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The Impact of Extracurricular Activities on Children’s Growth

Extracurricular activities play a vital role in shaping children’s development. These activities encompass various pursuits that extend beyond the classroom, offering opportunities for growth in multiple areas of life.

While there is a distinction between co-curricular and extracurricular activities, for simplicity, we will refer to both as extracurricular activities in this article. Co-curricular activities are closely tied to academic subjects, such as a robotics club that applies STEM concepts. On the other hand, extracurricular activities, like a badminton club, focus on recreation and personal development, independent of academics.

Some students may find extracurricular activities tiring and time-consuming. While this is true, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. In fact, these activities offer numerous advantages that contribute to a child’s overall growth. Below are five key benefits of participating in extracurricular activities:

1. Skill Development

First and foremost, students gain practical skills that are directly related to the activity. For instance, a robotics club teaches coding, problem-solving, and teamwork. Similarly, a music club helps students learn to play instruments and develop discipline through regular practice. These acquired skills often translate to real-world applications, boosting both confidence and competence.

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2. Exploration of Interests

Furthermore, extracurricular activities allow children to explore and discover new hobbies or passions. A child who joins an art club, for example, may uncover a love for painting, while one who participates in a drama club might develop an interest in acting. These interests can evolve into lifelong hobbies, or even future career paths, providing both personal fulfilment and potential opportunities.

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3. Social and Emotional Growth

Additionally, by interacting with peers in group settings, students learn essential social skills such as teamwork, empathy, and communication. For instance, participating in a sports team not only teaches collaboration but also fosters lasting friendships. These social connections are invaluable, helping children develop emotional intelligence and resilience that will serve them throughout their lives.

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4. Time Management

Moreover, balancing schoolwork and extracurricular activities teaches students how to prioritize tasks and manage their time effectively. A student juggling homework and preparing for a debate competition, for example, learns to allocate time wisely. This ability to manage multiple responsibilities is a critical skill that will benefit them in both their academic and professional futures.

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5. Leadership Opportunities

Finally, many extracurricular activities offer valuable leadership roles. A student who serves as the president of a club or the captain of a sports team learns how to guide others, make decisions, and take responsibility. These experiences help to build leadership qualities and foster confidence, preparing students for roles of leadership in adulthood.

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In conclusion, extracurricular activities are absolutely worth the time and effort. They extend beyond academic learning, shaping well-rounded, confident, and capable individuals who are ready to face life’s challenges. So, next time your child expresses reluctance about their extracurricular commitments, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the long-term benefits these activities provide, allowing you to respond with more insight and encouragement.

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Setting Goals as a Family: A Fresh Start for 2025

In our last post, we explored the importance of self-reflection.  We also discussed the key areas children and teens should evaluate as the year ends.  This week, we’re extending that discussion to goal setting.  Goal setting is a meaningful activity for parents and kids alike.  It’s a perfect activity as we close out 2024 and prepare for the opportunities and challenges of 2025.

Setting goals for the new year is not just about creating a to-do list.  It’s a symbolic fresh start.  Writing these goals on paper provides clarity and direction, acting as a motivational push for both children and parents.  Some families choose to write down their goals and display them prominently at home.  Others opt for a creative approach, like making a vision board. 

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Creating Goals Together

When setting goals with your child, structure the process to make it comprehensive and enjoyable.  Divide goals into meaningful categories to ensure balance and variety in your family’s aspirations.  Here are some areas you might focus on:

Academic Goals:  What does your child want to achieve at school?  This could be improving in a subject, participating in a competition, or developing better study habits.

Financial Goals:  Introduce basic budgeting or saving for something meaningful, such as a gadget, a year-end trip, etc.

Health and Wellness Goals:  Discuss staying active, eating better, or maintaining a healthy routine.

Social Goals:  Encourage building friendships, improving communication skills, or being more supportive to peers.

Unique Experiences:  Plan adventures or activities your family hasn’t done before, like trying a new hobby,

Skill Development:  Encourage learning a new skill, such as playing an instrument, coding, baking, or driving.

Care for Self and Others:  Incorporate values like kindness, gratitude, or mindfulness into daily life.

As you guide your child in setting their goals, remember to set your own goals too.  Let this be a shared activity that fosters connection, collaboration, and mutual growth.

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The Importance of Togetherness

Goal setting can be more than just a task—it can become a cherished family tradition.  Use this time to bond with your child, share dreams, and learn more about each other’s aspirations.  The goals you set now will serve as a guide for the coming year.  Moreover, they will provide a foundation for reflection at the end of 2025.

As you embark on this journey together, may the process bring your family closer, inspire growth, and set the tone for a fulfilling year ahead.  Let’s welcome 2025 with clarity, purpose, and shared determination.

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Guiding Children Toward Environmental Awareness

Many places around the world are heavily affected by environmental changes.  Rainy seasons cause severe flooding in some areas, while summer temperatures reach scorching levels in others.  These extreme weather patterns highlight the pressing need to address environmental issues.  This also puts to the forefront the role of education in preparing our children to respond responsibly.  No child is too young to start learning about caring for the planet.  Even small conversations and simple actions can make a lasting impression.  These can help kids develop an early awareness of the world around them.

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Here are some reasons why raising environmental awareness in our kids is important now more than ever.  We also briefly talk about  how you can do this in your simple ways as parents and guardians: 

Awareness.  First, even at a young age, children need to see the real challenges our planet is facing.  Issues like pollution, climate change, and deforestation may be difficult for them to fully grasp.  However, even a surface-awareness of such issues opens their eyes to problems they might not have thought about.  If a news pops up on your timeline, talk to your children about it.  That is a good start in planting in them a seed of responsibility for the world they live in. 

Small Actions.  When we teach kids about sustainability, they can start making small, impactful changes like recycling, conserving water, and reducing waste. These are habits that, with our guidance, can stay with them into adulthood.  For instance, explain to your child why you prefer bringing a water bottle instead of buying water in single-use bottles.  This makes them see that they can do something about an issue that seems too big for them to tackle.

Active Participants.  Knowledge empowers kids to take part in simple, efforts like recycling at home, community clean-ups, or tree-planting activities.  When you plan for family charity involvements, consider taking part in activities where your kids can directly participate.  When children are direct participants, they can feel like they are part of something bigger.  From a small act like choosing a reusable drinking water bottle, to a bigger act of joining a community clean-up, children can see the impact that they can make. 

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By guiding our children toward environmental awareness, we’re helping them understand the world they live.  We are also nurturing their potential to become responsible, caring stewards of the planet. Each small conversation, action, and shared experience strengthens their connection to the environment.  These build their understanding of their role in protecting it. As parents and guardians, we hold the unique opportunity to plant seeds of awareness, empathy, and action that will grow with them.

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Teaching Perseverance: A Key to Lifelong Success for Children

Perseverance is the ability to keep trying and not give up, even when things are difficult or take a long time to achieve.  It is one of Milchel’s 5 Key traits that we endeavour to teach Milchelians.  Perseverance can be trained in kids, and parents play a crucial role in doing this.  This trait is useful to kids as they study, and later on in their adult life as productive members of the society.

Firstly, parents should model perseverance.  Children learn a lot from what they see from their parents.  You can show perseverance by setting goals and working toward them consistently.  You can also share your experiences to your children and highlight those instances when you overcame a difficulty by being perseverant.   

Secondly, guide your child to set challenging but attainable goals.  This need not be only school-related.  This can be in the chores they do at home, or in their other sports or hobbies.  Help them to break their major tasks into smaller steps so that when they experience satisfaction, they will be more motivated to continue towards their goal. 

Finally, you can teach a child perseverance by providing them with opportunities to face challenges. As parents, it is our automatic response to shelter our kids and protect them from difficulties.  However, allowing them to face some difficulties could be helpful.  When they realise that they can overcome challenges by themselves, they learn to be persistent and their confidence grows.

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It’s important to realise, too, that perseverance is not only applicable to studies.  There are many other areas where a child can learn and practise perseverance.  When kids learn perseverance through these non-academic areas, it will naturally transfer to their academic attitude.

Sports, music, and arts are areas that require consistent practice and effort. Skills develop gradually too, instead of instantly.  The perseverance learned through activities in these areas can easily translate to perseverance in academics.

Household chores are also a good training for kids to learn perseverance.  Tasks involved in the household teach kids the importance of finishing a task, no matter how tedious it may be.  It helps them develop a work ethic that is very similar to what they can apply in their academic work. 

When parents consistently encourage perseverance in multiple aspects of their child’s life, they equip the young with the resilience they need to handle academic challenges. They’ll learn that the process of sticking with something, even when it’s hard, is what ultimately leads to success.

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The Power of Academic Goal Setting for Children

Imagine walking into a dark room, fumbling to find your way. Without light, it’s almost impossible to know where you’re going, let alone reach your destination. Goal setting serves as the light that helps our children navigate their academic journey. As parents, it’s our responsibility to help them define these goals, providing guidance and encouragement to ensure they’re heading in the right direction.

Before we delve into the details of this topic, let us first clear out a common misconception about goals and another related concept – aim.  Many of us use these terms interchangeably, but there is actually an important difference between the two.  An aim is just a general intention of what one wants to achieve.  For example: “I want to do well in school.”  On the other hand, a goal is more specific and concrete.  For example, “I want to score 80% in my Science exam.”  In short, an aim is your why, while a goal is your how.  “I want to do well in school so I have to score 80% in my Science exam.”  In other words, both aims and goals are important. 

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Many students have general academic aims, but few have specific goals.  As parents, we must teach students to have specific goals so that they are more guided in their academic journey. 

So why is goal setting important for students?  Goal setting provides a clear direction and motivation.  It is like holding a map or a navigation app that tells you exactly what you need to do to get to your destination.  Goal setting also encourages ownership and responsibility.  It also builds self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment.  As we know, children who take ownership of their goals are more persistent and perseverant. 

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What happens if a student has no academic goals?  The consequences are more dire than one can imagine.  Each day will be directionless with students lacking focus.  There will be problems in time management and self-organisation.  This leads to poor academic performance.  Issues such as tardiness and absenteeism may arise too, for students will have reduced motivation and no sense of purpose.  It will be a challenge for the child to go to school every day.  Furthermore, it will be a challenge for the parents and guardians to guide a student with no academic aims, more so academic goals. 

Goal setting is the key to unlocking your child’s full academic potential. By helping them set clear, attainable goals, we guide their academic progress.  We also teach them valuable life skills that extend far beyond the classroom. With the end-of-year-exams just around the corner, let’s ensure our children are equipped with the tools they need to navigate their educational journey with purpose and confidence.

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Harnessing the Internet: How Our Children Can Use the Internet Productively

In our previous post, we talked about some of the dangers that our children face online. Now, let’s talk about some of the productive ways our children can use the internet. With our guidance, they can maximize the power of the internet and use it to their advantage in our highly digitally interconnected world.

First of all, the internet is a great educational resource. Our children can access online courses on sites like Khan Academy and Coursera. They can also use educational games and apps to enhance their learning. Online resources can help them improve their math skills or learn a new language. Websites like Google Scholar, National Geographic Kids, and Britannica Kids are excellent options to explore.

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Secondly, the internet is a place where children can enhance their creativity and self-expression. Canva for Education and Wattpad are great sites for creative activities. They can create and share their digital art, writings, and multimedia projects. Starting a blog or YouTube channel can also be a fun way to express themselves. However, adult guidance is still needed for this endeavour.

Thirdly, the internet has made social connections faster and easier. Our children can stay in touch with family and friends. It’s important that they are supervised while using social media and messaging platforms. From Google Hangouts to Zoom, Facebook to Instagram, there are still dangers, so parental supervision is necessary.

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Finally, children can use the internet for career exploration. They can research various career paths and understand the skills required for different jobs. A simple Google search can direct them to numerous helpful sites that provide valuable information about their future careers.

With the right guidance, our children can use the internet safely and productively, turning it into a powerful tool for learning, creativity, connection, and career exploration.

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The Importance of Tradition for International Students

In MILCHEL, we believe in the importance of maintaining traditions, especially for our diverse community of international students. We celebrate festive occasions like Christmas and Chinese New Year.  We also celebrate cultural activities like Songkran for our Thai residents.  But why is this so important, and what are the benefits of these traditions beyond mere celebration?

Participating in these traditions plays a role in relieving homesickness among international students. Being far away from home can evoke feelings of longing, especially during cultural holidays and events. By recreating familiar customs and celebrations in the hostel, Milchelians find comfort in the company of their peers. These traditions provide a sense of connection to their home cultures.  It eases the pangs of homesickness and fosters a sense of belonging in their new environment.

Moreover, maintaining traditions fosters a sense of community among our Milchelians. Regardless of nationality or background, coming together to celebrate shared customs creates bonds. These shared experiences promote understanding and mutual respect among Milchelians of different nationalities.

Furthermore, embracing traditions is an opportunity to appreciate diversity. As Milchelians learn about and engage with the customs and traditions of their peers, they develop a deeper appreciation of cultures that make up our home community. For one, this celebration of diversity promotes tolerance and acceptance.  Also, it cultivates a spirit of inclusivity and unity among Milchelians.

The importance of maintaining traditions for international students cannot be overstated. Beyond the joy of celebration, these traditions helps to ease students’ homesickness.  They help develop a sense of community among Milchelians despite their different cultures.  Finally, it makes them learn tolerance and inclusivity that contributes to a harmonious living environment in the hostel.  As we continue to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment for all Milchelians, we celebrate the richness of diversity and the beauty of culture and tradition.

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The Importance of Spending Special Occasions for Foreign Students in Singapore

Being away from home can be both an exciting adventure and a stressful experience for international students studying in Singapore.  Getting to celebrate important events with their family back home is one factor that is vital to their general well-being and academic achievement.  For many Milchelians, going home for holidays like Chinese New Year is especially significant.  This post discusses the various reasons why spending special occasions with family is essential for foreign students in Singapore.  Here, we emphasize the positive impact it can have on students’ mental, emotional, and academic well-being.

Cultural Connection

On special occasions, Milchelians especially those from China and Thailand, among others, like to return to their home countries.  For them, it is a way to keep a strong bond with their cultural roots.  Chinese New Year is rooted in cultural traditions, and being home during CNY connects them to their tradition.  This connection provides a sense of identity and belonging, contributing to a more enriching cultural experience.

Emotional Well-being

It might be challenging and isolating to study abroad.  Celebrating joyous occasions with family provides foreign students a much-needed emotional lift.  The comfort and warmth of family gatherings during festivities create a supportive environment that helps reduce stress.  This emotional recharge is crucial for maintaining mental well-being, promoting a healthier mindset, and enhancing the overall study abroad experience.

Motivation and Energy Boost

Special occasions offer a break from the students’ demanding academic schedule.  These let students to recharge and return to their studies with renewed motivation.  The upcoming celebrations serves as a motivational factor, providing students with a goal to strive towards during their studies.  Knowing that a reunion with family is coming can serve as a powerful source of energy.  It helps students overcome academic challenges and navigate the stresses of studying overseas.

Family Support

An important factor in a student’s academic career is family support.  Having special events spent with family promotes encouragement and support.  With the knowledge that their family is at their side, students resume their studies with a stronger support system.  Students who get this support may perform better academically because they feel more safe and confident in pursuing their academic goals.

Creating Lasting Memories

Special occasions are opportunities to create lasting memories with family.  These memories become a source of comfort during challenging times and contribute to a well-rounded overseas-studying experience.  Having shared experiences with family adds a layer of depth to the overall narrative of a student’s time abroad, making it a more fulfilling and memorable chapter in their life.

The importance of Milchelians and other foreign students spending special occasions with their families, for example during Chinese New Year, cannot be overstated.  Beyond the cultural connection, it provides emotional well-being, motivation, family support, and the creation of lasting memories.  These factors contribute to a more positive and enriching study abroad experience.  They also help students navigate the challenges of being in a foreign land and empower them to succeed. 

Of course, we have activities planned for Milchelians who are staying in Singapore during the Chinese New Year period.  Our dear kids will not be missing out on the festivities.  From gatherings, snacks, and games, we make sure that they feel the festive spirit here in Milchel, their second home.