How to get an ‘A+’ in life

We all know that parents want the best for their children. As parents, we aim to send our kids to the best private schools and prepare them for major exams. Of course, this care extends beyond the academic domain. A large part of being a parent involves nurturing our children’s character. We want to prepare children for big life events, like adolescence and their first romantic relationships. Over time, we hope that our kids will blossom into the best versions of themselves.

However, we all know that things can get tricky along the way. Life is like an obstacle course where the hurdles may include failing a big exam, losing a soccer match and fighting with a friend. We want to give our children the tools to become resilient during these hard times, but how do we prepare our kids for life’s many trials and tribulations?

Unfortunately, you can’t study for success in life in the same way that you can for school. You can’t write notes, take mock exams or cram the night before. You need real experience to succeed in life. Paradoxically, that sometimes means overcoming failure and learning to grow from such challenges. So, how do we teach our children these complex lessons? How do we prepare them for the biggest test of all? While there is no magical textbook, we can suggest two valuable approaches for young adults: learn from the wisdom and experiences of others and look inside yourself and reflect on your life and values.


HSC English Module

The new HSC English Common Module, ‘Texts and Human Experiences’, teaches year 12 students how to approach the challenges and tribulations of adult life. In this module, students study culturally important texts to explore the diverse nature of human experiences. The prescribed texts include George Orwell’s famous novel ‘1984’ and Shakespeare’s captivating play ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Students will discover what it means to be human by examining the characters in their texts, including their successes and mistakes, and growth and setbacks.
 
But it’s not enough to just passively read about the lives of characters. To grow as people and as learners, students need to actively reflect on these lessons and consider how they can apply these experiences to their own circumstances. In particular, students must draw parallels between their personal journey and the characters’ situations.
 
In our new Texts and Human Experience series, we contextualise the rubric in prominent philosophical, psychological and cultural debates. We equip students with the complex vocabulary that they need to write insightful essays. Along the way, we challenge their ideas on human experiences by asking reflexive questions that promote critical thinking. We also show students how to apply key terms from the rubric to unseen comprehension texts in their HSC assessments, while offering extensive commentary on select prescribed texts.


Educating Students

We hope that students will learn valuable life lessons through watching our videos in addition to academic know-how. We want them to navigate life’s hurdles with resilience, confidence and wisdom from the past. 


Indeed, as the ancient Roman emperor Julius Caesar once proclaimed: 

“Experience is the teacher of all things.” 

For the price of your daily cup of coffee, help your child to prepare for the HSC and for real life - the most difficult exam of all. Join Schooling Online today!