Knowing that your child is different and can never have the same milestone as other children of the same age and below can be rather depressing and disheartening, what more we’re living in a society that emphasize alot on academic achievements and excellence. Throughout the years, I come to realize that although autism is just a disorder and there’s nothing to be ashamed of. But then again, people can be condemning and they don’t necessarily share the same sentiment. The blame is always on my parenting skills, no matter how much my child achieve, it’s not going to be enough in anyone’s eyes as…well, you know, their children are obviously advanced socially and academically

I’ll be honest with you, it’s one of the reason why I kinda stopped going out with friends with children whose age are close to mine or below. It’s just difficult, seeing other kids who sometimes show off their academic skills so openly in front of you or look at your child weirdly as if he’s the weirdest and naughtiest child ever walked the face of the Earth as they grow up.

Parents can be cruel, but innocent children can be much worst without knowing. Seriously speaking, some children whom I used to think of as cute and adorable are starting to look rather loud, rude and obnoxious to me these days, and I rather not remember them that way.

So, instead of continuously socializing with parents and children who continuously makes me and my child feel inferior, I only associated myself with people who understand and supportive of me and my child. You’d be right if you say that I can’t protect myself or my child from the cruel world forever, but I believe in the law of attraction. If you mix around with positive people who motivates you, you’ll attract good things and soon enough, you’ll thrive from all the motivations and support.

Anyway, enough lamenting. I’ll have you know that I’m constantly on a lookout on how I can help my son improves his communication skills and literacy, and I happened to stumble upon this apps, known as LiteracyPlanet.LiteracyPlanet is an online learning app designed to improve students’ English language skills through fun, educational games and activities. LiteracyPlanet enables parents and educators to harness the power of rich digital media to enhance language skills and build confidence in students. Created by Intrepica Pty Ltd, Australia, the app includes curriculum from pre-school right up to upper secondary school. Lessons are catered to the individual needs of specific students and involves challenging tasks that can target areas requiring improvement. Now, that sounds promising and a mum like me would approve; Lessons that’s catered to individual needs instead of lesson that’s based on a child’s age.

It’s pretty much an interesting apps, and I come to realize that there’s this ‘Word Mania Challenge’ 2014 held quite some time ago. Word Mania Challenge is Malaysia’s largest nationwide online spelling competition that introduces a fun element to English literacy through an interactive virtual learning platform, reaching schools across Peninsular and East Malaysia. Opened to both primary and secondary students, the Challenge required themto create as many words as possible in 3 minutes from a pre-set list of letters.

20 student finalists competed in 45-minute sessions with separate categories for Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary. School winners for the Top 3 Scoring Primary Schools, Top 3 Scoring Secondary Schools, and the Most Participative School from each of the five regions across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.Launched on the 2 of January 2014, the competition saw students vying for the top spots for each of the seven categories. Amazing prizes worth up to RM 1 million in total such as Samsung 4G Chromebooks, Yes 4G devices, FrogStore vouchers and LiteracyPlanet subscriptions for every student in the winning schools made the Grand Finals a thrilling event.

In a short two months, the ’Word Mania Challenge’ saw 1,618,550 games played nationwide, 35,000,000 words spelled, 2,760 supportive teachers, 70,000 student participants and 2,000 schools involved.The champions were announced at the Grand Finals back on 27th March 2014 and prizes were given out by the Deputy Minister of Education II, Y.B. Tuan P. Kalamanathan at the awards ceremony. The competition was held at the Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

All of this was achieved with only minimal publicity through social media, demonstrating the power of the Internet to make learning content such as the Word Mania game go viral.Online competitions such as the ‘Word Mania Challenge’ can positively complement educational initiatives. It is evident from this Challenge that online learning can significantly impact the language learning experience of students.Malaysia is the first country in the world to bring its entire education community together on a single converged platform designed specifically to meet the needs of teaching and learning. Through the 1BestariNet project, students have access to a personalised learning experience regardless of their levels of learning. Certainly, Malaysia stands out as a model of Internet education for the world.

A fine example of how the ‘Word Mania Challenge’ has changed students’ perception of learning English is the story of Muhammad Qasri Hakim Bin Hj Khairul Anwar from SMK Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur. Coming from a single-parent family with limited Internet connectivity at home, he stayed back after school for hours, and at times resorted to borrowing a Yes 4G Dongle from his teacher,Puan Nadila Mohd Yusoff,to play the Challenge at home. “I never thought that learning English could be so fun and exciting. The interactive activities made me want to learn more everyday. I was determined to make a name for myself and my school by joining this Challenge.

Now, seeing this, I think that my son could benefit and be inspired by it too as he doesn’t really absorb the traditional and boring way of teaching well. This should be able to hold his interest in learning, I think. I have all the facilities and resources, and I definitely wouldn’t mind letting my child try it. If you’re one of those parents who would like your child to have fun while learning instead of just stare at the boring old whiteboard and memorize stuff, you might want to look up  www.frogasia.com/wordmania. Who knows, your child can benefit from it? We’ll never know til we try. 😀

Cleffairy: My child thrive once I stopped teaching him the ‘normal’ way as advised by ‘expert parents’.