Homeschooling at it's Best

Lets Talk about Our Active Learning Approach at The Beacon Tutor Centre. 

Every day we read something about the latest progress in technology and how it is going to impact our workplace. We know by now that when it comes to education some things just cannot be replaced by a machine, but how has it been changing the school system so far? In a recent study from The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Google for Education, “Fostering exploration and excellence in 21st century schools”, teachers were asked about the best strategies to improve the learning experience with new technologies: this is what they had to say.

By far the most visible benefit of Education Technology in schools, according to the teachers who practiced the art of interacting with students, was active learning. By active learning, we mean “learning by doing”. This model of learning is characterized by three phases:

• underpinning,      this is the base from which students will build their knowledge, a      set of skills they will need to approach new information –      analysis, evaluation and synthesis. It is a necessary first step for      students to become active learners.
• Ownership,      this stage is usually guided by the teacher with assignments and activities. Students      are encouraged to assimilate the information through self-reflecting and      in some cases relating it to their own personal experience.
• Engaging,      this is where the students start actively participating and      engaging with what they have been learning. During      this step it is crucial for the teacher to go above and beyond to guide      students, encouraging critical thinking as well as creativity.

Project-based learning is a style of active learning also called inquiry-based learning, where students are encouraged to experience the subject first-hand by researching, investigating and answering a series of questions meant to give them a well-rounded understanding of concepts.
This method helps students in the classroom as much as it helps them in building future academic and professional success, as the skills they learn can be applied to most areas of their lives.

By cognitive activation, we mean encouraging students to analyse and improve their learning methods, regardless of what it is they are learning. This can be done by introducing different learning methods into the classroom, from self-testing to top-down or bottom-up thinking, showing students how to make the best of these methods and teaching them to evaluate the most effective ones in each situation. This will help students focusing and maximizing the time at their disposal.

The methods we have talked about so far are particularly effective because they allow flexibility. The shift we are seeing in modern education will have an incredibly positive effect on the students who used to be penalized by more traditional teaching methods. Thanks to new technologies, education is also becoming more accessible for students with physical and learning disabilities. Clearly, technology alone is not enough, there is only so much a software can do to help students without the lead of a talented teacher.

Not all technology is equally useful in the classroom, and according to the teachers who took part in the survey the best tool a student could have is a laptop. Laptops can bring several benefits to a class, such as easy after-school communication, immediate feedback from the teacher, better management of a large number of students.
Among the most useful tools teachers also mentioned tablets, educational games, videos and interactive whiteboards.

We at The Beacon Tutor Centre take great pride in allowing our students some outside time during learning time. Our teachers think outside the box by allowing students to express themselves where there is space to practice movement, express emotions and most of all laugh and have fun without always being constricted to a classroom. 

Our motto __ where we have a teacher, we have a classroom.

Other examples of active learning techniques include role-playing, case studies, group projects, think-pair-share, peer teaching, debates, Just-in-Time Teaching, and short demonstrations followed by class discussion. There are two easy ways to promote active learning through the discussion.Other examples of active learning techniques include role-playing, case studies, group projects, think-pair-share, peer teaching, debates, Just-in-Time Teaching, and short demonstrations followed by class discussion. There are two easy ways to promote active learning through the discussion.

Q: Will my child benefit from Active Learning?

Answer • Yes absolutely. This Learning and teaching style is such a clever way of building confidence.

Q: How does active learning build confidence?

A • Without the restriction of having to stay seated, the action of movement helps break the feeling of being Center of attention. 

Q: How can being Center of attention effect my child feeling anxious?

A • Being seated can at times make you feel confined and give you the feeling of 'all eyes on me'. By allowing students to interact with each other and our teachers / tutors the breaking state moment happens. This giving each student the feeling of a more that 1 support structure where ideas and fun facts are shared.

Q: How will my child cope in the real world with having Active Learning background?

A• This is the Exiting part ..... Having build the confidence and communication skills through their school career we enable your students to go into the big world and into job opportunities and work environments, knowing what communication is, knowing the benefits of different views and prospective and knowing how to handle constructive criticism  .

In 2026 we will be adding more ways to empower our students at The Beacon Tutor Centre. 

We are adding Playball for our juniors phase, Cooking classes

Balls skills and fine motor skills development.

Swimming Lessons and so much more_