Olga Chudakova

A famous scientist from Russia Dr. Zaitsev is ready to apply his teaching methods in the U.S.

Nikolai Zaitsev from St. Petersburg was one of the most active and popular participants at a conference for preserving the Russian language that took place in Washington, D.C. in December of 2007.

The famous Russian scholar and linguist is world-known for his system called Zaitsev’s cubes. The people that learn to read and write in Russian through Zaitsev’s system around the world number in the tens of thousands.

“I am 100 percent confident that my approach to learning will help parents from former U.S.S.R. countries to teach their young or American-born children the Russian language,” Nikolai Zaitsev said.

The unseen-before pace of technological progress, the spread of urbanization, as well as the accessibility of education to almost every individual, have greatly changed the society. At the same time, 50-60 years ago, children read more, wrote better, and had stronger math skills.         

Has the curriculum become more difficult? Not at all. The school program is just the same as it always was. The standards have even been somewhat lowered. Schoolchildren now suffer from the lack of physical movement, vision losses, posture problems, and overload. They loose interest for studying.

Perhaps it is the case that the people have become less clever? Not so. IQ scores of children today are even higher than those of their peers from 1950.

The cause of the education problem lies in a different place. The scientific and technological revolution changed everything except the methods of education. It took 200-220 lessons for first graders from the middle of the XIX century to learn the basic skills of reading, writing, and counting. Today, at the beginning of the XXI century, the norm is exactly the same. In fact, it takes even longer to study elementary grammar and algebra today than 50 years ago – just compare the curriculum plans.

The efforts to improve pedagogical practices in Russia have been underway since the 1970s. The most prominent among the newly-devised approaches is the system of studying reading, grammar, mathematics, and the English language devised by a St. Petersburg scientist Nikolai Zaitsev.

Fifteen years of the system’s use in Russia, the former Soviet republics, and other countries (including the U.S.) showed these results:

• Many parents in Russia teach their under-school-aged children at home with the use of Zaitsev’s system. In Russia, no one is surprised to see 3-4-year-old children read and count.

• Children of 4-5 years learn to read and count after 10-12 hour-and-a-half-long sessions. First graders accomplish the same in a week.

• Vision and correct posture are not only preserved; they are improved (reputable scientists support this claim). The number of problems associated with the lack of physical movement is also reduced.

The latter observation underscores the uniqueness of Zaitsev’s system. Zaitsev’s tables are placed on all walls in the classroom; they surround the students. The tables are always used during the explanation of the material and its review.            

Any question of the teacher can be answered by using the information in the tables as a guide. To succeed, one must make optimal decisions, carrying out the task in as little steps as possible – selecting the right table, row, column, and cell.     

Because Zaitsev’s system allows free and active movement during the learning process, the students are able to think clearer and to concentrate on the tasks better. The lessons are structured in a form of a game. Over a hundred intellectually-stimulating games have been developed for that purpose. The pace of studying with Zaitsev’s system exceeds that of conventional learning methods. Everyone has good grades. Everything is successful. The result is that Zaitsev’s approach removes the stress, improves the psychological climate in the class, prevents conflicts between the student and the parent, the student and the teacher, the teacher and the parent. Zaitsev’s education materials include a series of manuals that cover various subjects. Each set of materials may be used equally well by a large group of students or by a single individual. Zaitsev’s materials cost considerably less than usual teaching textbooks that cover topics in a fragmented way.

Possible collaboration with U.S. partners can occur along the following lines:

1. Participation in publishing additional copies of already-existing educational materials; creating new computer-based learning programs, electronic games, etc.

2. Participation in developing education programs for learning to read and write in any language.

3. Creating new programs on the basis of Zaitsev’s educational approach.

Collaboration with education establishments:

1. Distribution of Zaitsev’s education materials by organizing lectures, courses, or seminars.

2. Training prospective employees and creating specialized centers that operate with Zaitsev’s system.

3. Teaching instructors and entire language departments; supplying them with materials.   

On June 8-9, 2008, a conference on  Zaitsev’s system will take place in Moscow.

Contact information:

N. Zaitsev Educational Methodology

Tel.: 7-812-716-2479, 7-812-936-2169

www.MetodikiNZ.ru

E-mail: Direct@MetodikiNZ.ru