As parents, our aim is not just for our children to succeed with good academic scores, but to develop adult skills and competences so that they are equipped to succeed in adult life, however we may define ‘success’.
A home educating dad once stated “Ek maak nie kinders groot nie, ek maak grootmense groot.”
The English translation, “I’m not raising children, I am raising adults,” is not quite as punchy, but the message is still significant.
Our children need to reach adulthood with a healthy sense of their own identity. They need to have discovered their unique strengths and have developed their weak areas to an acceptable level. They need to be emotionally healthy young people, who have self-confidence and who believe that they can succeed at whatever they apply themselves to do.
Young people don’t only need academic certificates and workplace training. They need CHARACTER!
They need to have developed character traits and abilities such as independence, creativity, problem-solving skills, research skills, personal organisation, communication and critical thinking skills so that they can ‘think for themselves’!
Most of all, they need to have become self-motivated learners, who have taken ownership of their lives and are invested in ongoing learning and development.
How does online learning equip learners with adult skills?
1. Self-discipline and organisation
Online learning requires students to develop self-discipline and accountability. Instead of waiting for a teacher or parent to tell them what to do, a student develops leadership, initiative and self-management by owning his own education.
My daughter is doing the GED® and all I can say is, “Wow!” Her whole attitude towards learning has changed. I’m so thankful.
ANDREA KOUTAS
2. Resilience and perseverance
For many students, online learning is a new experience and it requires them to develop confidence to use the technology, to find help online when necessary and to persevere in the face of any challenges. They learn to trouble-shoot and problem-solve for themselves.
3. Independence and personal motivation
Online learners develop the ability to work on their own and to set their own internally motivated goals, instead of relying on external direction. They can set their own goals and deadlines for accomplishing them. The GED Testing Service® allows students to set their own exam dates, as exams are available year-round.
4. Critical thinking skills
The online GED prep programme specifically is designed to help students assess and evaluate information that they encounter online. In an era where we are bombarded with information daily, we need to quickly assess what to read and to read between the lines and accurately evaluate what we read. We need to be media-savvy and able to recognise and access reliable information and integrate what we learn into the ‘bigger picture’.
I have overcome my fear of Math thanks to the GED® programme. It makes you go to another level although GED® math wasn’t easy. I passed it in my first attempt and that was a huge achievement for me.
SAI PILLAY
Feedback from our Online GED Prep students shows that many of them love taking charge of their own learning, setting their own pace, discovering that when they learn in freedom they are able to accomplish much more than they ever did in other situations such as a school classroom.
They discover that with perseverance they can succeed and this builds their self-confidence.
As they take more and more responsibility for organising their time and achieving their goals, their success breeds success.
They develop a view of themselves that says:
“I can learn, I can take charge of my life, I can succeed!”
– and that is what all young people need to discover, to become self-supporting, successful adults.
Read our GED Success Stories and our Customer Reviews to see what others say about this 21st century online learning experience.