Avoiding Books at the Bookstore

So finally back in my office and looking out at snow in our backyard and on the mountain. Looks just like a Christmas card.

What started out as a weekend with the Ohio grandkids turned into a longer trip than planned and longer away from this blog than anticipated.

Spent Tuesday in the Starbucks at the foot of Vail Pass, high in the Colorado Rockies. Since it’s hard to drive in blowing snow, the Colorado Dept. of Transportation closed the highway leaving 100 or so folks “stranded” but with plenty of lattes and cappuccinos.

Finally gave up that the highway would open during daylight so found a cozy bed and breakfast for the night and drove home the next morning under bright blue skies and sunshine.

Backing up to the trip and the grandkids, of course, it was fun. They wanted to go to the bookstore. And who would say “no” to grandkids wanting to buy books? Certainly not this grandmother!

Oops, they didn’t say “books.” They said “bookstore.” Barnes and Noble happens to sell a lot more than just books. So when we got there, all three kids wanted pop music CDs instead of books.

So much for reading!

And speaking of books and reading, be sure to check out the “Brain Boosters for Your Kids” e-book series

Elections and Education

Finally, the election’s over. It’ll be interesting to see what changes occur with education policy now that the Dems are in charge.

As you know, I’m not a fan of “No Child Left Behind.” Take a look at “No Child Left” for a good overview of what’s wrong with this policy.

On the other hand, I’m certainly a fan doing what we can to assure that all kids learn to read and have every chance of succeeding in school.

Enough of my soap box. This isn’t a partisan blog. It’s about kids.

And speaking of kids, Eric and I are off to Ohio today to play with some of the grandkids and celebrate some birthdays.

So I’ll be out of the blogosphere for a few days. While I’m gone do some Brain Gym. Read a story to your favorite kid.

And take time to check out the “Brain Boosters for Your Kids” e-book series. You’ll get bunches of tips and strategies for school success.

Teachers Plus Parents Equals Learning

Been gone for a few days so no posts.

Just got back to my office at the foot of snow-covered Chair Mountain yesterday after teaching Brain Gym in Manitou Springs, Colorado. (Manitou Springs also sits at the foot of a snow-covered mountain: Pikes Peak.)

Welcome surprise in Manitou when a bunch of folks showed up at the door, and we scurried to make sure they'd get workbooks and handouts. I'd xeroxed extras but not enough. I love it when this happens.

We had teachers AND parents (several occupational therapists and paraprofessionals, plus a literacy coach). A couple of teachers even brought their grown daughters who are Moms themselves.

It's the mix of teachers and parents together that works for kids. Now the parents can reinforce what the teachers use. Obviously, in this case it's Brain Gym.

So now when 3rd grader Brian comes home and announces he needs to do "Lazy 8's" before doing his reading homework, his Dad knows what he's talking about and can do it with him.

Involving parents in the process is certainly a brain-based learning strategy.

So how'd we get parents involved?

First the school invited them to a free evening pizza party (food is a great motivator) where I showed them a bit of Brain Gym they could use not only to help their kids but for themselves too.

Then the Manitou Springs School District sponsored a one-day workshop (coffee, donuts, and bananas provided), charging a measly $25.

It worked. Your PTA or school administration can do the same thing. Just don't forget the food!

But you don't wait for your school to sponsor Brain Gym. Start learning how to use it tomorrow night. The Brain Gym Basics TeleChat series for parents and teachers starts Wednesday, November 8 at 6:00 pm mountain time.

Your Kids’ Smarts Don’t Matter

Stephen and his kids are smart. Of course. What Mom/Grandmom in her right mind would say something like “Ya know what? My kids and grandkids are really stupid.”?

So Abby, the 3rd grader, is the top kid in her class in terms of test scores and such. She’s quite proud herself, So am I. The family went on a trip and Abby missed a week of school. Her friend was thrilled. With Abby gone, she got to be the smartest kid. 3rd graders think it’s cool to be smart.

And what about Abby’s Dad. In 5th grade, he didn’t want to be the smartest kid. After all, he was already the tallest kid. Enough already of being different. Not so cool for the average almost-in-middle-school boy to be the smartest.

Obviously, 3rd grade girls are smarter than 5th grade boys!

So Stephen goofed around a lot. Became Springfield, Oregon’s champion Mario Brothers video game player. Mastered the complicated Dungeons and Dragons game. Stalled doing homework. Got mediocre grades on the homework he did manage to finish.

Then Mr. Marachek, his very smart teacher, formed The Math Club. Stephen and other smart math-minded kids got to join and do “advanced” math. It worked. Now Stephen wasn’t "different." He was “special.”

It’s all about motivation and the emotional hooks that propel smart kids to act smart.

And that leads right into telling you about e-Book Three of my “Brain Boosters for Your Kids” series. “Why Smart Kids Fail: How you can help them shine” gives you the three brain-based learning secrets for getting your smart kids to act smart.

I've already given away two of the answers: motivation and emotional hooks.
The e-book will give you lots of ways to motivate these kids and how to find the emotional hooks. For teachers in your classrooms. For parents at home.

So today’s the big day: The launch of my three Brain boosters e-book series that will help you help your kids succeed at school.

As I mentioned, there’s a 4th book. It’s one of six bonuses for subscribing to the series before November 9. Subscribe right away and you’ll get two additional bonuses.

P.S. Nope, no testimonials about the fabulous results teachers and parents have witnessed after using the tips and techniques in the Brain Boosters e-books.

I can’t figure out how to do testimonials for something nobody’s read or used yet! You can read testimonials in December when the first e-book’s been read and the strategies proven to work.

P.P.S. But if it's testimonials you're after, check out what folks are saying about Brain Gym and the Brain Gym Basics TeleChat series. Then sign up for tomorrow night’s free “Intro to Brain Gym” Telechat.

Can’t make it tomorrow night? Sign up anyway. Listen to the Web audio of the TeleChat at your convenience. You’ll still get the handouts.

Are Kids Driving You Crazy?

Mentioned the other day that we probably all live in an attention-deficit world. Then rambled on about myself and my to-do list.

But what about kids? Kids imitate us so, as you well know, they exhibit living in an attention deficit world too. Either they’re running around like mad, driving their teachers and parents crazy. Or they’re zoned out in front of the TV or a video game.

Then we label them ADD and give them drugs. (Most of us run around like crazy too and zone out in front of the TV but we’re way less likely to label ourselves.)

I’ve also talked about that before in the blog. Obviously, I’m obsessed with this ADD thing. So I’m sure you can guess what e-book Two in my “Brain Boosters for Your Kids” series is all about.

“They’re Driving Me Crazy: What to do about ADD without Giving Kids Drugs” includes what ADD is, how you know if you or a kid has it, the many factors that can lead to ADD-like behavior, and why it’s really a label and not a disease.

And most importantly, lots of parent and teacher tips, strategies, and resources for managing ADD—if not stopping this behavior all together.

For example, keep a schedule and set firm boundaries. Watch how much sugar kids eat. Calm down yourself.

By the way, if you’re looking for a quick way to calm down yourself and help kids, even preschoolers, settle down, then take advantage of Thursday night’s free Intro to Brain Gym TeleChat. Tell a friend, a parent, a teacher.

You’ll discover what makes Brain Gym so effective. I’ll give you two of my favorite Brain Gym activities (they’re the one’s that help you calm down), and I’ll stay on the line to answer your questions about Brain Gym . . . and ADD.

While I’m at it, might as well mention e-book Three: “Why Smart Kids Fail” since it fits with the ADD book. After all one of the reasons smart kids fail is lack of focus. And, of course, ADD is all about focus.

Now if you can’t wait for my ADD e-book, then take a look at Dr. Edward Hallowell’s books. He’s my favorite ADD expert. Although Hallowell’s an MD, he agrees that drugs aren’t always the answer.

Was going to give you a link but Hallowell’s everywhere on the Web, and I couldn’t choose the best link. Just Google “Edward Hallowell, MD.” (without the quotes).

He’s got books and articles and interviews, teaches at Harvard Medical School and runs the Hallowell Center for ADD. He even mentions Brain Gym in one of his books. (And you're wondering why he's my fave!)

Or just pick up “Driven to Distraction” by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey. I’m giving you the link for the Hallowell Store so you can browse all his stuff. Of course, you can probably get the book cheaper at Amazon. Or read his articles on line for free.

Anyway, watch the blog over the next couple days for your opportunity to get in on my pre-publication four-e-book-series-with-super-bonuses extravaganza.

I’m so excited about this that I nearly gave you a link and the page isn’t up yet!

Oops, Wrong Link for Free Brain Gym TeleChat

Guess I got so excited my four e-books that I accidentally gave you the wrong link for signing up for the Free “Intro to Brain Gym TeleChat.” Not once but several times. Duh!

See what happens when you try multi-tasking? It's not a brain-based learning strategy. I talked about the latest research on multi-tasking in Saturday's post.

So click here on the right link for the Free Brain Gym TeleChat.

It’s Wednesday night, November 4 at 6 pm mountain time. Lasts an hour. Time for your questions and includes handouts.

If you can’t make it, sign up anyway. You can listen to the Web audio at your convenience and get the handouts.

O.K. so sure you’ve figured out that this free class is a marketing tool for me to get you to register for the Brain Gym Basics TeleChat 4-week series and you know Brain Gym Basics isn’t free. Not very expensive but still not free.

But you’ll get enough Brain Gym on the free TeleChat to use Brain Gym yourself and with your kids at home or in school. And you’ll find out what Brain does and how.

I’ll be showing you actual Brain Gym movements—some of the most effective, always-work exercises. The easy exercises you’ll use to get kids and yourself calmed down and focused. You’ll get full-color pictures of these movements, instructions for using them, why they work, and when to use them.

If your kids can’t calm down and concentrate, they can’t learn.

So sign up right now. The telephone bridge line is limited and you don’t want to be left out.

Finally, Brain-based Learning Books in the Works!

So I finally did it! After years of procrastination I started writing an e-book. (By the way, procrastination’s not a brain-based learning strategy.)

Now once I get started, I don’t mess around. It’s the getting started that’s hard. So why write just one e-book when four’s more fun?

And to give myself credit, I’ve been writing bits and pieces, outlining chapters, gathering notes, clipping newspapers, downloading and printing stuff off the Web forever

You got it. I’m right in the middle of writing four e-books! Of course you’ll find tips and strategies you can use right away. And they’ll all have lots of fun workbook fill-in-the-blank pages for you. Plenty of self-quizzes and kid-quizzes.

Plus tons of resources—for parents, for teachers, and even for kids. I love e-books because you can get all those links to other resources right in the text. You sure can’t do that with bookstore books.

The first one’s called “Brain Boosters for Your Kids.” (Now there’s an obvious title.) It’s a hodge-podge of easy tips and strategies for helping kids learn faster, be happier, and stop driving you nuts. It’ll be out mid-December.

I’ll tell you about the other three books later.

I’m so excited about the Brain Boosters e-book series that I’m doing a huge pre-publication special deal where you get all four books plus a bunch of bonuses. All at half price. And in plenty of time for holiday gift giving.

More about this tomorrow. I need to get back to writing.

P.S. Brain Gym® isn't in the series. So if you want to know about Brain Gym, you’ll need to sign up for the FREE Intro to Brain Gym TeleChat , Thursday evening, Nov. 2.

Or just register for the Brain Gym Basics TeleChat Series beginning Nov. 8. (Teachers, you can get graduate-level professional development credit for this 6-hour class.)

Curious about Brain Gym in general, the research, who “invented” it? Check out the Educational Kinesiology Foundation’s Web site.

Brain Gym’s taught in 90 countries around the world. And both the "Wall Street Journal" and the CBS morning show have featured Brain Gym.

P.P.S. Busy time around my office as the Manitou Springs one-day super-cheapo Brain Gym Class happens this weekend. Don’t forget that high school and college kids can come to this class too. And for only 25 bucks.

Then next weekend Eric and I are off to Ohio to play with three of the grandkids. The other four live in New Hampshire. Too bad we can't take the time to do Ohio and New Hampshire all in one trip.

When I get back to the mountains, this blog will get a forum so you can comment, disagree with me, and ask questions.

And the blog will split itself into two: one blog for teacher/parent how-to-help-our-kids stuff and another blog just for school and education news.

Clearing up the Confusion: So What is Brain-based Learning Anyway?

Guess it’s time to explain since folks keep asking: “What on earth is Brain-based learning anyway?”

Well, technically, it’s a theory that says kids have different ways of learning and if we teach to all of those ways of learning, every kid will learn and learn more effectively.

Some kids are visual learners, some are auditory, others learn best kinesthetically, and so on.

It’s another way of talking about Howard Gardner’s work in Multiple Intelligences.

However, I use it in a much broader sense. Anything we can do to boost brain power is, in fact, “brain-based learning.” So brain-based learning includes everything from eating food high in nutrients for the brain (protein, for example) to moving across the mid-line (Brain Gym exercises)

Stimulating the brain by doing something different or learning something new is brain-based learning. Even drinking water which increases the electrical conductivity of your brain cells fits the category.

This definition of brain-based learning works for everyone—not just visual learners or kinesthetic learners. We can all use it and so can our kids.

Want to know more about Brain Gym? Sign up for the FREE 1 hour Brain Gym TeleChat. It’s Thursday night, November 2, 2006. Can’t make it? No worries. If you sign up, you’ll still get the link for the Web audio and the handouts.

Life in an Attention-deficit Society

Was reading some stuff yesterday about Internet marketing by guru Rich Schefren. He thinks we live in an attention-deficit society.

No kidding.

So today I need to get the basement picked up and rearranged so there’s room in the guest room for a guest, pay some bills, run to the Post Office, work on my e-book “Brain Boosters for Your Kids" (deadline is Nov. 9 for rough draft), get 60 workbooks ready for next week’s Brain Gym class, listen to a teleseminar from my Internet marketing mentor Tom Antion, and . . . the to-do list just for today never ends

I’m overwhelmed. It’s too much. Can’t keep my attention on anything or figure out what to do next.

So, yes, I agree with Rich. Even in quiet, peaceful Marble, Colorado, I live in an attention-deficit world.

And the latest brain research is saying that my brain doesn’t like multi-tasking which is how I’ve always tried to manage my to-do lists.

Possible Solutions:

1. Randomly cut up the to-do lists in very small pieces, put in hat, and draw.

2. Go fishing (People in Marble fish in the Crystal River even in snow.)

3. Eat a little very dark, rich-in-something-that’s-good-for-you, chocolate.

4. Listen to my OptiMindzation CD for brain entrainment.

5. Do Brain Gym.

Today’s Decisions:

Do 3, 4, and 5 in that order. No. 1 is scary and no. 2 is boring. 4 and 5 are good brain-based learning techniques. I guess 3 is too since your brain learns better if it's feeling good. And what makes one feel better than chocolate? (Well, I can think of something but we can't mention it in a family publication.)

P.S. If you’d like to help yourself and your kids recover from our attention-deficit society, sign up for a free TeleChat about Brain Gym. It’s Thursday evening, Nov. 2 at 6 pm mountain time. You’ll get handouts and an audio recording of the call you can listen to later on the Web.

Who's Getting Attention in School?

When my son Stephen was in high school, he never had a problem getting a job. He was always employed.

His girl friend, on the other hand, had a harder time finding a part-time job. Both bright kids with good work ethics. And she had better grades than he did.

I’m convinced that gender got in the way. Bosses hired boys over girls. And I believe it’s just as true today as in 1985.

How does it play out at school? Study after study shows that teachers pay more attention to boys than girls. Do they mean to? Probably not. And it doesn’t mean that girls aren’t often at the top of their class.

Back in 1972, Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in education. No more single sex schools—at least if you wanted to receive Federal funds.

Now the Department of Education is saying that as long as you offer a “substantially equal” school to students of the other gender, you can provide single-sex schools.

Before we go any further, let me state unequivocally that I am, and have been since 1970, a Feminist. I taught Women’s Studies for years. And I rarely support this Administration’s Department of Education policies.

But Feminists don’t always see eye to eye.

Is it the same argument as “separate but equal” that meant segregation for black kids?

Or is it a way to empower girls?

Sure, in the best of all worlds, we’d be empowering girls at school with or without boys. Teachers would be paying equal attention to girls and boys. Just as many girls would be class president or editor of the school newspaper.

Remember it isn’t just grades that get girls into college. It’s all those extra-curricular activities, especially ones that show leadership abilities.

The National Association of State Boards of Education has a good overview of the same-sex school discussion although written before the latest Dept. of Education ruling.

Philanthropist Ann Tisch founded the Young Women’s Leadership Foundation. The Foundation opened a public girls-only school in 1996 in East Harlem in New York. For six years, the test scores of the graduating classes are well above the city’s averages. Despite a complaint filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Tisch has opened five more inner-city schools for girls.

If I were an East Harlem single-mom with teenage girls, you better believe they’d be in Tisch’s school Good brain-based learning strategy. Then they’d have a shot at getting into Harvard!

Brain Gym empowers girls too.

Does Your Baby Need a Shrink?

Now there’s an off-the-wall headline! Babies seeing shrinks? Surely not.

Turns out there’s a booming business in mental health for babies. Ten major universities across the country offer programs for babies and their parents.

By the time I’d finished reading the article, I got it.

Yes, it’s a good idea for some babies. Given all the research about the impact of pre-natal trauma—even what Mom says to her unborn child—babies can in fact come into this world with “issues.”

Bottom line, negative experiences alter a baby’s brain chemistry.

Mom and Dad fought a lot during Mom’s pregnancy. Mom’s ambivalent about having this baby. Dad is stressed out, overworked, and overwhelmed. Mom didn’t bond with her parents when she was an infant.

All of these contribute to a baby’s lack of well being. And that extends to difficult times during the first three months and beyond.

Once the pattern is set in the baby’s brain, it stays there and can wreck havoc unless there’s some kind of intervention. Depression, anxiety, learning disorders, anorexia—all can be see in babies and certainly can show up later.

So which babies should see shrinks?

Adopted babies, babies whose Moms had difficult pregnancies and deliveries and they’re still recovering, babies of Moms and Dads (and Grandparents) who worry about every little thing.

Newborns not interested in sights, sounds, and touch. Older babies who aren’t connecting emotionally to those who love them. 1-2 year olds who aren’t interested in pretend play and have limited emotional range.

These babies and their parents will benefit from early-childhood family-based therapy.

You can read more about it at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06297/732517-114.stm

Brain Gym can also be used effectively with babies and toddlers. Check out “Brain Gym Basics” at www.brain-based-learning.com/BrainGymTeleChatforTeachers.htm. (Parents, this is for you too.)

Lots of Snow for the Brain

So, as you probably know by now, my husband Eric and I moved high up in the Colorado Rockies last summer. No more city living for us. Wow! What a change. And yes, we're lovin' it.

We live in the "suburbs" of Marble, Colorado--Marble boasts a population of 85 folks so obviously we're not exactly crowded here in the "burbs." Marble does boast a store but it's only open in the summer.

And as you also know from the last post the first snow of the season knocked out the electricity. Then we got more snow--about a foot or so. Gorgeous. Not all that cold. Our back yard looked just like a Christmas card.

The satellite dish which provides our Interent connection also got a foot of snow. Unfortunately, the dish doesn't like snow and stopped working even though the electricity was back on. Now what? Maybe living in the Marble "burbs" at 8,000 feet isn't so much fun after all.

After much grumbling and then calling tech support types, I discover that I simply need to brush the snow off the dish. Duh! No big deal. Don't need tech support. And I'm back on the Internet in seconds.

O.K. so what does this story have to do with my aging brain?

Everytime I learn something new--even as inconsequential as brushing snow off the satellite dish--my brain makes new neuronal connections. Couple more brain cells connected and firing. In fact, my brain goes for the whole adventure of living up here in a cozy log cabin after a lifetime of city living. I'm discovering new things every day.

Now imagine what would happen to your brain if you took on a major new project . . .a new job, learning a new language, taking piano lessons when you've never played the piano, discovering how to tie flies for fly fishing. The list is endless. A healthy brain depends on this.

So it's no wonder we often think kids are smarter than we are and learn things quicker. They're in school and their business is learning new things every day.

Interested in mastering a hobby quickly and with ease? How about lowering your golf score? Wish you could help your kids succeed in school more easily? Check out Brain Gym. It's for you and your kids. It's for parents and teachers.

You can listen to a free hour-long TeleChat about Brain Gym (and get 15 psges of handouts) at www.brain-based-learning.com/BrainGymIntroTeleChat.htm

How to Use Brain-based Learning when the Electricity Goes Out

Woke up this morning to 6 inches of wet, heavy snow. We're up in the mountains so snow in October isn't unusual nor unwanted. Except that this snow brought down power lines. And zap, out go the lights, my computer, and the coffee pot.

I'm so addicted to electricity and an internet connection that I drove 26 miles to the nearest library so I could blog and check e-mail--after stopping for coffee, of course.

Got me to thinking about our dependence on electricity and it's connection to learning. So what do kids do when the electricity goes out--other than whine because there's no TV and ask when it's coming back on?

Next time it happens, here's a list to choose from. After they've checked the list, see who can add the most activities to it. Have a "no electricity" contest. The brain likes contests--contests build new neuronal connections.

1. Read
2. Play board games
3. Make a snowman
4. Take a walk in the rain
5. Do arts and crafts activities
6. Finish homework
7. Figure out what to eat that doesn't require a stove or microwave. Could you fix an entire dinner without cooking?

No contest for me. I found electricity as soon as I could even if it meant a long drive.

And speaking of Brain-based Learning, check out the FREE Introductory Brain Gym TeleChat. Discover a program that helps kids (and their teachers and parents) learn anything more easily and quicker. It’s Wednesday night, October 18, from 6 to 7 pm mountain time. Can’t make it? Register anyway and listen at your convenience on Web audio.

And while you’re at it, take a look at a new brain entrainment program. It’s called OptiMINDzation. I’m using it myself and just love it. Helps me focus when I get overwhelmed by my 10-mile-long to-do lists. You can do it without electricity--as long as you remembered to get batteries.

Why are We Using Accommodations when Simple Brain-based Learning Strategies Work?

Jimmy Fox just finished writing his memoirs about growing up on a tenant farm in Maryland. His book’s wonderful, filled with laugh-out-loud anecdotes. One of those rare can’t-put-it-down stories.

Since lots of people write memoirs, what’s the big deal about Jimmy’s? Well, he has severe dyslexia—so severe that he struggled in school, repeated a grade, and never graduated from high school—and he’s recovering from cancer.

Of course, if Jimmy were many years younger and in school today, he’d receive accommodations for his “disability.” Longer on tests. Maybe someone would read the questions to him and he could answer verbally.

And then what happens when Jimmy graduates? According to Sue Shellenbarger, a columnist for the “Wall Street Journal,” turns out that in many workplaces the accommodations stop.

The folks with dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, and other “learning-disabilities” are moved to dead-end jobs, don’t get promoted, and often fired.

Now I’m not against accommodations for children who struggle in school. But why are we depending on them when they don’t help kids prepare for life after they graduate? Aren’t we setting them up to fail?

After all we have programs, techniques, and strategies to help with dyslexia and ADD/ADHD. Brain Gym®, Retrain the Brain®, Tomatis®, brain integration therapies, and scads of neurofeedback, and brain entrainment programs work.

Some like Brain Gym can be used in the classroom, are inexpensive, and don’t require special equipment. Others such as neurofeedback technology are used individually. Some require taking children to centers such as Tomatis.

In other words, we have proven techniques that help many students overcome these “disabilities.” Strategies the students themselves learn to master. Then we can send them out into the workplace without labels, able to work effectively at their chosen jobs.

You can check out one of these programs yourself tomorrow night. Register now for a FREE Introductory Brain Gym TeleChat. Discover a program that helps learning-challenged kids learn anything more easily and quicker. It’s Wednesday night, October 18, from 6 to 7 pm mountain time. Can’t make it? Register anyway and listen at your convenience on Web audio.

And while you’re at it, take a look at a new brain entrainment program. It’s called OptiMINDzation. I’m using it myself and just love it. Helps me focus when I get overwhelmed by my 10-mile-long to-do lists.

Cancel Recess? Surely They're not serious!

Creghton Elementary in Phoenix just cancelled morning and afternoon recess. Whitman-Hanson Regional School District in Massachusetts cancelled morning recess for all its elementary schools. The Frank M. Silvia School in Atlanta just cut back recess.

They're not alone. In every Brain Gym class I teach, teachers report that their school has just cancelled recess or cut out gym.

What's next? Tying kids to their seats? Gluing their arms to their desks?

What are they thinking? Scientists and child development experts have known for years that physical movement is crucial to brain development and learning.

Think about it. How many times have you gotten stuck on some thorny problem so you take a break, get up and move around or take a walk. And then get back to it and sure enough, it's easier.

Luckily for our kids, The American Academy of Pediatrics just issued a report that free play involving physical movement is necessary for kids. And some academic types are doing the research. They're proving what we've known all along: recess helps kids focus more and fidget less. And that equals more learning.

Make no mistake. Moving is a crucial brain-based-learning strategy.

Find out more at http://www.topix.net/med/pediatrics?full=c537a34e4c

Discover movements that improve learning for you and your kids at the FREE Introduction to Brain Gym TeleChat on October 18, 6 pm mountain time.
Sign up at www.brain-based-learning.com/registerFreeBGIntro.htm

What Makes TV Stressful?

Just read about a low-budget Disney TV show for kids. “Quelli dell’ Intervallo” is so popular in Italy it’s being picked up in other European countries.  A bunch of kids, standing in a group, look straight at the camera and talk. No animation. No special effects.

Has a fun plot line and actually sounds kind of interesting to me. And keep in mind that there’s not nearly as much TV for kids in Europe as in the US.

Now there’s talk about bringing the show to the U.S. But I’ll bet it will never fly over here even though the segments are short and can be watched on tiny cell phone screens.

Our kids are used to extreme special effects and equally extreme rapid movement—even on Sesame Street.  In fact they’re mesmerized by TV in ways that were unheard of when my son was a kid and watching Saturday morning cartoons.

Unfortunately these rapid visual effects and movement aren’t great for the brain. A few years ago the rapid movement and laser effects in a Japanese show sent kids to the hospital with epileptic seizures.  

Bottom line, TV can sometimes be pretty stressful even if the content of the show is benign.

So how much do you know about the connection between stress and learning?  Take the free “Stress Quiz” and find out.

Stress is Not a Brain-based Learning Strategy!

I was listening this afternoon to a teleseminar with Dr. Carla Hannaford, a biologist and the author of Smart Moves: Why Learning is not All in Your Head. She was talking about why kids who are stressed out have trouble learning. Not exactly a new idea.

But I sure didn’t know that 75 percent of your frontal lobes shut down under stress including your non-dominant side completely. In other words, if you’re left-brain dominant and stressed out, your entire right side will stop functioning as will most of your left side. The frontal lobes control thinking and reasoning, not to mention communication.  

Now there’s a mind boggling statistic. No wonder I botch things up when I’m feeling stressed out. And no wonder kids under stress don’t succeed in school, flunk tests, and struggle with learning.

If you’d like to manage your stress around your kids’ homework or their test scores in the classroom and help them manage stress, register today for “Kids + Learning = parent and Teacher Pressure: How to Lower Your Stress While They Learn. It’s a TeleChat at 6 pm mountain time Wednesday night (Oct. 11) and comes with lots of handouts.

Register even if you’re busy since the audio will be posted on the Web site so you can listen later. And while you’re at the registration Web site, be sure and take the “Stress Quiz.”  Discover how much you really know about stress and learning.

Warm Fuzzies Equals Brain-based Learning: Surely a Joke!

Study after study says “Reading to your kids makes kids better readers.” O.K., I’d agree with that. The reading specialists, bless their hearts, have analyzed what this means. It’s about seeing words on pages. About hearing the words. Connecting what they hear to what they see on the page. It’s even related to beginning to understand phonics—if you think phonics is important. (I do.)

I say forget all this analysis. There’s one reason kids who are read to become good readers. It’s called “warm fuzzies” and “warm fuzzies” have a scientific, neurological basis.

All of us and our kids must have a connection to the mid-brain or Limbic System in order to be motivated to do anything, including reading. The mid-part of the brain is the brain’s emotional center. In other words that’s where love is.

So of course, my four-year-old granddaughter Cari, sitting on her Daddy’s lap during bed-time reading, feels loved? It’s quality time with Dad. It’s warm fuzzies.

So now Cari’s a big girl and doing a splendid job of reading in first grade. She’s learned to connect reading to love. And love’s just about the best motivator we’ve got.

Want your kids to love reading? Read to ‘em every night. Hold ‘em in your lap. Do the quality one-on-one time with ‘em. Connect reading to love and you’ll have a kid who loves to read. It’s a brain-based learning strategy.
* * *
Feeling stressed out by parenting? By teaching? Don’t forget next Wednesday’s Telechat:  “Kids + Learning = Parent and Teacher Pressure:  How to Lower Your Stress while They Learn.” Register Today for this Brain-based Learning TeleChat .  The TeleChat’s Wednesday, October 11, 6 pm mountain time. Put it on your calendar now. My TeleChat’s always come with handouts you can use at home and in the classroom.

When Brain-based Learning Strategies Don't Work

I’d like to believe that folks think of me as expert in brain-based learning strategies. And certainly I’m passionately interested in the subject. Teach it, read about it, study it, talk about it to anybody who’ll listen to me.

It’s my thing. I believe in it. It works! It helps kids learn! And it’s easy for parents and teachers.

But brain-based learning strategies don’t work all the time—even for me!

Bottom line: You can’t learn something if you aren’t interested. And you aren’t interested unless there’s an emotional connection to whatever you feel you must learn.

Go back to yesterday’s post where I admitted that I’m really bad at math. And there’s certainly an emotional connection there. My father hated math. I loved my father. So I hated math too. Made me feel closer to him.  And now I can’t even balance my checkbook without a struggle.

Explains why some really smart kids don’t do very well in school. And why some not-so-smart kids end up doing great.  

So discover what your kids love and connect it to learning. She loves ice skating and hates reading? Get her books about ice skating.

Want to discover more about motivation and learning? Register now for tonight’s free TeleChat, “All about Reading.”  It’s at 6 pm mountain time. I’ll be talking about how to motivate kids to read.

And I’ll also be showing you a neat Brain Gym exercise you can do to improve reading skills—you can even use it yourself.  You’ll get handouts and templates you can duplicate to use in your classroom or at home.

It’s all free. Go to www.brain-based-learning.com/registerreadingtelechat.htm to register. Send the link to a friend, a teacher, or a parent—anybody who wants to help kids read. Remind them that enrollment is limited so they need to register right away.

Like Father, Like Daughter

More about kids imitating adults—the good, the bad, and the ugly. So I learned to read before I went off to Kindergarten. After all my father read all the time. My mother didn’t read quite as much but she still read a lot.

We had books, books, and more books plus magazines and newspapers all over the place. I thought my parents were terrific so I wanted to do what they did. And I learned to read.

Now my father, however, wasn’t crazy about math. So when he went off to college, he convinced the Dean to excuse him from taking the required Math 101.

When I had trouble in arithmetic, he told me that story. Well, guess what? I’m still not very good at even simple math and nearly flunked algebra and geometry in high school. Forget math in college!

It’s just another story about kids imitating adults. He didn’t like math so I didn’t bother with it either.

And speaking of motivating kids to learn, don’t forget about my free TeleChat, “All About Reading” on Wednesday evening, October 4, at 6 pm mountain time (5 pm pacific, 7 pm central, and 8 pm eastern.  And yes, even motivation, is a brain-based learning strategy.

Go here for more information and to register:
www.brain-based-learning.com/registerreadingtelechat.htm  

P.S. While you’re at it, pass the word to other folks who care about children and reading—teachers, parents, anybody who works with kids. I’d love to “see” you on the TeleChat.

Brain-based Learning doesn't Include Clutter

So I admit it. I’m a “stacker.” Stacks of random pieces of paper, bills to be paid, bills that have already been paid, telechat materials, plans for new telechats, and endless “to do” lists.

In short, I often have an overly-cluttered office and a desk piled so high that my beautiful oak desktop is invisible.

But funny thing happened yesterday: I cleaned up the mess—tossed, filed, and tossed some more. And today I got twice as much work done as usual. I felt calm, organized, and focused. Great feeling. I love it!

Let’s face it. Most people’s brains, and this includes kids’ brains, do better in an uncluttered environment. Especially a brain that might be labeled ADD/ADHD.

So with the weekend here, I suggest spending some time clearing off your desk, getting the kids to clean their rooms, and just plain getting rid of clutter.

Your brain will appreciate the effort.

P.S. Watch for news about next week’s free TeleChat. It’s filled with teacher strategies and parent tips for helping kids read and read more often. I’ll be giving you a quick brain-based learning technique that’s fast, fun to do and it works. And you'll get handouts too. Teaching kids to read doesn’t have to be a struggle.

Moms (and Teachers too) Show 'em What to Do

Kids and over-eating are all over the news. A couple days ago the “Wall Street Journal” published an article with the not-so earth-shattering news that what Moms do and not what they say affect what daughters do.

The point being that when Mom says “You can’t have candy” and then chows down on a box of Godiva chocolates, her daughter’s gonna eat chocolate too. Good grief, even my Grandma knew this.

And what does this have to do with that most basic of brain-based learning strategies, Reading? It’s same principle. They imitate us.

Why should kids want to read, master reading, or find books interesting if Mom isn’t reading? As we as a society read less and less—fewer newspaper subscribers, fewer magazine subscribers, fewer folks at the library—our kids are just copying our behavior. No wonder it seems harder to teach them to read.

And then we whine when reading scores go down.

Parent Tip, Teacher Strategy: Grab a book or a magazine or even The National Enquirer and read it in plain view of your kids. Model reading and they’ll read too—if they don’t faint first!

P.S. Watch my blog for news about an upcoming free TeleChat to help you help kids read—at school and at home.

What about Social Networking for Kids?

Little kids always want to do what big kids do. These days big kids are doing social networking on their computers. MySpace saw 52 million visitors in June. Some of these visitors posted sexual content unsuitable for little kids. And even worse, some of the visitors were men looking to entice young girls.  Even though MySpace is working on security and content issues, it’s hardly a safe or appropriate place for your youngsters.

Now there’s a solution. It’s Imbee, a social networking site designed for kids 8-14. Parents have to approve registration. They can join too. No un-moderated chat rooms, and security prevents your child from talking to strangers. You can check it out at www.imbee.com

Kids can post pictures and blog on Imbee. Then invite their friends and family to take a look.  When a child joins Imbee, they get a "business card" they can copy and pass out to their friends, encouraging them to join.

Imbee can be used in the classroom too. For example, your 4th grade class could all join and then share their pictures, thoughts, poems, class projects, whatever with their family.  

Sounds like fun.  I’m going to talk the grandkids in New Hampshire and Ohio into joining Imbee, and then I’ll join here in Colorado.  Hmm, not sure how grandparents join since our addresses are different. Have to look into it.  

P.S. Don’t forget that my 3-hour “Introduction to Brain Gym” TeleChat starts on August 8. Sign up today at www.brain-based-learning.com/TeleChatBrainGym.htm  Plenty of time on the TeleChat for your questions.

If you’ve been interested in Brain Gym but haven’t had the time, money, or opportunity to take the full three-day class, the Brain Gym TeleChat’s your answer.  It works for kids at home. It works in the classroom. And it works for grownups too.  

Brain-based Learning can be Quiet

Here’s the main article from today’s Brain Boosters for Your Kids ezine. Subscribe at www.brain-based-learning.com. Back issues are posted at www.brain-based-learning.com/archives.htm  You’re welcome to reprint this article in your on-line newsletter or print publication.  Just be sure to reprint all of the article and include my name, MaryJo Wagner, Ph.D. and contact information, mjw@mjwagner.com, www.brain-based-learning.com  

Quiet on a Summer Day: It's Essential for Your Sanity and Their Brain
by MaryJo Wagner, Ph.D.

Is your youngster only quiet when asleep or watching TV?

Kids need quiet activities that require focus and  concentration.  The trick is getting them to do it.

And you need the down-time too. Schedule some time every day which doesn't involve driving kids to the pool, and you'll stop counting the days till they're back in school.

Succeeding in school requires the ability to be quiet and focus. Your kids will benefit by practicing these skills during the summer that they'll need in the fall when school starts.

The key is letting them choose fun un-school-like quiet things.

Try alternating between mental activities like word puzzles and physical activities that build eye-hand coordination such a building models or sewing.

1. With very young children and older children who resist this idea, start small. Begin with as little as 10-15 minutes a day and do the activity with them.

2. For kids who are “antsy” all the time (ADD/ADHD), Cross Crawl and Hook-ups from Brain Gym® work. Directions for Hook-ups are in the July 20 issue of this ezine. How to Cross Crawl is in the premier issue. Go to www.brain-based-learning.com/archives.htm  While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to the Brain Boosters for Your Kids ezine.

3. Take the kids to a large arts and crafts store like Michaels or Hobby Lobby and let them pick out something that looks like fun: sticker books, paint-by-number, model cars and airplanes, jewelry kits, art projects and science experiments.

Do watch, however, that they haven’t picked out something beyond their skill level. You don’t want “This is too hard and I can’t do it” as part of quiet time!  I put a 3-D castle jigsaw puzzle in the garage sale.  Neither my husband nor I could do it and our grandson, who enjoys quiet activities, gave up in 10 minutes.

And steer them away from things you know will drive you crazy. Is this an activity that makes a huge mess and you can’t stand messes?  Maybe something else will interest your child. My granddaughter chose a sand painting kit. We had colored sand everywhere for months. Never again!

4. Check out books at the library. (However, for children who hate to read or have difficulty with reading, this is not a good choice. Quiet time in the summer must be something fun.  Being quiet for most kids is hard enough already. If you’re working on reading over the summer, and I hope you are, choose a different time.)

5. Card and board games. Quiet and focused doesn’t necessarily mean by yourself.

6.  Word games, puzzles, mazes, hidden pictures, activity books. “Where’s Waldo” is great fun for older kids.  Kids intrigued with astronauts? Try Dave Phillips’ “Space Age Mazes.” Have a child passionate about dinosaurs? They’d go for “Dinosaur Word Search” by John Chaneski.

Dover publishes sophisticated activity books of all kinds for older children and  adults.

Torn between coloring books that limit creativity or free-hand drawing your child won’t do? You can have it both ways with Anna Pomaska’s “Create Your Own Pictures Coloring Book” where pictures are partly drawn.  

Barnes and Noble and Amazon carry a large selection of these books.  Check out titles on-line.  Sometimes you’ll find inexpensive “used” copies that haven’t been used at these on-line sellers.

7.  Do you have a quiet hobby they can do with you? Perhaps you do scrapbooking. Your child works on her scrapbook while you work on yours.  

Maybe you enjoy knitting. Let your child make fluffy scarves with giant needles. Easy for the first-time knitter and they’re all the rage. Think birthday gift for Grandma.  You’ve never held a knitting needle? Learn together. And Grandma gets two scarves. Boys can knit too. And girls can make model cars and airplanes.  It’s o.k.

Bottom line: Have fun. Fun helps the brain develop more quickly than struggle. And remember quiet time isn’t an excuse for those children who would sit all the time anyway instead of running and playing outdoors. Kids need both.

Copyright MaryJo Wagner, 2006

Brain-based Learning Doc is Finally Back

Whew, I’m finally back on the radar screen. I admit. I’ve been gone about four months! Of course, I’ve got good excuses.  

First I took time off to get a new right hip. This surgery’s amazing. I can walk! I’m no longer crippled! But the recovery from this adventure took forever along with medical complications I hadn’t predicted.

As if one adventure wasn’t enough, Eric and I stopped being city folks in Denver and moved to the mountains in Colorado—26 miles from the nearest super market. A life-long dream and we’re lovin’ it. But moving is yet another time consuming, energy-draining activity.  

I won’t bore you with the gory details of getting the computer paraphernalia hooked up and running.  But it’s exciting to know that I can live in this beautiful and peaceful remote area and still connect with all my readers.  This technology’s as amazing as hip surgery!

Not sure the doctor ordered surgery and moving so close together but hey . . .

I’ll be doing regular blog postings every couple days now along with posting the main article from my Brain Boosters for Your Kids ezine every couple of weeks.

Watch for today’s article “Quiet on a Summer Day: It's Essential for Your Sanity and Their Brain.” I’ll be posting it this afternoon.  Subscribe to the ezine and get the whole thing: Resources; “Just for Grown ups;” even the Brain Quiz, where you could win the prize.

And while I’m doing shameless self-promotion, check out the next TeleChat series: Introduction to Brain Gym.  It’s for parents, teachers and anyone who works with kids.

Opinionated Blogger Eats Her Words

O.K., I admit it. I’ve never really been a proponent of charter schools. Arguing that charter schools gave white middle-class parents an option that poor black parents might not be able to take advantage of. That charter schools simply eroded neighborhood public schools even more as dollars went to charter schools in the suburbs.

So now I have to eat my words. On February 27, The Center for Education Reform announced, based on 2005 survey results, that charter schools are serving more at-risk children than district schools.

You can find the full report from the CER at http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=document&documentID=2338§ionID=34&NEWSYEAR=2006

And an article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal confirms the black exodus to charter schools. In Minneapolis, for example, charter school enrollment is 91 percent minority and 84 percent low income.  

And other reports indicate that charter schools aren’t simply serving more at-risk kids but that they’re doing a better job of it than district schools.

For example, take a look at what’s going on with Mosaica Education, which operates 70 charter schools, mostly in inner-city neighborhoods. According to West Ed (a non-profit research agency), Mosaica Education sees the average student exceed their expected academic growth by over 17 percent. On average, students enrolling in a Mosaica school are behind at least 1.5 in grade level.  

Read about Mosaica schools at http://www.mosaicaeducation.com/article.asp?key=15&subkey=187

Maybe Louis King, a black leader who served on the Minneapolis School Board, is right when he tells district schools to get their act together or we’ll be seeing them in museums next to the dinosaurs.

I hope not.

If You Don't Like Salmon, Eat Kippers

I’ve always liked salmon, herring, and trout. Mackerel and kippers, less so.  Little did I know that by eating this fish, I was improving my ability to concentrate.

Researchers have recently been investigating the possible link between Omega 3 (an essential fatty acid required by the brain) and ADD/ADHD.  All the fish listed above is high in Omega 3s.

More than 100 children in Durham, England who didn’t want to have fish for breakfast took a daily fish oil supplement (in capsule form). After six months, many of the children with ADD symptoms increased their ability to concentrate.  In fact, the fish oil produced similar results as Ritalin.

Both Ritalin and fish oil increase dopamine in the brain. Brain scans have shown that low dopamine is often found in those experiencing ADD.

A similar double-blind research study with comparable results was also done at the University of South Australia. You can read about it here. http://www.newstarget.com/011395.html

Note: I am not a medical doctor. I am not prescribing fish oil capsules nor recommending that you or children stop taking Ritalin or other stimulant drugs prescribed for ADD. Before discontinuing any medication, you must talk to your
physician.

Don’t forget that you can get more research news, learning strategies, even contests and links to fun puzzles by subscribing to my Brain Boosters for Kids newsletter. Go to www.brain-based-learning.com

Going to the Library Could be Dangerous

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’m all in favor of kids reading—at home, at school, while waiting in the dentist’s office, even on vacations. And I support parents and grandparents reading to kids, even kids who are old enough to read to themselves.

So naturally I was pleased to read that Claude DaCorsi, a management consultant in Portland, Oregon, had been encouraging his children to check out books from the local library.

Sadly, Claude has now forbidden his children to go to the library. He will only allow them to go to Barnes and Noble.

Seems some library books didn’t get returned, and Claude racked up a $40 fine. The library, annoyed about all the unpaid library fines that Claude and other patrons were ignoring, hired a collection agency to get the money. The collection agency then reported the unpaid library fines to credit bureaus.

And Claude, who boasted an excellent credit rating, now found his rating had tumbled to below average.

But here’s what I don’t get. Why not pay the fine, continue going to the library, and make sure all library books are returned? Couldn’t you just jot down the return date in your Daytimer or electronic gizmo?  Wouldn’t that be cheaper than buying books at Barnes and Noble?

Oh yes, forgot to mention that one of the tardy books was a picture book that Claude’s two-year-old son checked out. Since when would even the most precocious two-year-old be counted on to return his own library book. Perhaps Claude should have taken on this responsibility.

Finally the Experts Agree with Me

Don’t you just love it when somebody with a gazillion credentials “proves” what you’ve been saying all along!

For years I’ve been suggesting to concerned teachers and parents that one of the major causes of what we’ve labeled ADD/ADHD might have something to do with how we’re living. That our frantic, busy lives filled with way too many stimulating images, sounds, and activities contribute to our kids’ lack of concentration. And that it wouldn’t hurt to cut way back on TV watching.

So in the most recent issue of ADDitude, a magazine for people with ADD or those who have children with ADD, Michael Ruff, MD suggested that “Our modern lifestyles can cause AD/HD.”  He’s got the credentials I don’t have: a medical doctor and professor of pediatrics at Indiana University.

According to Ruff, at least some cases of AD/HD are a byproduct of our fast-paced, stressed-out, consumer-driven lifestyles. Researchers at the University of Washington found that toddlers who watch lots of TV are most likely to develop attentional  problems. For every hour watched per day, the risk rose by 10 percent.

On the flip side, Ruff has found that in his group practice which cares for more than 800 Amish families who forbid TV, they haven’t diagnosed a single child with AD/HD.

Maybe it’s time to throw the TV out the window?

You can read more from ADDitude and subscribe at http://www.additudemag.com/  Be forewarned however that the magazine is heavily weighted toward drugs. Drug advertising helps keep it a float.

Managing 2 Million Hyperactive Kids

So what if anxious parents and their doctors take kids off Ritalin and stimulant drugs after the announcement last week that there may be a link between heart-related deaths and Ritalin?

Now what are we going to do with the 2 million hyperactive children in the U.S. who take these drugs?  That’s a lot of kids diagnosed with ADD/ADHD!

For years, we haven’t had to take responsibility for helping these kids or keeping ourselves from going crazy trying to keep some kind of order in the classroom and at home. The drugs did it for us. Now we may be on our own. So here are some suggestions:

1. Have kids cross their ankles, right over left, and then give themselves a big hug by crossing their arms over their body left over right.  Calms the central nervous system and connects the electrical circuits in the body.  You can do it too. You’ll notice a difference.


2. Get some order, consistency, a schedule in place. These kids, on their own, have a lot of trouble with order and consistency but respond positively to it if you help them with it. Make a game out of it. Do it often. Less clutter. More rules about where things go like a hook for the backpack in the front hallway. And the backpack always goes there.


3. Stop telling them to sit still.  Their ability to do so is limited. Furthermore, movement is essential to learning.


4. When you start to lose it because they’re losing it, keep in mind that Einstein himself had ADD. So do lots of other famous and brilliant people. To see a list of some of these folks, go to http://www.oneaddplace.com/famous.htm

You can read more about the proposed FDA warning and managing ADD/ADHD at www.brain-based-learning.com/articleADD.htm

And don’t forget Brain Gym. Not a few kids have been able to stop taking stimulant meds after learning Brain Gym.  www.braingymclasses.com

Death by Ritalin?

I tried Ritalin once years ago when I was “diagnosed” with Adult ADD/ADHD. I had no job, neither did my husband, we’d just moved clear across the country, had six kids under our care, and my elderly mother needed daily care. And I decided that this was the moment to stop smoking once and for all. You’d have ADD too!

Then I got a grip and did a bunch of non-drug things to help my frantic brain. Did yoga, learned Brain Gym, mastered meditation, and discovered HeartMath. These things helped a lot. I stopped taking Ritalin in 2-3 weeks.

Meanwhile I’ve always worried about giving kids such high powered stimulants for ADD-like behavior. (I question that ADD is really a “disease” but that’s another subject.)  And the number of kids (and adults) in this country who are taking these drugs daily is staggering!

Now this practice is finally being questioned and not just by grandmothers writing blogs.  A few months ago, the “Wall Street Journal” (hardly noted for discouraging the drug companies or encouraging alternative therapies) suggested that Ritalin and other stimulant drugs might be causing some children to become depressed. It even suggested Brain Gym as a non-drug alternative.

Then just last week, the Food and Drug’s Administration advisory panel voted that Ritalin and other stimulant drugs should carry the strongest warning possible that these drugs may be linked to an increased risk of death and injury.

Need I say more?

P.S. Take a look at some books on non-drug alternatives to drugs for ADD at http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/ritalin_books.htm  I haven’t read any of these so can’t vouch for them personally.

Sit Still! Don't Move!

The other day I was chatting with some teachers who were worried about the probationary status of their elementary school. What if the kids don’t do better on the next batch of standardized tests? What if the school is shut down?

In a misguided effort to assure that the children learn to read better, there is now a mandate in this and other schools that all 1st and 2nd graders must spend 90 minutes at one time sitting still in their seats doing their reading.

Surely they’re joking. I’ve yet to meet a little kid who could or should sit still for 90 minutes! And we certainly don’t have any research results proving that this 90-minute forced sitting still improves anything.  

Kids need to move.  Moving is essential to learning. So every ten minutes or so they need to get up, stretch their arms up to the ceiling, walk around the room, swing their arms back and forth across the opposite leg while they’re walking (crossing the mid-line helps with reading), make an infinity sign (an 8 on it’s side) in the air, track this “lying down” 8 with their eyes.  Always start in the middle of the infinity sign and go up to the left. These activities only take a minute or two, and the children still get in their 90 minutes of reading.  

Got kids who are antsy doing their homework?  Try moving and crossing the mid-line. Just be sure that the “interruption” isn’t distracting—no TV or video games as a break.

By the way, I’ve moved my Brain Boosters web site over to www.brain-based-learning.com.  Take a look. Check out the Brain Boosters TeleSeminars for teachers and parents. You can start anytime. Take one. Take all six.  CEUs are offered for the series.

To Dissect or Not

My granddaughter Bryttany loves science. We gave her a butterfly kit for her birthday. Her Mom helped her follow the directions to order the cocoons and set up the hatching area. Then she conscientiously watched every day for the cocoons to hatch.

Asked all the appropriate questions? How long do think it will take? Would they do better in a different place in the room? Should it be dark? Light?  Will they be affected by noise? What happens if I touch them? Should I talk to them? This 3rd grader was doing an experiment.

Well, that’s what we used to call such activities. Now they call it “inquiry-based science education.” It was big for awhile too. Endorsed by the National Science Teachers Association who recommended in 2004 that hands-on and field work should be the center of science classrooms. Hmm, isn’t that what “real” scientists do?

I’m still puzzled. Way back in the middle ages when I went to high school, we dissected frogs.  (Animal rights hadn’t been invented yet.)

Now because of testing mandated in part by No Child Left Behind, everyone’s scurrying to have children memorize material from textbooks and lectures.

I’m still puzzled. Again, in that same biology class where we dissected frogs, we also memorized material from textbooks and lectures. We did both.

I guess the difference is that my science teacher wasn’t just teaching the facts that he knew would show up on some standardized test.

I just never get this “all one way, or all the other way.” What ever happened to good old compromise?  Can’t we teach kids to think critically, to ask open-ended questions, to form scientific hypotheses and to memorize a few facts along the way?   Seems to me that they’ll ask better questions and think more critically if they have a bit of knowledge.

Maybe we should just spend more time teaching and less time testing. After all, this obsession with testing hasn’t helped us in getting our kids to the top ranks of science education around the world.  See yesterday’s rant on that topic.

Is your child's teacher qualified?

Got so mad about who’s teaching science to my grandchildren, that I forgot to give you a tip. So here it is—just in case this strategy wasn’t obvious from the last post.  

Before enrolling your middle school or high school child in the most convenient neighborhood school with the best football team, find out the qualifications of the science and math teachers. Not qualified? Find another school.  Bottom line: a high school science teacher needs to have at least minored in their subject in college. A major is preferred. Best of all is that science teacher who actually has a Master’s degree in their subject.

Even boys who go to college on football scholarships will have to pass science and math tests.

Yesterday I posted a link to Science Master for learning about the brain. To check out other science topics, just go to http://www.sciencemaster.com/

Who's Teaching Your Kids Science?

There’s a big broo-ha-ha going on now about how we should teach science to our kids. Was going to post a blog this morning about it until I did a bit more poking around on the Web and found the following!  After recovering from my horror at the situation, I just had to post it today. So tomorrow I’ll tell you about the fuss around how to teach science.  

Seems American high school students scored 19th for science literacy among participating countries. Hmm, wonder what the test actually tests and how the countries at the top are teaching science.  Korean kids did best in 4th grade tests. Students in Singapore did best in middle school tests. And by high school, Swedish teens are on top.

You can take a look at the ranking. It’s pretty scary.  On the other hand, it’s not news. We’ve seen the headlines.  We knew we weren’t first. http://4brevard.com/choice/international-test-scores.htm  

Want to know why we aren’t first? Read the article in the link above and weep when you discover how little science the average science teacher—even high school teachers—in the U.S. know.  Maybe it’s not about how to teach science but getting folks who’ve taken science in college to teach it. Am I missing something here? Why would you hire a high school physics teacher if she hadn’t majored in physics in college?  Maybe we should pay her more so she won’t go off to a research job. Oh well, that’s another topic.

A few years ago, I actually had first hand experience with these bizarre hiring practices. I left college teaching a few years ago and returned to Colorado. Considered teaching high school history. After all I have a Ph.D. in history. I was told I wasn’t qualified even though I’d been teaching college freshmen for years. I didn’t have a high school certification. In order to teach high school history, I’d need to take the math qualifying exam. So a person with a Ph. D. in history isn’t qualified to teach history without math, but a person with no college background in physics, much less an advanced degree, is qualified to teach high school physics. Something’s wrong with this picture!  This is a true story, folks.

And if you’re kids are having a hard time learning science—no matter how it’s taught—Brain Gym will help. www. BrainGymClasses.com

Increasing My Brain Cells Today

If you read yesteday’s blog posting, you know I’m about to embark on a new venture.  It’s called “distance learning”—well, in my case “distance teaching.”  

It’s a fabulous way for folks to learn new things without having to leave home or classroom. No need for a baby sitter. No need for a substitute teacher.

But I have to admit. I’m just a bit apprehensive. How do I teach if I can’t see the students? How do I know if they’re getting it or if they’re bored to tears?  I was on a TeleSeminar once and heard somebody snoring. Now there’s a clear sign that guy wasn’t getting it.

Oh well, for whatever uneasiness I have, I’m making my brain happy by learning how to do something new.

Yes, adults lose brain cells every day BUT we’re also constantly creating new neuronal connections if we bother to learn new things, do different activities. Check out the research about some nuns in a convent in Minnesota who lived to be over 100 years old and still had sharp minds. http://www.enchantedmind.com/html/science/build_better_brain.html

Of course we expect kids to learn. To increase those neuronal connections every day.  And the more we know about how the brain learns, the better job we do with our kids.
You can find a teacher-parent-friendly explanation of how the brain works at the Science Master http://www.sciencemaster.com/columns/wesson/wesson_part_01.php

Obviously, all this rambling leads me to yet one more in-your-face self promotion for my Brain Boosters TeleSeminars for parents and teachers which start tomorrow night at 7 pm Rocky Mountain time.

You’ve still got time to register at  www.BrainBoostersForYourKids.com  and get CEUs if you’re a teacher. I’ll show you how to raise test scores and improve reading without struggling with your kids.

Coffee, Coke or Water?

They say coffee isn’t very healthy but compared to coke, it rules. Just ran across an article about everything coke does, in addition to causing a sugar/caffeine rush.

A coke will dissolve a nail in about 4 days and a T-bone steak in two days. Hmm, how long for a child’s tooth to dissolve from a coke.

Now there’s a science project for your favorite kid. Take a baby tooth put it in coke. See what happens. Put another baby tooth in water and see what happens. Compare the difference.  I guess you could try the T-bone but seems like a waste of a good steak.

So what about water? For starters the brain can’t survive without it. After all water is the best conductor of electricity, and it’s electricity that makes those brain cells fire.

A mere 2 percent drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or printed page.  So why aren’t kids drinking more water at school?  How come I’m not drinking more water?

And dieters, read on: Sometimes when we think we’re hungry, it’s nothing more than thirst. So I guess we should be grabbing a bottle of water before the chocolate chip cookie.

And now some blatant in-your-face self promotion. Drinking water is just one of many learning tips that I’m offering in my Brain Boosters for Your Kids TeleSeminar series that starts Tuesday night for teachers and parents. Yes, there’s still room for you. Make teaching easier. Stop the homework struggle. (Teachers can get CEU’s for the classes.)  So head on over to www.BrainBoostersForYourKids.com  Sign up for “Got to Use It All: Whole-brain Learning for Kids.”

By the way, if you’d like to read all 12 things you can do with a coke other than drinking it, just e-mail me and I’ll send it on.

Brain Gym isn't the only answer. Neither is pink.

It’s not just movement like Brain Gym® that helps kids learn.

According to researchers, using the right color in a kid’s bedroom or a classroom can definitely help kids learn. But sometimes . . .  well, read on.  Ya gotta laugh!

A few years ago the locker room for the visiting football team at the University of Iowa was painted pink. Coach Hayden Fry was hoping the color would lull that team into playing a less aggressive game.  Pretty soon everything in the locker room was done in shades of pink.  

Then campus feminists got wind of the color scheme and accused Fry of suggesting that the visiting team was “weak like a girl” and therefore female athletes were sissies.  

The ensuing broo-ha-ha finally ended up with a committee studying compliance with N.C.A.A. standards dealing with sex equity. The room is still pink.

I don’t suggest painting boy’s rooms in shades of pink—even though I certainly believe in equal treatment for girls and boys. But what should you as a parent or teacher do when you’re decorating?

Studies have shown that light blue is too calming for study areas and libraries. So no light blue classrooms. But light blue or lavender is a great color for a bedroom. Beige or white walls, on the other hand, help kids focus on their work and not on the walls.

And what about primary colors, especially red? Way too stimulating, except for gyms and hallways and toys for babies.  

As a teacher, you may not have a lot of control over the color of the walls in your room, but you can control what you put on the bulletin boards and cupboard doors.  A good rule of thumb is less to look at and what you do put up should emphasize neutral colors.

The National Clearing House for Educational Facilities has several articles about the effect of color on learning. Go to http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/color.cfm  

Other sites that offer learning strategies include http://www.braingymclasses.com and http://www.brainboostersforyourkids.com

Bookstores and ADD

While in Barnes and Noble yesterday, I stumbled across Daniel Amen’s book Healing ADD. Amen’s a psychiatrist who’s written several books on ADD and the brain.  He argues that ADD can be divided into six categories: classic, inattentive, over focused, temporal lobe, limbic, and Ring of Fire.  

I’m not sure we need six categories, and I don’t agree with Amen on everything.  Certainly don’t agree that ADD is a “disease.”  

But he does have some good coping suggestions, one of which is “focused breathing” to help kids calm down. It’s nothing more than breathing slowly and deeply. Kids can understand how to do this by putting a book on their tummies. When the book goes up and down, they are breathing deeply. This simple technique is quick and it works.

I was disappointed however that Amen didn’t address the need for movement. When children are encouraged and allowed to move in the classroom, ADD behavior often subsides. For example, a program called “Brain Gym®,” consists of specific physical movements and exercises that “wake up” the brain and help curb ADD “symptoms.”   The Wall Street Journal recently recommended Brain Gym as an effective non-drug treatment for ADD. Check out Brain Gym at www.BrainGymClasses.com

Forgot registration info

Oops. Posted today’s blog and forgot to tell you how to register for Isabel Cohen’s class, “Hands On: How to Use Brain Gym in the Classroom” on January 28-29 at Zerger Elementary School in Westminster, CO. Just go to www.BrainGymClasses.com and register on-line or click on “Schedule and Registration,” scroll down to “Hands On,” and print out a flyer and registration form. Or give me a ring at 303-989-5964 to register over the phone.  Hope to see you at the class.

Dancing with Brain Gym

A couple years ago I stumbled across a new Brain Gym® book called “Hands On: How to Use Brain Gym in the Classroom.” I was so impressed with its practical, fun, and effective classroom applications that I e-mailed the author, a remedial teacher in Cape Town, South Africa. Did she ever get to the United States to teach the class that accompanies the book? Would she come to Colorado?

Long story short, Isabel Cohen and I’ve become best buddies. She’s been here twice now to teach her class. And when she’s not here, we regularly e-mail back and forth, telling Brain Gym success stories, and chatting about our daily lives. It’s been such fun that traveling to South Africa to visit her is now on my wish list.

After a successful “Hands On” Brain Gym class last summer in Evergreen, she agreed to return to Colorado in January to teach Hands On. (January is summer vacation in South Africa.)

Here’s the scoop: Isabel will be teaching “Hands On” on January 28-29, 2006 at Zerger Elementary School in Westminster, CO.  There’s still room for you. So come and learn Brain Gym with Isabel. She and her co-author have invented lots of playful variations on the standard Brain Gym movements that include plenty of dancing and singing. Your students will certainly benefit from your weekend spent with Issy.