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.
The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.
Jean Piaget
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 LearnBuddy 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.