[D K] Writing Practice Test 471620

The diagram shows "before" and "after" layouts of ground floor of a house.

In the exisitng floor plan, there are two enterances from front and back. One opens into the kitchen and other into the hall with staircase. The hall leads into the kitchen and adjoining living room via two separate doorways. There is also a storage area under the stairs.

The proposed plan knocks down the wall separating the hall and living room, making the living room more spacious, whilst including the staircase in the living room area. The storage area under the old staircase is subsumed. Two separate internal doors in the old plan are blocked and there is one wider entry and exit doorway connecting the kitchen and livingroom. There is a kitchen furniture introduced as well.

The new layout makes good use of available space and provides better opportunities to play around with the decor.

Couple of years back in India, a boy who was home schooled by his mother, made headlines for outstanding performance in tenth grade exams. That triggered a debate about pedagogy and which format is better for a child's development - home schooling or traditional brick-and-mortar schooling.

There are pros and cons of both. Whilst teaching children at home, the educator can plan the content and pace it to suit the learning style of the child. The syllabi, coverage of topics, dificulty level, time of the day suited for learning etc. can all be adapted to suit the child's needs. Especially for shy children and those with above average intelligence, this may work well! Becasue the pedagogy is designed to cater to the child's interests, one can expect much more engagement, which has a bearing on the competence he or she acquires.

Learning in a class room with twenty or more children with one teacher, on the other hand, tends to have a scope and pace that is organized keeping an average learner of that age group in mind. The ones that are slow learners might feel inimidated and the ones that are quick might lose interest. There is limited scope to tweak the pedagogy according to learning needs of each child. However, education is also about learning collaborative working, inclusivity, social and interpersonal skills, tolerance, conflict resolution and other life skills which may not be possible in home schooling.

Both formats have advantages and disadvantages. For a well rounded competence building, parents and educators need to work collaboratively to provide the best aspects of both formats. A child may attend regular book-and-mortar school, but at home if parents can ensure they build on what is taught in school by reinforcing the concepts as per learnign style of the child it will be an excellent combination. For example, if there is a history lesson on Mughal architecture, why not visit the Red Fort and Old Fort in New Delhi (if one is a resident there) to bring the content to life! Similarly, several science concepts can be explained via simple experiments at home.

It is a matter of invilvement and being creative. When both teachers and parents work collaboratively, best of both worlds - home schooling as well as traditional schooling - can greatly benefit the child.