Optimizing Child Learning: Unleashing Brain Power

1. Accelerated Learning Cycle Your child’s brain and how you might help it...

2. The Three Main Parts of the Brain

3. THe Reptilian BRAIN… • Survival not learning! • Under negative stress it dominates. • A learner under stress or anxiety will not learn anything – it is a biological impossibility!

4. Reptilian brain…dealing with it! • Relaxed, ready for learning. • Opening and closing rituals which anticipate the learning experience to come. • Build and maintain self-esteem. Plenty of positive feedback and encouragement. • Help learners set appropriate learning goals for themselves. Review often!

5. the limbic system • Site of long-term memory • Controls emotions • Filters in useful/valued information • Filters out useless information • Emotions valued more than higher order thinking skills. • For learning to work there must be an emotional connection linked with a purpose which the learner has set.

6. Limbic System…dealing with it! • Relevance of learning; involved in setting personal targets. • Learning activities with powerful attachment to emotions in the design of the learning experience • Ask children how they feel about learning

7. the NEO-CORTEX • Used in problem-solving • Discerning relationships, patterns of meaning • Pattern-making is crucial - gives meaning to the facts children learn • It works at all times – continues processing for alternative and additional solutions sub-consciously (why crosswords get completed in the morning!)

8. The Neo-cortex…dealing with it! • Prediction exercises • Memory-maps of current knowledge • Links to their learning goals • Visualisationlinks to their imagination • Individual, pair and group reviews • Groups summarise sections of content • Plan teaching of topic to others • Summarise using drama, dance, mime

9. Implications for Lesson Planning • Positive supportive environment • “Big picture”, expected outcomes, links to previous work – all essential • Clear purpose/audience for the work • Opportunity to attain higher level material than that they usually work at. • Open-ended activities to allow able children to develop their thinking skills

10. Implications for Lesson Planning • Stimulate different learning styles • Children to describe what they expect the finished activity to look/feel like • Review progress towards big picture at the end • Have fun! An emotional reaction to ensure knowledge/understanding goes into the long-term memory

11. Create the supportive learning environment

12. A Supportive Learning Environment The 6Rs: • Readiness • Responsibility • Resilience • Reflection • Resourcefulness • Reasoning We think that these are reasonableexpectations for home and school to work towards....

13. Thank you for listening... Any questions?