Skills For Success Apa

Skills for Success

Running head: SKILLS FOR SUCCESS IN YOUNG

Skills for Success in Young Children Jonathan Hopkins York Collage of Pennsylvania

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As of right now, elementary schools primarily focus on math, science and language arts. Though these subjects are important, they should not be the schools sole objective. The curriculum should be altered mildly in order to create time to teach children important skills. The current curriculum only teaches a child how to memorize therefore no worthwhile abilities are obtained during the elementary years. A new curriculum however should be generated such that, the students have class sessions in which they learn how to be confident and successful young people. Primary school education (K-6) is the foundation of a child’s entire school career. Thus, being a teacher in this department of education brings a heavy responsibility. Finding the key to approaching students in these grades will hopefully expand and excel their ability to become prosperous and competent students and citizens. To do this, one must explore what it is exactly a teacher is trying to teach a student. Primary school is of the utmost importance when enhancing a child’s self-esteem, social skills and motor skills. These three skills are the building blocks for a well rounded student, and a prosperous citizen. All research aside, it is obvious that if a student does not believe they can succeed then they will not. Therefore self-esteem should be the foremost important objective for an educator when developing a young mind. With that said, research has been done on children’s self-esteem and has given us much insight on how much can be achieved when a student believes in themselves. Research done has suggested that students who express high levels of positive selfesteem (Belief in their ability to succeed) will, on average, have higher test scores then their peers that do not show signs of high self-esteem (Szente, 2007). Giving children self-esteem is no easy task. Self-esteem must be built by giving a child the means to succeed and guiding them

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to the answers. Overtime the students will be able to see that they can accomplish the tasks assigned to them without the assistance of a mentor. When a student sees his/her own potential they will no longer question their ability to succeed in any aspect of life. Another important part of developing self-esteem in children is explaining goal setting. Goal setting directly relates to self-esteem according to Judit Szente (2007), because goal setting will increase self-motivation. Goal setting is also important for a child to understand because if a child does not understand how to make a goal or checkpoint when trying to accomplish a task it could be counterproductive to their self-esteem. For example a kindergartener cannot simply become an all-star basketball player just because he thinks he can. He needs to be able to understand that it will take much time and practice before he can accomplish his dream. Showing a child how to set up goals is quite simple. The teacher should set up a long-term problem that the student feels is impossible to accomplish (only because the problem has so many steps and will take so long to solve). For example set a problem up for the student such that he/she will have to collect information at home from their family to create a family tree in class. Then the teacher needs to setup smaller, more accomplishable goals for the student, which will lead up to the final goal. Smaller goals such like, having the student call their aunt, then their uncle and so forth till they have contacted and received data from their entire immediate family. The student will slowly see that the smaller goals are easier to complete, and when the final goal is accomplished the child will see that they can solve any problem when they break it down into checkpoints/goals. The next objective for a teacher is developing a student’s social skill. It is very important for children to learn how to be socially interactive at a young age. We adults take for granted our social abilities to properly greet someone, or to start a long lasting partnership with another

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person, but it is crucial for us to part our knowledge of social interaction unto our youth. This objective follows the self-esteem objective because in order for a child to be socially capable, they must have a positive self-identity (Scharf & Mayseless, 2009). School systems do have some social teachings in place (sharing toys, golden rule, etc. . .). These practices are good but lack many key parts of social interactions. Without social skills a person will recede from society and be of no use to others or themselves. To be social, a student must be able to express their feelings in a positive manner, and be able to understand the feelings of their peers. When in conflict with one another, socially incapable people will be blinded by their emotions, making resolution impossible. Young children must be taught to regulate their emotions and understand them. To teach this, a student must be placed in a monitored role playing situation where interpersonal skills are required to come to a peaceful solution. While they are acting out the situation the teacher must explain to each student what the other student is feeling and how to properly react to their feelings. After the students play out the two sides of the argument, they should switch sides and re-enact the situation. This will allow them to completely understand what the other person was thinking when they were in the situation. Understanding is the key in this exercise. When a child can approach a problematic situation and understand both sides, they can resolve the situation and come to an appropriate compromise. These interpersonal skills will prepare them for the future when they are in real conflict with another person. Another reason why it is important for a child to understand social skills at a young age is because when they get older and join the work force they will need to know how to properly illustrate themselves. If the ability to present one’s self is taught at a young enough age it will become a second nature rather than a forced output. To thoroughly teach this skill a teacher must

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subject the young student to unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations with adults (Guest speakers, other teachers, etc. . .). Subjecting a child to these situations will make them more comfortable in the future when they are confronted by a stranger or a superior. The final goal in teaching our youth to succeed is teaching them motor skills. Motor skills are an absolutely crucial part of a student’s education. A student must be capable of manipulating their surroundings with their hands. Fine tuning this ability at a young age will lead to higher test scores in math and science farther down the road of education. Accomplishing this goal is the easiest of the three skills to teach. It involves only giving the students the proper materials and an objective for them to accomplish. An example would be giving a child Lincoln Logs or Legos and having them create some sort of representation of another object. Whether the representation is an intangible object in a picture or a tangible figment of the student’s imagination is irrelevant. The point is to have them practice the manipulation of small parts with their hands. While the students manipulate the different resources they have, they learn to understand how things are interconnected. The ability to manipulate small parts with one’s hands is important because it creates focus, and an attention to detail. When students are placing the small pieces they increase their ability to focus on the details and understand how things fit together, which in turn increases their ability to focus on all other interactions around them (These interactions being both in school and out of school). Explained by Stewart, Rule, and Giordano (2007) in their article “Effects of fine motor skill activities on kindergarten student attention,” young children are completely infatuated with desirable tasks: When watching young children at play, one cannot help but notice that their movement engages their total energy, and their full attention is focused on the movements that they need to perform the task. If the task is pleasurable, the child will often choose to repeat it

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over and over again, becoming absorbed in the movements and sustaining attention for long periods (p. 104). When you present children with desirable tasks they will completely wrap themselves around the task, which in turn, increases their ability to focus. With this skill properly exploited children are given the ability to expand and understand every experience they have, as well as understand the cause and effect behind all these experiences they have. To reiterate the purpose of these three skills, I ask you to evaluate yourself. When you approach a difficult situation in your life do you say, “I’ll never figure this out”, or do you say, “I’ll get to the bottom of this?” When you come into conflict with another person (wife/husband, brother/sister) do you just argue or do you negotiate? When you are trying to fix something complicated like a car or computer, do you wish you could focus on the different components of the machine and understand how they work? It is clear then that these skills are not only a means of academic achievement, but are a means of survival in the society we have created for our children to live in. Now, there is a very valid argument against the implementing of these training exercises in the elementary school system. This argument is centered on the issue of time. Norina Bentzel, principal of North Hopewell Winterstown Elementary School says that, “The problem with all of this is the time factor. There is only so much time in a school day to do all of these things appropriately for each individual child.” Norina Bentzel suggests that, “It is critical that children, prior to elementary school age, develop a good self concept before ever coming to school. This should be developed through good parenting skills.” Taking this into account, schools should be setting up once a week classes that teach students the three skills listed above. The curriculum

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would then only need to be changed in a very small amount to fit the class into the weekly schedule (N. Bentzel, personal communication, April 24, 2009). It is undisputable that these skills are important for the development of children. I would consider leaving it solely up to the parents is not responsible of the school system. Schools should have programs created to teach parents how to properly empower children with these three skills, as well as have once a week classes for children centered in on the teaching and development of these skills. These classes would parallel with art, gym, and music classes, already being taught in elementary schools. Making the responsibility of teaching these skills to children a collaborative task shared between the school and the parents. Regardless of how they are implemented, they must be taught because, the importance of these skills are indisputable. Self-esteem allows a person to have the courage to approach a problem, social skills allow a person to show their resilience to others through an aura of confidence, and motor skills allow a person to focus on the bigger picture and pick out the important details and see how they interconnect to make the bigger picture. These three skills are a tripod, interdependent on each other. If one should fail the others will follow suit, but when all three legs are in unison they firmly embrace a successful person.

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References Han, H. S., & Kemple, K. M. (2006). Components of social competence and strategies of support what to teach and how. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34, 241-246. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database. Scharf, M., & Mayseless, O. (2009). Socioemotional characteristics of elementary school children identified as exhibiting social leadership qualities. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 170(1), 73-94. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database. Stewart, R. A., Rule, A. C., and Giordano, D. A. (2007). The effect of fine motor skill activities on kindergarten student attention. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, 103109. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database. Szente, J. (2007). Empowering young children for success in school and in life. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34, 449-453. Retrieved March 30, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.