BRING OUT THE GENIUS

Brain-based Learning is a dynamic multi-disciplinary approach to enhance learning with the understanding of how the brain is naturally designed to learn. This supports nurturing a life long love for learning that can help bring out the genius in your child.

10 GOLDEN PRINCIPLES OF BRAIN-BASED LEARNING

1. Stating young

• Pre-expose your child to new information to provide a mental link for faster processing later.
• Encourage the continual use of learnt information to maintain and enrich neuron connections.

2. Engage all sense

• The brain learns best when you maximize the use of sight, touch, smell, sound and taste when teaching.
• Futher enhance learning by using tools created by your child to establish a sense of ownership.

3. Novelty for brain’s sake

• Learning becomes more effective and the memory of that learning becomes more cemented if the information is taught in innovative ways.
• Constantly renew your approach to learning by changing location, play-acting and using different tools.

4. The mind & body connection

• Always include movement and/or exercise with learning to harness the benefit of kinaesthetic learning and the power of procedural memory.

5. Make it matter / count

• Make learning meaningful to your child with plenty of hand-on activities and link it to life’s experience such as baking to learn about different foods or mixing poster paints to learn about colours.

6. Emotion drives attention, attention drives learning

• Emotions bring on enhanced meaning and patterning as well as create an atmosphere harmonious to natural learning.
• Use positive emotions and feedback to encourage learning and establish deep-seated memory.

7. Stress and motivation

• Bad stress must be recognised and removed as it harms the child’s learning and may even cause neuronal damage.
• Motivate your child using a holistic approach and not rely heavily on reward, or punishment.

8. Respect the individual and her unique brain

• Each brain has its unique pace of development.
• Understand your child’s preferred way of learning while also encouraging acceptance of other ways, e.g. at school.

9. Eat, drink and sleep well

• Good nutrition and adequate hydration provide fuel for building a healthy brain as well as maximises physical and mental performance.
• Ensure your child gets adequate sleep to reinforce memory storage and retention.

10. Learning takes time

• If information is not processed in several ways, strong neuron connections are not made and learning is not fortified.
• There is no substitutes for solid learning that allows time to meld the social and physiological aspects of learning in the brain.

Reference:

1. Jensen Eric. Brain-based Learning –The new science of teaching and training. Revised ed. The Brain Store Publishing, 2000.

2. Sprenger M. Learning and Memory: The brain in action. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1999.