Andrew is a solo
parent of three children ranging from 6 to 15 years, most attending Victory
Primary School in Nelson, and was hosted by Auckland Point School for his
Computers in Homes training. I
interviewed him recently about his "Computers in Homes experience" and here are some of his thoughts.
“I got on board the CIH course because once I heard there
was a course for parents to possibly get a computer in their house, I didn’t
have to think twice about it, I wanted to be on that course and since having
the computer in the house it has benefited the kids something, leaps and bounds
they have gone in just their learning alone.”
He has noticed benefits for all of his family. He is able to connect with his children’s
school daily through their website. “I
just didn’t realise, there were lots of things I was missing out on.” His
children’s teachers email if there are any issues at school and a lot of times
the children arrive home and he says “well what have you been up to today” and
they say “how do you know?” So he is
able to address situations early on. The
school is starting to ask what is happening at home because they have noted
positive changes to one child’s behaviour.
Andrew puts it down to the computer – “if you don’t understand it you
feel like an idiot in class, it is easier for you to get kicked out of class….
But since the computer has been at home my son says what he is having trouble
with and we look it up and go right back at the start level and by the time he
goes back to school he has got the gist of what to do. He’s gone ahead in the last 6-7 weeks. It’s like fuel on the fire, they all want to
learn more. I really went to school to
eat my lunch, but I want my kids to love school, so anything they have got
qualms about we just go and check it out together.”
Andrew has found this course has also benefited
himself. He says he now walks taller,
with confidence, and where he would shy away when ‘pen and paper’ were put in
front of him he will now give it a go.
He is finding that being able to write something and push a button which
will correct all mistakes is encouraging .
He is noticing if he spells a word wrong he makes an effort to see how
it looks and believes his reading has improved “big time”.
As a coach of a rugby league team, Andrew has used his new
gmail account to send bulk emails to his team, saving time and reducing phone
costs. He also googles well known league
coaches to get ideas about drills to use and to understand what their purpose
is “The training has gone from being boring and now is exciting because I have
more understanding to break down everything I am doing and can explain what the
benefit for the team are. It has made me
a better coach, a better person.”
“It has really opened my horizons. It allows me to interact with my children and
you don’t have to be the smartest person to use the computer. It’s
great to be able to support my kids.”
When asked about the training itself he said “I would push
for anybody to get on there and do the course.
Heather, the tutor, was awesome.
She had a way of putting into the words for anybody, she’s really good
like that. You just ask anything, and
she will show you the little secrets if you have gone in too far and you’re not
sure what to do. Which is just
awesome!! I really loved it.” He acknowledged how welcoming the host school
had been and how comfortable he felt entering the school and training
there. “I felt they
were really really cool people.”
Andrew expressed his thanks to everyone involved, for giving
him this opportunity which he sees has been a blessing for himself and his kids.
He sees they have changed and he also feels more confident in the things he
does. He says “As parents we have got
obligations and we’ve got to step up to the plate for our children – so seize
this opportunity. It is awesome!”
 |
| Andrew with his son - receiving a webcam from Computers in Homes |
No comments:
Post a Comment