Exercise enough
Those that are in the education field are going to find that in order to make sure that students are actually learning what is being taught that they must have some type of exercise that is going to allow them to demonstrate their knowledge in the subject and be a way to cement this information into their mind. With that being said, the person should make sure that these exercises are practical. And just how can they be sure that the exercises that are being provided are practical?
First off, they should make sure that the exercises are age appropriate. No one expects a five year old to be able to do a math sheet on their own even if they do understand the basic concept of subtracting and adding. Therefore, the teacher must know the limits of the students that are going to be doing the exercises in order to make them something that are practical for the students. If not, then they are going to find that students may work through the exercise, yet they are not going to take anything away from it. They are not going to be learning anything from just sitting there and writing something out and having help from their parents.
Secondly, the exercise should be something that the student should be able to do on their own. They are going to find that they learn more and retain this better if they able to do the exercise on their own. Yes, they may have to ask for some help or to clarify some point that they may not understand, but for the most part, the person should be able to do this exercise on their own in order for this to be a practical exercise that they are going to learn something from.
Another piece of advice in order to give practical exercises is that the person should be doing these in order to make sure that they are learning more about the subject. Those teachers that simply give busy work are going to find that their students are learning nothing from this and this is a waste of their time to grade and the student's time that could be put to better use. Always make sure that the exercise is practical in the fact that it is meant to help stimulate the idea of what they are learning and to make sure that the person keeps this new concept that they learned in their mind for many years to come.
The idea of practical exercises for educational purposes is by no means a new idea. Everyone wants to make sure that the lesson plan includes exercises that are practical in developing a certain skill or providing more information on the subject that they are leaning. Without the practical exercises, the idea behind what they are learning could be lost, therefore they are necessary. But, if the exercise is simply to fill up space, the teacher will find that students are not putting forth a one hundred percent effort, which is wasting the time of everyone that is involved.