Learning and Life Skills

Bruegger's Bagels and Modeling Thinking to Your Kids

My son swims during the summer each morning from 6-8:30 AM.  My role, as the Mom-taxi, is to get him there on time and then to hang out until he's finished.  My favorite spot for 'hangin' is the Bruegger's bagel shop on France Avenue in Edina.  Free wireless, a friendly staff, bagels and coffee keep me coming back.

This morning, while ordering my regular fix of decaf, General Manager Mike shared his troubles: he'd built and then secured with a padlock, a door between the Bruegger's and the adjacent Caribou Coffee shop. Problem was, the night staff had left with the key to the padlock.

We conversed while he prepared a fresh pot of decaf, Mike sharing the details of his problem, a summary of all the possible solutions he'd considered and the actions of last resort he'd take if he couldn't reach the staff person with the key.  He covered all the alternatives he had available and his analysis of how he could have prevented or would prevent this occurring in the future.  I found myself drawn into problem, searching for any alternatives he may not have considered.  Not finding any, I expressed my empathy, paid for the coffee and returned to my table.

It was then that I realized that Mike had just exampled exactly what I meant when I tell parents to "Model Your Thinking" to children as part of the Sandee's Secrets for Creating a Thinking Home.

Mike covered every aspect:

Child Brains Organized Differently Than Adult Brains | LiveScience

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have studied the brain scans of volunteers age 7-31 to understand the organizational structure of the brain and how it changes over time.

What they found were true differences between children's brains and those of adults.  A child's neural connections are more organized based on the neurons proximity to each other when compared to the organization of adults, whose neural networks are more effective and efficient based on function rather than proximity.

Scientists hope the study of brain organization differences will lead them to better understand developmental disorders and those caused by brain injury.

The difference in organization does not, the scientists warn, explain why children can be scatter brained.  The brains of children are "differently organized but at least as capable as an adult brain."

What the study doesn't  answer is how experiences and learning by children affect their brain, or whether certain experiences can help improve mental organization.

One series I recommend to impact a yound developing mind is the series: Building Thinking Skills.  To improve visual perception in young children, think about the series: Visual Perceptual Skill Building .  Use the links to learn more at my online information center at Thinking To Learn.com 

You can find an interesting animation depicting the changes to brain organization found in this study using this link:

Child Brains Organized Differently Than Adult Brains | LiveScience.

Catch their thinking by being there

I often teach parents to be with their children as they work exercises so that they can 'catch their thinking', understand it, coach it for improvement, and build on it.  Yesterday, was a time to be reminded and rewarded for the taking the time to follow my own advice.

Summertime the perfect time to maximize critical thinking training

Many parents share with me that their number one challenge is trying to determine how to fit training in critical thinking into their already overloaded schedule.  I recommend several techniques for doing that during the 'normal' school year.  However,  the summer months provide opportunities to focus on these important skills while at the same time providing variety to the student.

 

Classroom tests - how parents can utilize them to help their students

After graded homework, classroom tests offer the next best piece of information for a parent to use to assess how well their child is doing in a particular classroom, with particular content, and with a particular teacher.

We have all had personal experience with this type of test.  They are either developed by the classroom teacher or the publisher/author of the particular curriculum/textbook being used, and administered throughout the year.  They are composed of a variety of types of questions: multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true-false, matching, definitions, and the dreaded - essay question.  Their purpose is to assess understanding and mastery of content in a particular subject content as of a particular point in time.  Tests may be chapter specific, or  cumulative for the mid-term or semester.  When used in a conventional school setting, the test scores serve as a basis for computing a class grade for each student.