com.sg or call us at 6733 8711 and we will be happy to assist you.