I consider myself pretty moderate when it comes to my kids’ school work – I make sure they do it and are prepared for their exams, but otherwise, I leave them be, only stepping in when I think they...
I consider myself pretty moderate when it comes to my kids’ school work – I make sure they do it and are prepared for their exams, but otherwise, I leave them be, only stepping in when I think they need help. But really, there’s no running away from the academic rat race if your kids are in the school system here in Singapore.
Other than Chinese, my kids don’t attend any academic tuition or enrichment, so the task of helping them keep up with their school work falls mostly on me. This means I’m the one they turn to for help with homework or when they have doubts to clarify, and the one who gets them ready for the exams. Assessment books are therefore my friends. Whenever I need help with explaining a new concept, I buy an assessment book. Whenever I feel my kids need extra work on a particular area, I buy an assessment book. When I feel stressed, I buy an assessment book. True story.
As you can imagine, I have a lot of assessment books! We are only able to get through a fraction of what we have each year.
What if there was a better system? I was recently introduced to Geniebook, an online learning platform that offers personalised learning, powered by their signature AI. This patented system uniquely identifies the topics your child is strong in and those that they find challenging and generates a revision plan that is tailored to strengthen foundations and accelerate improvement.
I must say I was intrigued. Mei got to try Geniebook on a 2-week trial to try out this system and this is what I thought.
What I liked:
1. Geniebook provides targeted support where my child needs it
Upon signing up, Mei was given a short diagnostics test. This consists of a series of MCQ questions on a variety of topics. Through this, the system does a quick analysis of the topics which she is strong or weak in. Thereafter, I, the parent, can go on to generate a Genie Worksheet to focus of mastering the topics that are challenging my child the most.
Alternatively, parents can also select from a list of topics for each subject and generate a worksheet for up to 3 topics at one time. GenieSmart, Geniebook’s proprietary AI, has been designed identify each child’s academic strengths and weaknesses, and then draw from a library of 150,000 questions (which have been aligned to MOE’s syllabus) to offer more challenging questions in topics that your child has a good grasp of, and questions of a lower difficulty in topics your child needs help with to build his/her foundation. I was pleased to see that there was a good mix of P3 and P4 work offered to my P4 child, giving her the opportunity to review work from the previous year and strengthen her basics if needed.
I usually get a mix of assessment books with at least one for general revision and another for topical revision to zero in on weak areas. Using Geniebook would allow me to do this more efficiently.
On top of Genie Worksheets, Geniebook is also able to compile all the past questions that the child got wrong every 2 weeks into a Revision Worksheet. This allows the child to review their errors and practice the questions again and learn from their mistakes. Like doing corrections, but better, because they are forced to re-look at the questions with fresh eyes and do them again.
2. Geniebook provides instant feedback to my child
Upon doing each question and submitting her answer, Mei was immediately told if she got the answer correct or wrong. Each time, an explanation of the answer was also provided.
Ever been in the position where you get your kids to do assessments but fall behind in the marking and by the time you get round to it your child has already forgotten all about the questions and their answers and could have carried around their wrong understanding for a while now? I’ve definitely been guilty of this. So I definitely appreciate how my child could get an immediate understanding of her mistakes and the concepts behind each question
And in case you think this only applies to MCQ questions, no, the questions in the Geniebook worksheets cover structured questions as well. The answers are instantly marked by the computer, and then submitted for marking by their teachers who will also provide comments on the answers and errors made, usually within 1-2 days. I really liked this feature as it helped my child understand not just what she got wrong but also why.
3. Geniebook makes it easy to track my child’s progress
With all learning taking place on one platform, Geniebook allows me to track my child’s progress, giving a ranking of her strongest and weakest topics based on the scores achieved for each worksheet. This gives me an understanding of areas she needs to work on at a glance. Geniebook also charts my child’s scores over time allowing me to monitor her progress (or lack thereof!) week by week through a real time progress report.
Geniebook also has a companion parents’ app which allows you to set a study schedule for your child, add new worksheets and keep track of their work progress, all from your phone.
4. Geniebook Rewards!
This is something my children definitely view as the best feature of Geniebook: the Bubble Store! The reward system built into Geniebook awards a certain number of “bubbles” to the child upon completing his/her worksheets. These bubbles earned can then be accumulated and spent at the Bubble Store. Forget about useless token kiddy trinkets. The rewards in this store are the real deal. There are Apple and App Store gift cards, Robux (Roblox currency), K-Pop Merch, Lego, Pokemon cards and plushies, books, craft items, and many many more. I’m pretty sure there’s something for everyone! There are items which can be redeemed for a whole range of bubbles, such that doing just a couple of worksheets will already allow you to redeem a reward, though of course saving them up would allow you to really get those big ticket items.
As far as rewards go, these are pretty impressive and my kids were definitely motivated to get them.
5. Geniebook is a convenient one-stop platform
Geniebook’s role as an all-round learning platform is enhanced by its additional features like GenieClass — their LIVE and recorded Online Classes that helps to reinforce key concepts taught in school. These lessons are also recorded so students can access them again or at their own convenience. There is also GenieAsk, a chat function where there are teachers on hand to answer questions and clarify doubts. I did not have access to these functions so I cannot comment further on them save to say that I believe they would add to the learning experience.
What I’m not so keen on:
1. Screentime
The nature of Geniebook’s online learning platform means that children will be subject to plenty of screen time when completing their work. I’m not a big fan of this although I know that it is a sign of the times. The good news is that the Geniebook worksheets are short and can be completed fairly quickly. However, at lower levels where children are more vulnerable and less able to manage their own time, my personal preference is to let these children do their learning away from the computer.
2. Having to type many answers
Geniebook being an online platform, the most convenient mode of inputting answers is to type. It can be quite tedious for children who are not familiar with typing to put in long answers. Geniebook does allow answers to be submitted through writing, and this would be most ideal if you have a tablet and tablet pen, which is useful if you have the appropriate equipment. Otherwise, the other alternative was to write on paper then upload, but having to do that for every question was too painful to contemplate. With school work and exams still being done with pen and paper, I think it is important for children to develop their writing skill and speed. Typing can come later.
3. Online learning is not for everyone
I feel that online learning suits independent learners and is probably not for everyone. I say this as a parent with a child who is easily distracted and for whom time on a computer serves as extra temptation to do something else other than work. Additionally, I feel my children learn better through face-to-face interaction though engaging teachers on live platforms have definitely bridged some of that gap.
In conclusion, I feel that Geniebook is certainly a very well-planned and well-developed learning platform with much to offer. Its AI driven software gives personalised solutions for each child, allowing them to address their weaknesses and learn more effectively, and it is easy for parents to monitor and keep track of their child’s learning progress. Their additional features like online live lessons and chat access to a teacher really make it a one-stop-shop for learning. If you are looking to try out an e-learning platform, I believe you would find Geniebook to be a good and comprehensive choice.
For more information, do visit www.geniebook.com. If you would like to experience a free Strengths Analysis and find out more about your child’s strengths and challenges, click here to register.
This post was brought to you in conjunction with Geniebook. All opinions remain, as always, wholly my own.
