A beacon of hope for education in Nigeria has emerged, as the Ivy League Learning Centre opens in Abuja. Ivy League Learning Centre is an after-school Mathematics and English programmes for primary school children. It is unique and distinct from any other in the country because it has been designed by psychologists and child educators to give your child the sort of academic support and attention that is tailored to fit their individual learning style as well as their current academic ability. The centre director, Ngozi Okafor, tells us more…
Connect Nigeria: Why the name “Ivy League”?
Centre Director: The term ‘Ivy League’ is an American expression that refers to schools that are classified as some of the most selective and elite in the US and indeed the world. These schools are characterized by top ranking academic programmes and faculty. In choosing the name, it was important to us to give children a vision of their future from the beginning. Our programme is intensive and requires commitment from both parents and children to achieve the ultimate goal of academic excellence.
Connect Nigeria: Why is it important to start so early? After all the children are still in primary school…
Centre Director: With everything in life, a solid foundation determines the overall standard, quality and success of the project. Research has shown that early childhood attainment boosts morale, confidence and success later in life. Your child will perform infinitely better in later academic and professional pursuits when they have built a foundation of:
· Independent learning
· Self management/motivation
· Confidence in foundational subjects (Mathematics & English)
· Completing timed assessments
These skills will prove to be invaluable when they approach secondary and tertiary education and will yield great rewards in their professional endeavours. When their peers struggle with focus and motivation, the skills they learn as Ivy Leaguers will help them continue to excel.
Connect Nigeria: Why Mathematics and English Only?
Centre Director: We are focused on those subjects because they are the core subjects used through life irrespective of career and entrepreneurial goals. However, at the centre, we also give room for children to work on subjects from school by providing ‘homework club members’ an opportunity to bring their homework from school. We provide them an environment to do their homework -we DO NOT do the home work for the child- and we help them learn various ways to approach their homework than may have been taught in class.
Connect Nigeria: What are the centre’s opening times?
Centre Director: We are open Monday – Friday from 3pm-6pm. Children are required to attend for a minimum of 3 days a week.
Mathematics and English sessions begin at 4pm but children registered with homework club can arrive between 3pm-4pm which is our designated homework hour. For children who turn up between 3pm-4pm but are not registered with homework club, they can arrive and have something to eat and a break before sessions begin at 4pm.
The centre is only closed during public holidays and for 2 weeks during Easter, Christmas & Summer but is open the remainder of year. Each closure date will be published in advance to give parents and guardians notice.
Connect Nigeria: Where are you located?
Centre Director: Ivy League Learning Centre is located at Plot 673 Cassava Crescent (opposite family worship centre)
, Off Idris Gidado Street
, Wuye
Abuja.
Cassava Crescent is the left turning after driving past Family Worship Centre, Wuye on your right. Our gate is the 2nd blue gate on the right towards the end of Cassava Crescent.
Connect Nigeria: What makes your programme different from ‘Lessons’?
Centre Director: First, we recognised that children need to learn based on ability & previous attainment levels and not based on age alone. In most cases, lesson teachers focus on the material for the week, based on the age or class a child is enrolled in at school and move from week to week regardless of the child’s performance.
Secondly, our worksheets have been prepared by educators and psychologists with decades of experience in instructional design. This ensures that the right mix of questions is applied, the challenge levels are raised incrementally and all foundational material is covered before moving on to other topics. Lesson teachers mostly do not have the time, training and know-how to achieve this sort of personalized, bespoke worksheet design.
Thirdly, our programme focuses on helping each child through consistent practice of the material till they master it. Lesson teachers usually don’t do this.
A fourth difference is that lesson teachers use teaching methods similar to the ones used in the schools they work in. These methods work predominantly for auditory learners but do nothing for the experiential and visual learner. The lesson teachers do their best with what they have, but ultimately they are not psychologists and are not trained in instructional design, and their methods are not backed by research but are handed down from generation to generation. For a percentage of students, this works, but for others it becomes a frustrating experience characterized by more failure as they fail to grasp/retain what they have learnt and are once again ‘punished’ or mislabelled.
A fifth distinguishing factor is our consistent literacy and numeracy practice which vastly improves performance, confidence and your child’s learning experience. Although ‘lessons’ are one-to-one, without actually assessing and knowing your child there is a limit to how individualized their instructional methods can truly be. Consequently, your child may be sitting with a tutor in a one-to-one session, but if the lesson teacher is not able to support your child according to their need, then it is a waste of time for everyone involved.
Finally, our ever growing library of learning materials includes lots of teaching aids that children can access to improve their understanding of new concepts. Lesson teachers do not bring extra aids to help your child interact and engage with the material. This means that if we find that your child is an experiential learner, to learn fractions they may be working with cutting fruits in halves and quarters, and learning division by sharing sweets amongst their friends, or for English, dramatizing a story or poem to learn comprehension and speech. In either case, they will initially be presented the material in the way that supports their learning style before they are given worksheets for practice.
Well, you’ve heard it here first folks! If you are in the Abuja area and want to give your child the best Mathematics & English foundation, call Ivy League Learning Centre on 08159928322 OR 08095037935 or log on to their website,
www.ivyleaguelearningcentre.com
If one of your goals for your child is for them to perform at their optimal level and maintain a love for learning, you will do well to register today!
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This article was first published on 10th October 2012 and updated on October 24th, 2012 at 11:46 am
Comments (1)
A beacon of hope for education in Nigeria has emerged, as the Ivy League Learning Centre opens in Abuja. Ivy League Learning Centre is an after-school Mathematics and English programmes for primary school children. It is unique and distinct from any other in the country because it has been designed by psychologists and child educators to give your child the sort of academic support and attention that is tailored to fit their individual learning style as well as their current academic ability. The centre director, Ngozi Okafor, tells us more…
Connect Nigeria: Why the name “Ivy League”?
Centre Director: The term ‘Ivy League’ is an American expression that refers to schools that are classified as some of the most selective and elite in the US and indeed the world. These schools are characterized by top ranking academic programmes and faculty. In choosing the name, it was important to us to give children a vision of their future from the beginning. Our programme is intensive and requires commitment from both parents and children to achieve the ultimate goal of academic excellence.
Connect Nigeria: Why is it important to start so early? After all the children are still in primary school…
Centre Director: With everything in life, a solid foundation determines the overall standard, quality and success of the project. Research has shown that early childhood attainment boosts morale, confidence and success later in life. Your child will perform infinitely better in later academic and professional pursuits when they have built a foundation of:
· Independent learning
· Self management/motivation
· Confidence in foundational subjects (Mathematics & English)
· Completing timed assessments
These skills will prove to be invaluable when they approach secondary and tertiary education and will yield great rewards in their professional endeavours. When their peers struggle with focus and motivation, the skills they learn as Ivy Leaguers will help them continue to excel.
Connect Nigeria: Why Mathematics and English Only?
Centre Director: We are focused on those subjects because they are the core subjects used through life irrespective of career and entrepreneurial goals. However, at the centre, we also give room for children to work on subjects from school by providing ‘homework club members’ an opportunity to bring their homework from school. We provide them an environment to do their homework -we DO NOT do the home work for the child- and we help them learn various ways to approach their homework than may have been taught in class.
Connect Nigeria: What are the centre’s opening times?
Centre Director: We are open Monday – Friday from 3pm-6pm. Children are required to attend for a minimum of 3 days a week.
Mathematics and English sessions begin at 4pm but children registered with homework club can arrive between 3pm-4pm which is our designated homework hour. For children who turn up between 3pm-4pm but are not registered with homework club, they can arrive and have something to eat and a break before sessions begin at 4pm.
The centre is only closed during public holidays and for 2 weeks during Easter, Christmas & Summer but is open the remainder of year. Each closure date will be published in advance to give parents and guardians notice.
Connect Nigeria: Where are you located?
Centre Director: Ivy League Learning Centre is located at Plot 673 Cassava Crescent (opposite family worship centre), Off Idris Gidado Street, Wuye Abuja.
Cassava Crescent is the left turning after driving past Family Worship Centre, Wuye on your right. Our gate is the 2nd blue gate on the right towards the end of Cassava Crescent.
Connect Nigeria: What makes your programme different from ‘Lessons’?
Centre Director: First, we recognised that children need to learn based on ability & previous attainment levels and not based on age alone. In most cases, lesson teachers focus on the material for the week, based on the age or class a child is enrolled in at school and move from week to week regardless of the child’s performance.
Secondly, our worksheets have been prepared by educators and psychologists with decades of experience in instructional design. This ensures that the right mix of questions is applied, the challenge levels are raised incrementally and all foundational material is covered before moving on to other topics. Lesson teachers mostly do not have the time, training and know-how to achieve this sort of personalized, bespoke worksheet design.
Thirdly, our programme focuses on helping each child through consistent practice of the material till they master it. Lesson teachers usually don’t do this.
A fourth difference is that lesson teachers use teaching methods similar to the ones used in the schools they work in. These methods work predominantly for auditory learners but do nothing for the experiential and visual learner. The lesson teachers do their best with what they have, but ultimately they are not psychologists and are not trained in instructional design, and their methods are not backed by research but are handed down from generation to generation. For a percentage of students, this works, but for others it becomes a frustrating experience characterized by more failure as they fail to grasp/retain what they have learnt and are once again ‘punished’ or mislabelled.
A fifth distinguishing factor is our consistent literacy and numeracy practice which vastly improves performance, confidence and your child’s learning experience. Although ‘lessons’ are one-to-one, without actually assessing and knowing your child there is a limit to how individualized their instructional methods can truly be. Consequently, your child may be sitting with a tutor in a one-to-one session, but if the lesson teacher is not able to support your child according to their need, then it is a waste of time for everyone involved.
Finally, our ever growing library of learning materials includes lots of teaching aids that children can access to improve their understanding of new concepts. Lesson teachers do not bring extra aids to help your child interact and engage with the material. This means that if we find that your child is an experiential learner, to learn fractions they may be working with cutting fruits in halves and quarters, and learning division by sharing sweets amongst their friends, or for English, dramatizing a story or poem to learn comprehension and speech. In either case, they will initially be presented the material in the way that supports their learning style before they are given worksheets for practice.
Well, you’ve heard it here first folks! If you are in the Abuja area and want to give your child the best Mathematics & English foundation, call Ivy League Learning Centre on 08159928322 OR 08095037935 or log on to their website, www.ivyleaguelearningcentre.com
If one of your goals for your child is for them to perform at their optimal level and maintain a love for learning, you will do well to register today!
With this children will not be mentally lazy like some i know…but the question is how affordable will it be.