TRAIN THEIR BRAIN

TRAIN THEIR BRAIN

You can make a difference in your child’s life by training your child’s brain so that your child will successfully function on social, emotional, and academic levels. Here is how:

1. Don’t be afraid to set the limits. Kids need limits to grow happy and healthy!!

Make a schedule for meal times, sleep times, technology time
Think of what is GOOD for them- not what they WANT/DON’T WANT. They are going to thank you for that later on in life. Parenting is a hard job. You need to be creative to make them do what is good for them because, most of the time, that is the exact opposite of what they want.
Kids need breakfast and nutritious food. They need to spend time outdoor and go to bed at a consistent time in order to come to school available for learning the next day!
Convert things that they don’t like doing/trying into fun, emotionally stimulating games

2. LIMIT TECHNOLOGY, AND RE-CONNECT WITH YOUR KIDS EMOTIONALLY
Surprise them with flowers, share a smile, tickle them, put a love note in their backpack or under their pillow, surprise them by taking them out for lunch on a school day, dance together, crawl together, have pillow fights.
Have family dinners, board game nights (see the list of my favorite board games), go biking, go to outdoor walks with a flashlight in the evening.

3. TRAIN DELAYED GRATIFICATION
Make them wait!!! It is ok to have “I am bored“ time – this is the first step to creativity
Gradually increase the waiting time between “I want” and “I get”
Avoid technology use in cars and restaurants, and instead teach them waiting while talking and playing games
Limit constant snacking

4. TEACH YOUR CHILD TO DO MONOTONOUS WORK FROM EARLY YEARS AS IT IS THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE “WORKABILITY”
Folding laundry, tidying up toys, hanging clothes, unpacking groceries, setting the table, making lunch, unpacking their lunch box, making their bed
Be creative. Initially make it stimulating and fun so that their brain associates it with something positive.

5. TEACH SOCIAL SKILLS
Teach them turn taking, sharing, losing/winning, compromising, complimenting others , using “please and thank you”

From my experience as an occupational therapist, the kids changes the moment parents change their perspective on parenting. Help your kids succeed in life by training and strengthening their brain sooner rather than later!

Why children do not have any motivation in their life and remain dull?

Why children do not have any motivation in their life and remain dull?

Kids today are in a devastating emotional state! Most come to school emotionally unavailable for learning. There are many factors in our modern lifestyle that contribute to this.”

In her practice, my friend Victoria Prooday, OT is seeing something so widespread and alarming that I asked if I could share her thoughts. Due to the overwhelming interest and conversation on this topic, I am re-sharing her post.

I encourage every parent who cares about the future of his/her children to read it. I know that many would choose not to hear what she says in the article, but your children needs you to hear this message.

Victoria writes:

I am an occupational therapist with years of experience working with children, parents, and teachers. I completely agree with this teacher’s message that our children are getting worse and worse in many aspects.

I hear the same consistent message from every teacher I meet. Clearly, throughout my time as an Occupational Therapist, I have seen and continue to see a decline in children’s social, emotional, and academic functioning, as well as a sharp increase in learning disabilities and other diagnoses.

As we know, the brain is malleable. Through environment, we can make the brain “stronger” or make it “weaker”. I truly believe that, despite all our greatest intentions, we unfortunately remold our children’s brains in the wrong direction.

Here is why:

1. KIDS GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT IT

“I am Hungry!!” “In a sec I will stop at the drive thru” “I am Thirsty!” “Here is a vending machine.” “I am bored!” “Use my phone!”  The ability to delay gratification is one of the key factors for future success. We have the best intentions — to make our child happy — but unfortunately, we make them happy at the moment but miserable in the long term.  To be able to delay gratification means to be able to function under stress. Our children are gradually becoming less equipped to deal with even minor stressors, which eventually become huge obstacles to their success in life.

The inability to delay gratification is often seen in classrooms, malls, restaurants, and toy stores the moment the child hears “No” because parents have taught their child’s brain to get what it wants right away.

2. LIMITED SOCIAL INTERACTION
We are all busy, so we give our children digital gadgets and make them “busy” too. Kids used to play outside, where, in unstructured natural environments, they learned and practiced their social skills.  Unfortunately, technology replaced the outdoor time.  Also, technology made the parents less available to socially interact with their child. Obviously, our kids fall behind… the babysitting gadget is not equipped to help kids develop social skills. Most successful people have great social skills. This is the priority!

The brain is just like a muscle that is trainable and re-trainable. If you want your child to be able to bike, you teach him biking skills. If you want your child to be able to wait, you need to teach that child patience.  If you want your child to be able to socialize, you need to teach him social skills. The same applies to all the other skills. There is no difference!

3. ENDLESS FUN
We have created an artificial fun world for our children. There are no dull moments. The moment it becomes quiet, we run to entertain them again, because otherwise, we feel that we are not doing our parenting duty. We live in two separate worlds. They have their “fun“ world, and we have our “work” world. Why aren’t children helping us in the kitchen or with laundry? Why don’t they tidy up their toys? This is basic monotonous work that trains the brain to be workable and function under “boredom,” which is the same “muscle” that is required to be eventually teachable at school.  When they come to school and it is time for handwriting their answer is “I can’t. It is too hard. Too boring.” Why? Because the workable “muscle” is not getting trained through endless fun. It gets trained through work.

4. TECHNOLOGY
Using technology as a “Free babysitting service” is, in fact, not free at all. The payment is waiting for you just around the corner.  We pay with our kids’ nervous systems, with their attention, and with their ability for delayed gratification. Compared to virtual reality, everyday life is boring. When kids come to the classroom, they are exposed to human voices and adequate visual stimulation as opposed to being bombarded with the graphic explosions and special effects that they are used to seeing on the screens. After hours of virtual reality, processing information in a classroom becomes increasingly challenging for our kids because their brains are getting used to the high levels of stimulation that video games provide. The inability to process lower levels of stimulation leaves kids vulnerable to academic challenges. Technology also disconnects us emotionally from our children and our families. Parental emotional availability is the main nutrient for child’s brain. Unfortunately, we are gradually depriving our children of that nutrient.

5. KIDS RULE THE WORLD
“My son doesn’t like vegetables.” “She doesn’t like going to bed early.” “He doesn’t like to eat breakfast.” “She doesn’t like toys, but she is very good at her iPad” “He doesn’t want to get dressed on his own.” “She is too lazy to eat on her own.” This is what I hear from parents all the time. Since when do children dictate to us how to parent them? If we leave it all up to them, all they are going to do is eat macaroni and cheese and bagels with cream cheese, watch TV, play on their tablets, and never go to bed.

What good are we doing them by giving them what they WANT when we know that it is not GOOD for them? Without proper nutrition and a good night’s sleep, our kids come to school irritable, anxious, and inattentive.  In addition, we send them the wrong message.  They learn they can do what they want and not do what they don’t want.

The concept of “need to do” is absent. Unfortunately, in order to achieve our goals in our lives, we have to do what’s necessary, which may not always be what we want to do.  For example, if a child wants to be an A student, he needs to study hard. If he wants to be a successful soccer player, he needs to practice every day. Our children know very well what they want, but have a very hard time doing what is necessary to achieve that goal. This results in unattainable goals and leaves the kids disappointed.

Role of Education in 21st century

Our world is changing, and in order to prepare our children for this new world we need to change the way we educate them. In the 21st century educators must create a curriculum that will help students connect with the world and understand the issues that our world faces.

Schools in the 21st century will become nerve centres, a place for teachers and students to connect with those around them and their community. Teachers in this new environment will become fewer instructors and more orchestrators of information, giving children the ability to turn knowledge into wisdom.

In order to educate in the 21st century, teachers and administrators need to cultivate and maintain the student's interest in the material by showing how this knowledge applies in the real world. They must also try to increase their student's curiosity, which will help them become lifelong learners. Next they should be flexible with how they teach and give learners the resources to continue learning outside of school.
There are many skills that children will need in order to be successful in the 21st century.

The few 21st century skills are

1. Ability to collaborate, work in teams
2. Critical thinking skills
3. Oral presentation skills
4. Written communication skills
5. Ability to use technology
6. Willingness to examine civic and global issues
7. Ability to conduct research to learn about issues and concepts
8. Chance to learn about new career opportunities

In the ideal 21st century classroom, kids are actually excited about going to school, and there are little or no discipline problems because everyone is eager to learn. In this type of classroom activities and lessons are related to the community, whether local or global. Students collaborate with people from different schools and different countries to learn about issues that affect us all, as well as how we can solve them today and in the future.

The curriculum in the classroom is designed to incorporate many skills and intelligence levels, and makes use of technology and multimedia. The lessons are not based on textbooks, instead they are project based. Skills and content are learned through their research and projects, and textbooks are provided as one of many possible resources.

A new addition to 21st century curriculum is the study of green education and environmental issues. Kids are taught awareness of their world and real experts such as scientist and politicians are brought in to answer student's questions.
New schools in the 21st century will be bright and spacious, and kids will have room for group projects and individual assignments. Walls will be hung with student work, and there will be places for students to put on performances for their parents and members of the community. Students have full access to technology and, if possible, every student will have a laptop.

Within the school there will be labs and learning centres, as well as studios for art, music, theatre, and so on. Each classroom will be equipped with a television so that all students can watch school productions and other school presentations.

While it may take some time before schools and teachers are equipped to properly educate in the 21st century once they are the results will be dramatic. Children will be engaged and eager to learn.

In fact, they will carry on learning at home and over holidays, and they will have the resources they need to keep learning no matter where they are. This ability to foster a love of learning is truly the role of education in the 21st century.

From Volunteering to Transforming Lives.

When I decided to be a part of UN volunteer group, I just looked back at all the qualities I possessed to be a volunteer.

Is it the helping nature I possess? Is it ability to teach without expectation? Is it the experiences of life which readily made me accept or is it the glamour of the tag United Nations ?

It’s a mix of all , In short, volunteering really can have a transformative impact on people’s lives.

Well, when we look at the dictionary definition it says “a person who does something, especially helping other people, willingly and without being forced or paid to do it ”

While discussing with my fellow friends, I realised people volunteer because it makes them happy, because it is fun, because they do not want others in the world to go through what they have been, because they want to help the community, because they want to use their skills expand their knowledge, and many other reasons.

So, going by above points, every one of us should try to volunteer as it expands and helps us to be more knowledgeable. Research also proves that people who volunteer are healthier both physically and mentally and are more understanding and caring.

My take as an educator is that we must teach the upcoming generation to volunteer which is materialistically grounded. We must expose them to fun of discovering themselves.

How do we do that?
1. Sharing ideas: provide opportunities to communicate with peers what they think about volunteering. Ask what they think and then we get people who think similar and may be better.
2. Sharing experiences: Make students realise that the knowledge we possess is nothing without the experience we have in life. And experience makes us amazing volunteers.
3. Sharing skill sets: With experience, add the skills and while we give, we also learn.
And once we have skills, we can take them where ever we go in life, no matter what we do. Help students gain skills and then encourage them to share.
4. Sharing passion: Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes on focusing on what you decide to volunteer on. And this will take you to higher level because this sparks excitement and this will create new opportunities. Let’s translate our passion of teaching to their passion of learning.

So, friends helping others is a noble activity. It feels good, gives you a sense of accomplishment, pride, boosts your self-esteem. It gives us a chance to bring out the best part of ourselves. So, I believe the act of volunteering is life changing . Let’s make Volunteering a part of our identity. Let’s talk about it and make if contagious.

Keep talking of the stories of the people you've helped, keep tapping into that passion show what it felt like to volunteer keep bringing out your best self and then let's see how much better things
can get.

A friendly reminder to all those who are reading, that you will only get a limited time on this Earth. Today is a good day to do something great, lets transform lives by volunteering!

Assessment of Creativity

Developing creativity is one of the goals of our school education.For this we need to identify the creative talent and encourage it in our children.Hence,assessment of creativity is very important .

Creativity is multifaceted.It consists of a number of abilities ,qualities and skills.Fluency ,flexibility,originality and elaboration are the four main criteria of creativity.It refers to something new/novel which has usefulness also for the society.

Since creativity is multifaceted, its assessment also has to be multi-dimensional as no single method of assessment can provide all the information. There are a number of assessment techniques informal  as well as formal. The informal techniques make use of observation,ratings, check lists, anecdotal records,general school activities etc. Formal assessment involves the use of standardized tests, prominent among which are Torrance Test of Creative Thinking,Bacquer Mehdi Test of Creativity ,Passi-Usha Test of Creativity.

The main feature of creativity tests is that they are open ended.They allow the respondent to answer in a variety of ways . The creativity tests assess the divergent thinking, the ability to see relationships between two unrelated things/objects,put things in a new context and guess consequences. In contrast ,intelligence  tests assess convergent thinking. It assesses such abilities as memory,logical reasoning and clear thinking.There is a right or wrong answer in intelligence tests whereas there is no right or wrong answer.

A proper conducive environment is essential for the assessment and expression  of creativity. Assessment of creativity will enable the counselor to provide proper guidance to the students to actualize their potential .Assessment data will also help the teachers in planning their lessons and providing different types of curricular and non curricular experiences to enhance their creative potential.Creativity is there in each and every individual. It is a matter of providing the right opportunity ,encouraging and rewarding the child for the expression of creativity. 

Language acquisition

Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to communicate. Language acquisition usually refers to first-language acquisition, which studies infants' acquisition of their native language. This is distinguished from second-language acquisition, which deals with the acquisition (in both children and adults) of additional languages.

The capacity to successfully use language requires one to acquire a range of tools including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary. Language might be vocalized as speech or manual as in sign. The human language capacity is represented in the brain. Even though the human language capacity is finite, one can say and understand an infinite number of sentences, which is based on a syntactic principle called Recursion. Evidence suggests that every individual has three recursive mechanisms that allow sentences to go indeterminately. These three mechanisms are: relativization, complementation and coordination.

The capacity to acquire and use language is a key aspect that distinguishes humans from other beings. Although it is difficult to pin down what aspects of language are uniquely human, there are a few design features that can be found in all known forms of human language, but that are missing from forms of animal communication. For example, many animals are able to communicate with each other by signaling to the things around them, but this kind of communication lacks the arbitrariness of human vernaculars (in that there is nothing about the sound of the word "dog" that would hint at its meaning). Other forms of animal communication may utilize arbitrary sounds, but are unable to combine those sounds in different ways to create completely novel messages that can then be automatically understood by another. Hockett called this design feature of human language "productivity".

It is crucial to the understanding of human language acquisition that we are not limited to a finite set of words, but, rather, must be able to understand and utilize a complex system that allows for an infinite number of possible messages. So, while many forms of animal communication exist, they differ from human languages, in that they have a limited range of non-syntactically structured vocabulary tokens that lack cross cultural variation between groups.

A major question in understanding language acquisition is how these capacities are picked up by infants from the linguistic input. Input in the linguistic context is defined as "All words, contexts, and other forms of language to which a learner is exposed, relative to acquired proficiency in first or second languages". Nativists find it difficult to believe, considering the hugely complex nature of human languages, and the relatively limited cognitive abilities of an infant, that infants are able to acquire most aspects of language without being explicitly taught. Children, within a few years of birth, understand the grammatical rules of their native language without being explicitly taught, as one learns grammar in school. A range of theories of language acquisition have been proposed in order to explain this apparent problem. These theories, championed by the likes of Noam Chomsky and others, include innatism and Psychological nativism, in which a child is born prepared in some manner with these capacities, as opposed to other theories in which language is simply learned as other cognitive skills, including such mundane motor skills as learning to ride a bike.
The conflict between the theories assuming humans are born with syntactic knowledge and those that claim all such knowledge is the product of learning from one's environment is often referred to as the "Nature vs. Nurture" debate. Some think that there are some qualities of language acquisition that the human brain is automatically wired for (a "nature" component) and some that are shaped by the particular language environment in which a person is raised (a "nurture" component).

Others, especially evolutionary biologists, strongly object to assuming syntactic knowledge is genetically encoded and provided by automatic wiring of the brain.

Neuropsychological basis of learning and memory

Learning, memory and perception are the main functions of the brain, and these functions are intimately related to one another. For example, learning also results in changes in memory and perception. What we perceive and remember is a function of what we have learned to expect in a particular situation. The ability of a pre-school or school-aged child to learn a designated task, whether it is a social interaction or an academic skill, depends mainly on two things:

⦁ the child's past history of learning and the changes to brain structure and function that this has produced
⦁ aspects of brain function and structure that are genetically determined

The relative importance of these two factors depends on the type of learning being considered. For example, studies of twins show that about 75 percent of the variation between children in their ability to learn to read is determined by genetic factors. But in other types of learning, such as social skills, genetic factors play a much smaller part.
What is important, is that the barriers to efficient learning resulting from the joint operation of genetic and environmental factors, may be eliminated by the use of carefully designed instructional programs.
Learning involves experience that results in a change in performance, memory and emotional state. All these aspects are represented in particular areas and pathways in the brain that, in general, are different according to the type of task being learned.
The changes in the brain that represent the learning that has taken place in the past are different for different people, because people differ both in their genes and experiences. This is why children differ in how they approach a given learning task and why some will be more effective than others in how they deal with the task.
Learning is a function of the nervous system. Memory is simply the representation of learning by neurochemical changes in brain structure at the molecular level. Both learning and memory can be made more efficient by the use of research-based instructional techniques.
Decades of research on children's learning, much of it done with children with learning disabilities, has identified certain aspects of children's learning that critically affect the level of success that a child will have as a learner. These aspects can be represented either by the child's learning strategies or by the brain functions that serve these strategies. In some instances both can be altered directly by the use of properly designed and focused training programs or by medication or other physical treatment. This is called direct remediation.
Unfortunately, direct remediation is not always possible. Nevertheless, learning problems may be prevented or minimized by the use of training programs that circumvent the basic problem. This can be done by structuring the task to be learned in such away that the impaired learning processes are not involved or are compensated for. This is called indirect remediation. An obvious example is the use of a sound amplifier or visual signs when teaching a child with a hearing impairment. The successful use of both direct and indirect remediation requires both skilled analysis of the child's learning processes and skilled construction and implementation of an appropriate remedial approach.