30 days to Great Hand-Writing!!!

Improving Hand-writing!!!


Do you ever wonder why there is a need to IRON clothes even if they are washed? Simple... To make them presentable!!!


Same is true of Hand-writing!!! Untidy, wavy and untidy hand-writing is simply NOT presentable!!!


A good hand-writing does not only presentable and easy to read but also puts a good impression over the reader and highlights the personality of the writer.


Under Exam condition, it becomes really important to put a good impression over the examiner. Student never gets to meet the examiner and the only mode of communication is that answer sheet. Just close your eyes for a second and imagine your self as the examiner. You are holding '2' answer sheets in your hand. One has messed up answers, lots of cuttings and mingled hand-writing. Whereas, the other one has clear words, comparatively lesser cuts and a lot cleaner presentation.


No doubt, you would be much more happier checking the second paper rather than the first one and, possibly, give more marks as well.(Here, we assume the content and material is same in both the papers).


Further, not only will the examiner easily read through your paper but also understand your answers. Hence, it is really important to have a good hand writing to ensure an edge over other students.


Now the question arises, How to improve Hand-writing?
The answer is simple: One-month, 10minutes per day and a simple excercise!!!

• Log on to your window and open Microsoft Word.
• Type : "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". You may write any story or any thing else as well but I prefer using the above sentence due to the fact that it contains all the alphabets of English Language.
• Copy the sentence and copy it 20 to 25 times, ensuring appropriate gaps between the lines.
• Choose the font that you feel comfortable with and wish to have a writing like that. (I personally recommend Lucida joint handwriting, Time new roman or Arial as they look more professional and clear).
• Now take at least print 30 printouts of the page.
• What you have to do is pick a sheet every day and start writing over the printing text. Your pencil / pen shall move over the printed writing. 
• Continue this exercise and you will start to feel the difference within 7 to 8 days but do not stop before 30th day (or you may do more as well if you feel like).
• This writing practise would help you control your hand, wrist and finger movement.
• Further, your writing would be more aligned and curves would be much more smooth.
• Your writing would get more focused and clear.

GET SET, GO.....

Happy writing!!!

by @qlakhani 

aqlakhani@hotmail.com

Time management technique!!!

TIME MANAGEMENT

Can't manage your time during paper?
Ain't able to attempt all questions?
Get tensed during the paper?

All the above could be addressed through one simple technique: 'Time Management'.

Benefits of proper time management:
Optimal time is allotted to each question leading to appropriate response for each question;
Student gets sufficient time for re-checking answers;
Student does not get nervous about not having enough time for questions at the end;

How to manage time during paper?
One of the best techniques to manage time is to measure 'Marks value of time'.
The candidate shall compare time allowed for the paper with the total marks. For example., there is a 3-hour paper and total marks are 100.
Now the candidate shall before hand plan 'initial paper reading time' and 're-checking answer' at the end. For example reading paper takes 15 minutes and re-checking answers takes 20 minutes.
Now, for attempting the paper the candidate is left with 180 mints (3 hours) less 35 mints.
That means 145 mints for 100 marks i.e., 1.45 mint for 1 mark (145/100).

For a 10 mint question the candidate shall give no more than 14 mints to 15 mints. If a question takes more than that time, it indicates that the candidate is NOT answering as per requirement of the question. During the exam, if such situation arises, it is always advisable to move on to next question.

To combat problems like these, students are ALWAYS advised to practice at least TWO past papers in an EXAM ENVIRONMENT. The student shall apply the time management technique and identify any questions wherein the student exceeded the time allotted and should work on the portion of the syllabus.

Hope this would help the students overcome time management problems!!!
More tips and techniques, Insha' Allah in the coming posts!!!



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Memorizing tips (part 1)

Wish to achieve a better result in theoretical subjects?

Wish to retain topics more effectively?

Wish to know learn things quickly?

Theoretical subjects usually require a student to retain and learn things. Subjects such as History, Geography, Economics etc require you to memorize certain things in order to gain better understanding, and hence better marks, in the subject. For example, in History a student may need to remember series of events and dates, in Geography a student may need to remember Topographical features of a certain place or in Economics, a student may be required to memorize basic assumptions behind a theory.

There are some students who are god-gifted when it comes to memorizing. They could easily learn things after just 2 to 3 readings. However, many students are not like that. They need to go through the chapters several times to learn things. To help such students in learning quickly and effectively we present some tips:

i) Visualising: Visualising is truly a great way to learn series of events. Further, its application is very simple. Whenever. you wish to learn a chapter or topic, follow these simple steps:

•  First time read the whole topic to get a basic idea of the topic. 
• Then read it again, this time stopping after each paragraph. 
• After the end of the paragraph, close your eyes and visualise the event happening. 
• For example, you need to remember events happening during the life of a King, born in 1880, learned Horse riding, sword fighting and drawing at an early age and then went on to become a king, at an age of 45 years when his father passed away, of their empire, and he ruled until his death at the age of 65.
• Now close your eyes, visualize a small boy learning all the above. Start visualizing his daily activities. Then visualize the death of his father and him becoming a king. Specifically visualize the environment and celebrations in the town upon him becoming a king. Again, visualize activities he did or wars he fought during his tenure. Finally, visualize him to be weak and then his death.
• I know the example was really simple one but the technique, applied correctly to any theoretical topic, could provide excellent results, particularly when it comes to memorizing series of events or things in a specific series.

ii)  Making a story: Making a story is a technique to make sense of information that, collectively, does not make any sense. In applying it a student shall specifically try to make a story of several different ideas in order to learn them all. Let us take a very simple example; a student needs to memorise the following (in the same series):

• House
• Village
• Fire
• Sunday
• Cat
• Window
• Chair

Now what the student could do is simply make up a story of the above:

                      'The house at the nearby Village caught fire on the last Sunday morning. The Cat was looking through the window, standing over the chair".

iii) Flow charting: Flowcharts are a great way to summaries, remember and revise topics. After reading through each topic simply draw a flowchart. A flowchart would:

• help in clarifying connections between different components.
• help in retaining important points
• quick revision of topic

For further explanation and relevant examples, please refer the article on Flowcharts in Learning Tips section.

Hope the above tips help you in achieving better marks in your upcoming assessments.

Regards,

Book review!!!

You are a teenager and feel your life is filled with all the problems in the world?

You are the parent of a teenager and feel your child has become aggressive and irresponsible?

Grab a copy of "7 habits of highly effective teens" by Sean Covey and get solutions to your problems.

"7 habits of highly effective teens" is a self-help book specifically written for teenagers. However, parents could also use to understand their children and their problems.

The book is written in highly interactive manner. The author highlights several problems faced by teens, corroborates them with examples and then gives easy to follow steps.

 "Sow a thought, and you reap an act;

Sow an act, and you reap a  habit;

Sow a habit, and you reap a character;

Sow a character, and you reap a destiny"

                             ---Samuel Smiles

The book consists of 7 habits for teenagers:

1. Be Proactive: The author illustrates the importance of being vigilant of future opportunities and threats. He advises the teens to foresee problems and to take actions before they arise. As an simple example, teens shall start preparing for their exams as soon as they come to know of their final dates instead of waiting for last some days.
2. Begin with the end in mind: The author guides teenagers to have a mission and goal to achieve. The author illustrates the importance of having a goal in life. Goals could be short-term or long-term. Also, Goal should always be realistic and achievable. Further, author highlights specific events where a person's motivation is very high such as new year, new class, new baby etc and focuses on setting goals at those moments. "A goal unwritten is only a wish"
3. Put first things first:  A person shall prioritize and shall identify important and urgent tasks. All the energies shall be focused on important tasks. To manage time, author mentions using weekly planners. No doubt, management of time is most important ingredient to success. (For a detailed article on time managment during Examination, please refer Examination tips section).
4. Think win-win: With this habit, the author revolutionizes the whole concept of competition. The author highlights difference approaches and evaluates each of them. Finally, he gives the benefits of having a win-win approach whereby a person attempts to have a winning situation for every one. This approach, if adopted by every one, would not only help the person but also the whole humanity, in general.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood: No doubt, the root cause of every argument is communication differences or gaps. The author highlights the importance of clear communication and guides the reader to implement this habit. Person shall remove perception barriers while debating and try and understand the other person's views. Further, other person's views and ideas shall be evaluated according to the person's perception and background. Then shall the person present its own views and ideas. This habit is particularly going to improves Parent-Child relationships if applied from both sides.
6. Synergy: According to this rule '1 + 1 = 11'. Surely Economic ideas of 'Specialisation' and 'Division of Labor' stem from the rule of Synergy. If two compatible people could work together for a good cause could bring about GREAT results. Add to it Habit # 2 and Habit # 4 and just imagine the power of Synergy.
7.  Sharpen the saw: Lastly, the author asks his reader to slow down. To slow down in this fast paced world. To slow down and give some time to himself, to his soul, to his  body and to his mind. Whatever activity the person feels relaxing whether its jogging, playing chess or praying, the person shall do it. The person shall specifically take out time for sharpening his saw. 

Abraham Lincoln was once asked, "What would you do if you had 8 hours to cut down a tree?".

He replied: "I'd spend the first four hours sharpening my saw".

Lastly, at the end of each habit, there are summaries and baby steps. Baby steps would allow you to apply the habit fully in your life.

Hope the above help you in identifying your 'real' problems and getting 'practical' solutions for you.

Regards,

Education Update!!!

APPLYING ABROAD FOR STUDIES

Attention: A'levels / Intermediate students willing to apply abroad for higher education!!!

It is always advisable to start your planning and admission process at least 6 months before your exams. As your exams would be around May / June, "NOW" is the best time to start doing your homework.

1. Identify the courses you wish to pursue and the universities that offer those programs.
2. Identify your destination i.e., the country or, to more specifically, the city you would prefer.
3. Try and meet your college counselor and take their guidance on selecting the appropriate program, university and country.
4. Your should consider following points when considering the above:

• Your As Level / First year & O Levels / Matric results.
• Fees you could afford to pay.
• Living expenses you could afford.
• Scholarships being offered by different universities.
• How much hours maximum hours of work are being allowed at your destination place.
• Do the universities, you plan to apply to, require any special test results such as SAT, IELTS etc.

5. It is always advisable to prepare for and appear in test requirements (SAT, IELTS etc) atleast a month before your final exams so that you could completely concentrate on your exams in the last month.

6. Select & apply to at least 4 to 5 universities as universities mostly give conditional admission offers, based on your past results. In case result is not up to the mark, you may lose some of the offers. Therefore, you shall have some thing in the reserve for such a situation!!!

7. Meet your college counselor to know general requirements about applying to foreign universities. Get your references and evaluations from the teachers done.

8. Start working on your personal statement and get it checked by your college counselor.

9. Lastly, remain updated on new developments by visiting your college counselor regularly.

Hope the tips would be of help to you!!!

Keep visiting for more such update!!!

Regards,

Lakhanis' Educational Solutions

---> Quality Education at your door- step

0345 30 44 549

0315 LAKHANI

Flowchart: Great tool for learning!!!

Having Difficulty learning theoretical subjects?
Can't memorize events?
Unclear on concepts?

"Flowcharts" is the way out!!!

Flowcharts are a great way to memorize and retain chapters, events and concepts of theoretical subjects such as Geography, History, Computers etc.

Flowcharts could be drawn informally on paper or may be constructed using MS Visio. In either case, they ensure clarity of ideas for the drawer. When the person is designing a flowchart, the person using most its senses, hence, ensuring learning of the subject at the spot. Further, a complete chapter could easily be summarized through a simple flowchart.

And when the exam day is near and the time is rushing... a few looks at the flowchart would give a complete re-cap of the topic studied!!!

Let us understand how 'Flowcharts' work through two examples.
Firstly, a very basic example: Let's learn the story of a 'Thirsty Crow', we all must have learnt it in schools.

The story goes like this: There was a thirsty crow looking for water. Flying over a land, the crow saw a pot containing some water. When it came down, it realized that the level of water in the pot was very low. After thinking for a while, the crow got an idea. It started picking stones and dropped them into the pot. The water level started to rise gradually and soon the water was near the top-end of the pot. The crow drank the water and flew away.

Now how can any flowchart help any parent or teacher to make a child learn this story.

























Now let us take a more specific, more technical example. For example in a scenario based-question of business management subject, there is a question whether company needs promote the product through informative advertisement or through persuasive advertisement.

The cycle would be like:
































Happy Drawing . . .


Lakhanis' Education Solutions
--> You want the Results? We have the Resources - Quality Education at your door-step!!!

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0315 Lakhani

LES web-site review!!!

www.math.com
Category: Mathematics
Level: For every one

Your child is weak in maths?
Concepts not clear?
Enough practice material not available?
Simply log on to www.math.com and let the world of math be explored!!!

You could find explanations, practice questions and self-assessment questions on all the following areas:
* Basic Math
* Everyday Math
* Pre-Algebra
* Algebra
* Geometry
* Trigonometry
* Statistics
* Calculus
* Advanced Topics

From basic additions to complex integration, each and everything is explained beautifully with examples. Further, there are sufficient number of practice questions to enhance grip over the topics learnt.

Apart from learning, there is a resource page that provides a link to several types of calculators such as Scientific calculator, probability calculator etc and useful tables and charts. Further, there are useful tips for weak students.

AND to make the learning a fun experience, there is a section on math games. This section is a must for all as these games ensure strengthening of maths concepts as well as sharpening thinking, analytical and logical skills of a person.

Thats it for now, see you again with something 'NeW' next time
till then . . .

Happy Learning!!!

Regards,
Lakhanis' Educational Solutions
-->You want the Results? We have the resources - Quality education at your door-step!!!

0345 30 44 549
0315 LAKHANI