The Importance of Hands-On Learning in Child Education

Hands-on learning, more formally known as Experiential learning, is a teaching philosophy that believes in learning by doing. This teaching strategy allows children to practice guided tactile learning in which they absorb knowledge not only y listening but by exploring and experiencing. Experiential learning is praised as a top teaching method by most educational institutions including preschools as this method helps children of all ages retain knowledge and develop.

What is Hands-on learning?

Learning hands-on does not necessarily mean holding onto an object, it means that the child is physically involved in what they are learning. It can be as simple as tasting different apples or painting using all the colors of the rainbow. Many Daycare teachers follow this teaching method as this allows children to explore the world around them using their five senses. Instead of simply listening to a teacher or instructor lecturing about a given concept, this teaching-learning methodology provides students with the opportunity to engage with the subject matter, solve problems or create something.

The benefits of hands-on learning:

Though many public schools find it difficult to incorporate hands-on projects and principles into student work due to their tight budget and less freedom in developing curricula, the overall benefits of this teaching philosophy can never be ignored.

• Learning by doing allows children to become personally invested in their learning process. Hearing a lecture or even watching a teacher perform a physical demonstration of a concept, can not instill a passion for knowledge in a student as deeply as hands-on experience can.
• Hands-on learning involves students in the whole education process using their senses, including sight, hearing, and touch. As it is multisensory learning, it promotes learning comprehension on multiple levels.
• All the preschools in Daycare La Palma CA, prefer hands-on learning encourage experimentation. It allows children to test concepts with tactile equipment and learn as much from their failures as their successes.
• One very important benefit of hands-on learning is that it helps to stimulate growth on both sides of the brain. Whenever kids are engaged in any learning activity where they are physically involved in the whole thing, multiple areas of the brain will be stimulated and developed.
• It is often believed that creativity is a muscle and it regularly needs to be exercised otherwise it becomes quite harder to be creative. Hands-on learning allows children to exercise and enhance their creative skills.

How to promote Hands-on learning in the time of COVID -19?

Before COVID, the Daycare centers have emphasized hands-on learning and most of that learning was likely to take place in the classrooms. But unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 situation, kids are not able to present physically in their classrooms. So, this is the time when you can take certain steps to incorporate hands-on learning in your child’s education. Talk to your child’s teachers and understand what steps you can take to help them facilitate better teaching-learning processes in their virtual classes. It can be a challenge for many parents but with adequate help and guidance, you will definitely be able to bring hands-on learning into their online classes.