How Should We Manage Gadget Addiction in Children?

As a parent, do you often find it challenging to keep your children interested and motivated in learning? This is because kids are frequently distracted by various things like games, social media, and other activities, causing them to lose focus on the learning process.   The waning interest in learning can be attributed to several factors, including: High Parental Pressure; Monotonous Study Routines; Difficulty Keeping Up with Peers; Excessive Digital Distractions; Feelings of Desperation Regarding Academic Success.   We know that nobody enjoys feeling left behind, especially when children are frequently compared to their peers by their parents or even teachers. This comparison often occurs in schools and can lead to discomfort for students of all ages. Of course, taking away all the enjoyable aspects of your child’s life isn’t the solution, as it might foster negative perceptions and even hatred toward learning. So, how can we ensure that they maintain motivation for future success? In this article, we’ll explore why this decline in interest happens and discuss strategies to overcome it, ensuring that children stay motivated.     Key Things to Identify Before providing assistance to your child, it’s crucial to understand the reasons behind their lack of engagement in learning. This understanding will help you devise optimal learning strategies to address the issue. Parents should begin recognizing these signs to implement logical solutions for their children.   Dull Learning Routine When it comes to study routines, children often follow a pattern: attending classes, having face-to-face sessions with tutors, spending hours on homework, and repeating the cycle. This repetitive cycle can lead to boredom and eventually fatigue. Children naturally have high curiosity and a desire to learn. It’s essential to maintain and even enhance their curiosity for continuous learning. Seriously, think about how many times parents are asked “why” by their children in a single day—the answer is quite a lot. Another way to look at this from a different perspective is to consider how even as adults, we often get bored with repetitive work routines. Emails, calls, meetings, and then back to the same office the next day. While some people may enjoy this stability, it can lead to a lack of enthusiasm and eventually burnout. The same principle applies to children.   Pressure for Academic Success While some people thrive on competition, many others feel differently. However, external pressure can overwhelm children (and even us). As parents, it’s natural to want our children to succeed and be the best. But be cautious about setting unrealistic standards and constantly comparing your child to others. Although some parents choose disciplinary methods like this for their children, it often backfires and hinders their performance. For example, when setting grade targets for your children, remember that everyone absorbs knowledge at different speeds and has unique learning methods. And that’s not a bad thing! By paying attention to your child’s strengths and weaknesses, you can tailor specific learning methods that suit their needs based on this information.   When Children Fail to See the Benefits of Learning Have you ever asked yourself, when faced with a task or job, “Why do I have to do this?” Children have similar questions too. As adults, we understand that learning is essential for the future. However, children may not perceive it the same way because they are often more interested in immediate gratification. It’s crucial for us to convey that the actions they take now will impact their lives in the future. So, how can we help them understand the importance of learning? Well, the key is to explain it in a simple way that they can grasp. Instead of forcing them to study, it’s better to encourage them to find meaning in each learning material. Explain to them how mathematics can be used to make real-life decisions, such as choosing the best deal while shopping. By emphasizing the practical application of these lessons in real-world scenarios, children will recognize the true value of learning. Essentially, by connecting lessons to everyday life, they will feel engaged in the learning process. They’ll understand that the knowledge they gain is genuinely needed and useful for them.   Read Our Other Articles: Best 19! Sekolah Swasta dan Internasional di Kota Surabaya Barat – Biaya, Alamat, Lengkap 2024/2025 Facebook (Instagram) Ads vs Google Ads: What You Need to Know?     What Can You Do Instead? Now that we have some idea of the “why,” let's get to the “how”’ in increasing your children’s interest in learning. Children are active beings, and more times than not they would probably prefer to do learning activities than simply sitting on a desk and listening to lessons.  This would be a great bonding activity for parents to explore with kids and lets you know what sparks their interest! Here are some fun learning activities you can implement:   Educational Games Educational games are perfect for when traditional methods with paper and pencil are simply not enough to keep the little ones engaged. In addition, they are also a great tool when trying to teach children about logic, critical thinking, and many other soft and hard skills. A popular method that has been implemented in many classrooms would be Kahoot quizzes. By using this platform, kids are able to join through their gadgets and there is no pressure on being shamed if you get an answer wrong as students are able to join using fun nicknames that do not give away their identity thus creating a safe space for making mistakes. In addition, there is a wide selection of applications and websites that educate people on the subjects of mathematics, science, history, health, geography, and many others. Usually, the game instructs the player to solve a mathematical equation or answer a history trivia in order to proceed to the next round or level up. This is a great method to keep kids engaged as they are just excited to play games, not realizing that along the way they are picking up useful skills.   Outdoor Learning Sitting in a room for hours while trying to absorb new information can be a downer for most people, especially kids. Doing so, can really weigh down on a child’s excitement to learn, and honestly can we blame them? Many schools nowadays incorporate outside learning where teachers and students go over learning materials in an outdoor setting. By implementing a slight change in scenery, students feel more refreshed and less slumped in digesting new learning materials. Try doing the same with your kids and take your tutoring sessions with your kids in the backyard or a public park to boost your kids’ learning spirit. A great example would be heading outside to teach your kids about different types of rocks and soil for a brief geology lesson. If you’re lucky enough to live near the ocean with rich marine biodiversity, take the time to take your science lessons outdoors and look out for different types of sea life such as anemones, schools of fishes, seashells, and more.    Field Trips Similar to the previous point, scheduling field trips with your kids can boost learning interest as it takes the learning outside of the classroom, which can eliminate boredom.  Perfect for history lessons, going on a museum trip can spark interest in learning about past events, important monuments, artifacts, and paintings. This is highly beneficial, especially in children who have shown interest in the fields of art, literature, and history. They need this activity to be held occasionally. Think of it as adults, we oftentimes get so tired of the same four walls of the cubicle and repetitive routine. A business trip or an insightful work conference to improve our knowledge can be a nice treat in the midst of a monotonous work regime. The same applies to children and can help rekindle their learning spark.   Bite-Sized Learning Material Lastly, learning can be an intimidating process, especially when kids see the amount of materials that they have to master within the span of one semester. Minimize their anxiety by breaking up learning materials into several pieces that will be easier to manage by them.  For example, when it comes to learning mathematics, instead of stressing the entire counting system, take each learning lesson to really focus on comprehending each subject into bite-sized pieces. Make sure to incorporate fun games related to addition such as puzzles, treasure hunts, and other varieties to avoid boredom and motivation loss. Remember as mentioned earlier, kids are simply excited to play games, that they don’t even realize they’re gaining knowledge in the process. Use all of these tools strategically by keeping them organized to keep your children engaged and focused on the material at hand.   Things to Keep in Mind Now that you have all of these resources at your disposal, make sure to utilize them to boost learning efficiency and avoid motivation loss during the learning process. As parents, getting your children to fun activities and stimulating tasks, can help them stay on track and reduce their lack of interest in learning.  In addition, it is also important to recognize that there is also a good amount of trial and error that comes with finding the right study routine for your little ones. Therefore, it is important to be patient and allow children to explore in order to find the right approach for their learning. Lastly, value the time in taking a break from studying and exploring other interests that your children might have. Sometimes, all it takes is a little breather from the books to rejuvenate your kids and prevent fatigue from studying.  As parents, this would be a great opportunity to explore their interests outside of the classroom whether it be sports, music, cooking, and many more.   Here at Timedoor Academy, we offer a variety of lessons surrounding coding that can be a fun learning addition for your kids. Our curriculum allows students to learn the fundamentals of computer science and accomplish fun projects such as creating their own games, websites, and mobile applications.   To get started, head over to Timedoor's website through this page, and our teachers will be more than happy to get you and your little ones started on their coding journey.

Blessed with a cocktail of curiosity and rapid growth, your children’s brains are like sponges when they’re just a wee bit young – and boy do they learn things very quickly. During this period, a lot of the essential and core life skills start to develop – though they don’t become fully adept at handling most complex real-life situations until they’re well in their teenage years.  Therefore, parents and guardians must supervise, facilitate, and structure their kids’ learning journey to cultivate the foundation of their life skills development. But what are the skills that parents need to pay attention to when they’re trying to raise their children? Let’s get into it!   Social Skills Do you want your kids to get along with others? Cultivate their social skills! Children with good social skills work well with their peers and are polite to their members of the community. They also tend to be good problem solvers who are also adept at conflict resolution. Social skills can be incorporated during playtime, school hours, or at home!   Sharing is Caring Your kids copy off whatever it is the humans around them are doing. When your children are surrounded by people who demonstrate sharing and caring, they will have good role models to emulate. The children will also need to frequently be in situations that allow them to learn about sharing through real-life practical experience. Ways to facilitate that may include: Children learn a lot from just watching what their parents do. When you exemplify a willingness to share in your family, it gives your children a great example to follow. Here are a few examples of how to get your children to be comfortable with sharing in the everyday situations: - Get your children to understand why sharing is caring. Provide examples through your own actions e.g. sharing your meals with other members of the family, watching shows on a mobile gadget together – all in the spirit of making the experience “fun” for everybody. You could also verbally advise your children to share their toys with the other kids. - Praise and affirm positive sharing behavior. This makes your kids feel validated and reinforces them to repeat the act in the future. Also, just like getting your kids to understand why sharing is caring, praise and affirmation can be done not just whenever they themselves performed acts of sharing, but when other people do so as well. E.g. when their cousins share their toys with your kids, validate the act by praising the good deed. Let your children see it and hope they will want to emulate the good act. - Prepare your children before they socialize - whether it’s before school, during playground sessions, or during playdates. This preparation will help them to be mentally equipped when the situation calls for them to share, and all the practices that they’ve had at home will kick in. Health All good parents want their children to grow up healthy and happy! While a healthy kid is always happy, a happy kid isn’t always clean. That’s okay though. There are things parents and guardians can do to ensure that they are equipped with the skills that would keep them healthy and happy for a lifetime.   Healthy Diet A healthy diet is the foundation of healthy living, but how do we inculcate the interest and habit of healthy nutrient intake in children? Hiding vegetables in fried food does not cut it – who are we fooling here? Deep-fried food isn’t the best for health thus we’re still feeding them unhealthy morsels. Kids become more willing and adventurous in their dietary choices when they are a part of the food-making in the kitchen. Yes. Your children will probably start eating their veggies if they see how the dish is prepared. It gives them a sense of belonging and investment. So, whenever it’s possible, involve your children in meal preps. Get them to whisk, help marinade proteins, tear vegetables, or knead doughs – anything that would get their hands to feel the food that they’re about to eat. Remember to keep the atmosphere happy. Happy kids absorb knowledge very quickly!   Physical Exercise The best way to avoid diseases is to prevent them, and exercise is one of the best ways to do so. Kids who are accustomed to physical activities have stronger cardiac health, sleep better, are more energetic, and are able to focus better when they’re learning.  Exercise also has a lot of psychological benefits for children. Fit kids grow up to be more confident, more assured in themselves, and more mentally resilient. Now, how do we develop an interest in exercise in your children? Start by making the physical sessions as fun as possible, and that does not include forcing them to do them. Use different terms for exercise so that they associate the activity with positive and fun ones. Try “play” or “game” instead of exercise when prompting your kids into exercise.   Hygiene There’s no age that’s too young to start developing good habits for hygiene. Most parents keep their kids on schedule for bath, hand washing, clothes changing, and teeth brushing without telling them explicitly the reason behind them. Being honest with your kids is probably the best way of getting them to understand why they do what they do. Communicate the reason behind each hygiene-maintaining action effectively and supervise them when they’re doing the acts. How heavy a supervision you impose on your children can vary depending on how old your kids are, but the end goal is to get them doing it even when you’re not compelling them to. Just like exercising, hygiene maintenance should always be fun for kids. Whenever possible, don’t raise your voice or do anything that would have your children assign traumas to the actions that they’re about to take. Be patient. They’re kids after all!   Emotional Skills Your children’s feelings matter. Their ability to understand their feelings and the feelings of the humans around them are contingent on their emotional health.    Emotional Regulation Nobody just pops out of the womb being emotionally stable. Nobody. Kids, especially younger ones can have mood swings that are very difficult to anticipate. Figuring out the triggers can also often prove to be difficult. Therefore, helping them to regulate their emotional state is one of your core duties as parents.    There are, though, some kids who are born with the natural propensity to understand how to regulate their emotions (those children will still have unreasonable tantrums though) but be discouraged not if your little ones don’t seem to be as adept as the neighbor’s children. When it comes to nature vs nurture, nurture almost always reigns supreme. Providing your kids with a stable, loving, and fun environment to grow up in is very important. When given a conducive environment, children’s journey in learning emotional regulation will be much easier.  A Romanian orphanage was the subject of a study on the paramountcy of nurture when it comes to children’s emotional regulation. During the research, children who were randomly assigned to loving and caring foster families exhibited better emotional regulation compared to the ones who stayed in the orphanage.   Empathy This is a core skill that is seriously lacking in a lot of adults nowadays, it seems. Empathy is the ability to feel how another human is feeling given a scenario and then positively respond with affection. This skill requires time and consistency to develop. How do we facilitate our children’s empathy development? Start by showing empathy with your own: - Ask them questions that validate their feelings – for example, “Do you feel scared when I turn off the light before you sleep? It’s okay. I know it can be scary to not be able to see anything, so I will stay with you until you fall asleep!” - Discuss with your kids the feelings of others – for example, “You know, Loni feels sad whenever you pull her hair in the playground. Hair pulling hurts Loni. It wouldn’t feel good to you if someone pulled your hair, right? So, please don’t do that when you’re playing with Loni.”   - Teach them to perform acts of empathy – for example, “Let’s buy some Christmas gifts for the kids at the orphanage! Then we get to be happy together with them, and they’ll have something nice to get through Christmas!”   Linguistics Life would be easier for your children if they are able to understand and communicate effectively with other people. Great linguistic skills can also broaden their horizons, which is important in an increasingly global society.   Effective Communication This is another core life skill that must be developed since your kids are very young. Children who are able to convey their feelings and thoughts in society tend to do better in school and are well-liked by people. They also are more likely to establish good and healthy relationships with their peers because they are able to communicate effectively so that the others could understand their intention without misconstruing.   Listening An effective communicator is someone who listens well. Just like all of the other skills we have mentioned before, inculcating this skill starts with the parents and guardians modeling this action in front of their children. Again, examples are the best teachers. Whenever your kids are saying something to you, try repeating back whatever they’re saying to them to show that you comprehended whatever it was they were saying. Follow up with an open-ended question – e.g. “Did you say you had a lot of fun at James' playdate? How fun was it?” The listening skill also teaches your kids about turn-taking during a conversation. A technique that is commonly used in therapy is to get a cushion or a plushie and have the person who has the object speak while the others listen. Then your kid needs to pass the object to another person when they’re done speaking.   Be a Great Conversationalist A great conversationalist can always get along with people that come from various backgrounds. This is an important skill when your kids grow up and are ready to network. Instil the passion for reading and effective research to broaden your children’s knowledge, so that they’re able to relate and resonate whenever they’re involved in varying topics of conversation. Encourage them to find the humor in things, whenever appropriate. Funny people always get friends everywhere.   Foreign Languages In an increasingly global society, it is no longer an option for people to at least be bilingual – it’s a necessity. Research encourages second language acquisition quite early in a child’s life – because it’s easier for them when their brains are still at the golden period of rapid growth. They can definitely acquire it later in life, but it’ll be much harder for them. Now, how do we get our children to start learning a second language early in life? One way is by assigning an adult companion to speak one language, and another adult speaking another. Your kids will associate which adult speaks which language, and they tend to be able to switch to another more seamlessly. Also, don’t forget to make the learning experience fun! Remember, they’re kids. Involve songs or graphic books that come in a language that they’re trying to learn, and be consistent. Don’t forget to take breaks though, because although the experience can be fun, learning is also exhausting. You don’t want your kids to burn out and associate language learning with an unsavory experience. Cognitive Skills The world operates on complex ideas, and your kids make up the generation that will inherit the earth and its advancement. Developing their cognitive ability allow them to process complex ideas, be assertive, and solve problems. Never discourage your children when they’re exploring, being creative, or asking questions – all of those are crucial in developing effective thinking skills.   Critical Thinking Many grown-ups still struggle with problem-solving skills. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t encouraged in their generation to think critically and were forced to conform instead. Don’t do that to your kids! Now, getting your children to develop the ability to think critically can be a challenge as it requires some form of emotional management, resilience, and a conducive situation to take on the learning process – basically, all of the 4 above mentioned factors (physical well-being, effective communication, good health and well-rested, and a good social environment) to be optimum for the journey to be pleasant. As parents, it is imperative to exercise patience when guiding and facilitating critical-thinking learning, do a lot of research, and answer your children’s questions well no matter how silly you may think they are!   STEM Education We can’t have advancement if we’re not well-versed in STEM! STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is a branch of discipline your kids definitely don’t want to miss out on. As the world constantly evolves and gets more complex, those who are left behind are those who are clueless about how technology works. STEM education combines the four disciplines harmoniously in a learning session – and it’s found to be more effective than segregating them in separate sessions. Children who are educated in STEM early on are found to be better at critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, and effective communication. It also doesn’t hurt that STEM-related jobs are in demand and will still be in demand in the future, so prepare your kids for a good career prospect by educating them early! While many schools nowadays have incorporated STEM-style classroom sessions, more often than not, these schools are private and expensive. Worry not though – we at Timedoor can serve your kids' STEM needs through our coding classes that are suitable for ages 8 and above. Our classes are small in size, so each child will receive optimum attention from our instructors. Coding is the gateway for further STEM pursuits, so it truly will serve your children well to get them started in coding.   For more information about Timedoor Coding Academy, please visit this link.  

Timedoor Academy Tech Festival Coding Competition and Exhibition 2024 is an event aimed at providing a platform for all Timedoor Academy students to showcase various projects they have created, ranging from games and websites to applications. The preliminary round was participated by over 200++ participants from all over Indonesia. From these participants, an elimination stage was conducted to select 31 chosen participants for the Exhibition Round, which will be held offline at Millennium Mall Jakarta on Sunday, June 23, 2024. Today, we announce the 31 participants selected to participate in the Exhibition Round at Millennium Mall Jakarta from all categories. The list of participants who made it to the Exhibition Round can be seen below. Exhibition Finalist GAME WITH KODU STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Albert Liandra Kurniawan Timedoor Academy Cengkareng Ida Bagus Oka Janaka Timedoor Academy Renon Jeremy Dominic Liong Timedoor Academy Cengkareng Jethro Buniardi Timedoor Academy Harapan Indah Bekasi Muhammad Ghaisan Abgari Timedoor Academy Gading Serpong GAME WITH SCRATCH 3 STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Anak Agung Gde Axel Mahendra Timedoor Academy Online ID Anja Ruci Berlian Timedoor Academy Online ID Darrel Arana Irwanto Timedoor Academy Cikarang Emilie Kierra Rinaldy Timedoor Academy Kelapa Gading I Putu Theodore Wira Pradana Timedoor Academy Jimbaran GAME WITH CONSTRUCT 3 STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Gabriel Veriano Timedoor Academy Cikarang Glenys Salsabila Kyeshi Parlina Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali Michael Mahardika Wijaya Timedoor Academy Online ID Putu Dimas Graha Wardhana Timedoor Academy Renon Yehezkiel Kennard Alvaro La Beneamata Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali GAME WITH ROBLOX STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Clairine Elise Lei Timedoor Academy Online ID Julio Miguel Setiawan Timedoor Academy Cikarang Keigan Noel Hamdany Timedoor Academy Online ID Peter Luciano Kencana Timedoor Academy Gading Serpong Ryan Kenzie Tanady Timedoor Academy Cengkareng GAME WITH PHASER 3 STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Demas Firjatulloh Janitro Timedoor Academy Online ID I Gede Raditya Ananda Putra Timedoor Academy Renon I Kadek Arya Raditya Timedoor Academy Renon Made Anantawijaya Giriwidya Hantana Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali Ni Putu Bela Septiandita Rustama Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali WEBSITE STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Ardhani Prayata Akmal Timedoor Academy Online ID I Putu Mahendra Arya Valentino Timedoor Academy Renon Komang Ayu Arista Dewi Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali Matthew Vito Santoso Timedoor Academy Online ID Ngakan Putu Satria Dewangga Timedoor Academy Gatsu Barat Bali MOBILE APPS STUDENT'S NAME BRANCH Shavonne Miguel Halim Timedoor Academy Online ID The 31 selected participants and their parents are expected to attend the online Technical Meeting for the Exhibition. The details are as follows: Day/Date: Saturday, June 15, 2023 Time: 3:00 PM WIB / 4:00 PM WITA Place: Online Meeting ID: 839 547 7948 Passcode: 12345 Link : https://bit.ly/zoomEgypt Participants and parents are also advised to review the exhibition round information in the Guidebook. You can download the Guidebook here: Download Guidebook.   Special Recognition We also want to recognize the other 10 most creative projects (Phaser only 5), which will receive a medal. These medals will be sent to the recipients' addresses as a token of our appreciation for their outstanding work. Game with Kodu: Arga Riviandra Zamara - Houbii Bogor Firdhah Atiqah - Harapan Indah Bekasi Gavin Immanuel Hosada - Bandung Gede Kaivan Azkaradipta Manumesha Mataram - Renon Bali Hanif Abhicandra Zafran - Gayungan Surabaya Ida Bagus Bumi Prana - Renon Bali Komang Cakradev - Renon Bali Marc Daryl Mahadana - Houbii Bogor Muhammad Malvino Putera Mulia - Gading Serpong Skye Ansel Chen - Cengkareng Game with Scratch 3: Anindya Filia Susanto - Houbii Bogor Azka Virendra Darmawan - Houbii Bogor Gandewa Arjuna Gelar - Online ID Levin Elnathan - Harapan Indah Bekasi Maverick Archer Yeriel - Kelapa Gading Mikhayla Leandra Krisbayu - Online ID Owen Hiroshi Lie - Batam Quinza Haziqah - Online ID Theodorus Giovanni Daniswara - Gayungan Surabaya Yehuda Matthew Muradsanobar Sihaloho - Cikarang Game with Construct 3: Cut Zara Tashanita - Online ID I Gede Reva Awidya Kayana - Karangasem Bali I Nyoman Aditya Basudeva Mahaputra - Gatsu Barat Bali I Putu Aryasatya Mahendra Mahaputra - Renon Bali I Putu Raditya Hendra Saputra - Karangasem Bali Jonathan Isaac Santoso - Citraland Surabaya Mas Maulana Ubaydillah Mukhayan - Renon Bali Muhammad Fadhil - Kelapa Gading Muhammad Laa Rayba Fiihi - Online ID Ryan Alvaro Emmyson - Cengkareng  Game with Roblox: Altair Harry Janssena - Online ID Arinathan Martuah Saragih - Online ID Ida Bagus Agung Janar Wibawa - Renon Bali Jillian Davyne Suyono - Online ID Khalil Ezra Allegradana - Online ID Muhammad Al Fatih - Online ID Reflita Marsha Setiawan - Cikarang Reigaara Endea Yustisia - Kelapa Gading Rizky Arkananta Mahardika - Cengkareng Zineddin Alkhawarizmi - Houbii Bogor Game with Phaser: Felix Mahendra Putra Bangun - Cikarang Hanif Fausta Syafif - Online ID I Gusti Ngurah Prama Wedanta - Tabanan Bali Ida Bagus Pradnyana Wedhanta - Renon Bali Richard Christopher Bono - Renon Bali Website: Bonaventura Silitonga - Online ID Breza Artha Medico - Online ID Darren Clementius Leonard - Kelapa Gading Daven Bryan Suyono - Online ID Erland Pramana - Houbii Bogor Gede Divka Bramanta Devadatta Putra - Renon Bali Kadek Pramana Kenzo Widia Poetra - Renon Bali Made Calysta Maheswari - Online ID Muhammad Ihsan Nadhif - Kelapa Gading Regina Joan Medea Jati Laksono - Online ID We thank all the students, parents, and mentors for their hard work and dedication. Let's make the Timedoor Academy Tech Festival Coding Competition and Exhibition 2024 a memorable and inspiring experience for everyone involved!