At CIS, holistic education is an approach that focuses on the emotional and social awareness of a child besides their academics. Our students are taught to reflect on their actions and how they impact the global and local community, as well as how to learn from the community around them. Here in Columbia International School, teachers often engage students in projects and tasks that apply critical-thinking skills toward solving real-world problems.
Academic success often relies on a particular set of academic expertise. What are the skills required for such expertise? 1. Time Management 2. Research Skills 3. Reading Comprehension 4. Computer Skills 5. Self-Discipline 6. Public and Presentation Skills 7. Critical Thinking 8. Taking Constructive Criticism. Cultivating such skills will not only help one to develop their academic prowess but also launch one to the top of their professional life. With the curriculum here in Columbia International School, all of these skills will be taught and implemented in our students.
As important as academic attainment is, emotional development is just as important but it is often overlooked. At CIS, we do our best to encourage each and every one of our students to work on their emotional skills by guiding them to form and sustain positive relationships, experience and express emotions and finally, explore and engage with the environment. Through this, students at CIS began to build a sense of empathy and self-confidence that eventually will lead to lasting and meaningful friendships/partnerships and also a sense of importance to themselves and the people around them.
To quote a brilliant man, Albert Einstein, “Education is not the learning of facts but training the mind to think”. If academic institutions were to only focus on the power of memorization, the contemporary and evolved ways of our world will come to a screeching halt. However, we are where we are right now because men like Albert Einstein challenged themselves to think beyond the norm. This is what Columbia International School yearns to achieve for your child. We want our students to not only become rule-followers and society-pleasers but more importantly, become pioneers, groundbreakers and thought-provokers in this world.
Getting involved in conflicts can happen from time to time, but knowing how to handle such disagreements can be difficult. Hence, the importance of resolution skills. This set of skills will not only be applied in schools amongst friends but also in universities between peers and in workplaces between colleagues. An essential component for conflict resolution is ‘Active Listening’ which is the practice of focusing on what the other party is saying to prevent any misunderstanding, blaming and unfair accusations. Instead it facilitates discussions and increases mutual understanding.
Grit, self-control, zest, social intelligence, optimism, and curiosity. What do these traits have in common? They are all components of “character strength”. How are such values taught in the classroom? It is through building optimism. It was found that pessimists perceive negative events as being permanent. So if a child with a more pessimistic thinking failed his/her test, she/him would probably believe it’s because he/she is stupid. In contrast, a student with a more optimistic thinking would believe that it’s probably because he/she did not study well for the test and this sort of thinking helps students to make the required changes to better their environment.
Having a solid set of social skills allows you to communicate, relate to, and connect with other people. This is essential for establishing friendships and navigating your way through life with a better degree of satisfaction. It can be surprising how many doors open in life and how many opportunities can fall into your lap when you have good social skills. Skills like non-verbal communication, keeping the conversation going, learning to say “no”, are all learned at Columbia International School.
Good manners cost nothing. This is a rather common saying. But while these gifts are free to give, the simple offerings of being polite and kind can bring huge benefits to ourselves and those around us. By exercising good manners, we show the people around us that we respect them and are considerate to their feelings. Here in our school, we emphasize the importance of this moral quality. There’s a popular saying that goes around our school – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.
Hands-on learning is where students are required to participate in physical activities that is related to a specific subject material. Hence, instead of going through passive learning (e.g. listening to lectures) they are asked to carry out activities in class. Here are some hands-on learning examples that take place in CIS: science experiments, re-enactments of a historical event, playing strategic games in Math’s class and poetry writing and reading in English.