How we learn

How do young people actually learn and what can parents do to support them? We asked one family about this.

Sunay, mother of Enis and Eray

When it comes to homework, I make sure that the children are as independent as possible. They do some of their homework in the homework centre at school and some at home. They both work in their own rooms. Their desks used to be in my office, but they never wanted to do their homework there.
When I realise that the children are really falling behind, I react. The children generally have problems in German. This doesn't just apply to multicultural children, but across the board. But I see a big difference between Enis and Eray. They had different systems for learning to read and write. That made a huge difference. You can see that it really depends on the approach taken at school.
English is difficult for both of them. But the homework there is also so incomprehensible that even I struggle sometimes - and I know English. The children can't do this homework without their parents. But I still don't help them. The teachers have to realise that the children can't do the homework on their own. I also spoke to the teacher about it once. She said that she understood, but that it was part of the curriculum. It's just a shame. The children then say they don't like English, even though it's such a beautiful language.
School is important to me. I want the children to know why they are learning, that it is important for their future. At the same time, I want them to be allowed to be children and have enough time to play and, above all, to be able to look back on a wonderful and happy time at school with great memories! I always say to myself: «Hey, we're here in Switzerland! You have so many opportunities to make something of yourself.» Even later, via a diversion. I think it's early for children to have to decide on a career at 16 anyway. After that, you work for 44 years - you can take your time to decide.

Eray, 9 years old, 4th grade

"The best thing about the school is my colleagues," says Eray.
"The best thing about the school is my colleagues," says Eray.

Do I like going to school? It goes like this. The best thing about school is the colleagues - lessons boohoo - colleagues jeeeeah. Except for maths, I like that. Sometimes I'd like to go to school during the holidays because I miss my colleagues. Then I get to play games in the morning, but I quickly get bored.
I like English the least. Most people hate English. I can speak Turkish. But when do we have Turkish at school? In secondary school?! No, never!
I do my homework on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in homework supervision. We have a homework plan for the week. There are 5 to 7 things on it that you have to do. And you have to organise them for the week. I always take my mobile phone and time it. We have to do 30 minutes every day and end up with 150 minutes or more the following Wednesday. But I do all the ones for Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Sunday.
If you've had less than 150 minutes for everything, there are additional tasks at the bottom of the plan that you can do. But if you've done everything and have less than 150 minutes, you have to go to the teacher.
I want to be an architect one day. (At this point, his older brother interjects and whispers: «Yeah, he used to build really cool things and make sketches. He can do that!»)

Enis, 11 years old, 5th grade

Enis, 11, likes going to school. His favourite subject is "People and the environment".
Enis, 11, likes going to school. His favourite subject is "People and the environment".

I like going to school. Next year we have French, so I'm looking forward to that. I can already speak three and a half languages: Turkish, Swiss German, German and English - I can only half speak English. I don't really like doing homework in English either. But the other subjects are cool! «People and the environment», for example, because I really understand the tasks and can do them correctly.
I do my homework either at home or at the homework help centre at school. At school, I do German first because that's where I need the most help. Once I've done that, I move on to maths. If German takes me too long, I can do maths at home. But I can't concentrate so well at home. I see the other children there. And when my brother has done the maths, I can't concentrate at all. Then I think: «Oh, man, now I have to finish too.» Then I do them quickly, but incorrectly. It's better in homework supervision. I can say: «Oh, cool, I'm the first one to finish an assignment!»
If I manage maths in homework help, I can leave the heavy book at school. That's because it takes place in my classroom. If I'm really quick, I can even leave the whole desk there and don't have to do anything at home that day. That's cool, then I'm really free and can play outside with my colleagues. You can also help each other with homework. If my friend doesn't understand something, I explain it to him. At school, we have a magnetic board with all the homework on it. I write them down in my homework book and sometimes I check whether I've copied everything down correctly. Mum sometimes reminds me to do my homework over the weekend. Then I do a bit on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - I spread it out over the days. I think that's good, then it's not so much all at once.
In the subject «People and the environment», we talk about old times or who invented what. You learn how things were developed. For example: How can you make a small tree grow quickly, one centimetre per day? That was the topic of seeds and trees. Now we're talking about cats.
What I don't like about school is that there are so many of us - there are 27 of us now and 28 after the holidays. Sometimes it's so loud that I can't pay attention. When I grow up, I want to be a computer specialist - or something else, I'm not sure yet.

Read more:

  • The art of learning
  • 8 crisp homework tips for parents
  • Mr Born, is practising old-fashioned?