How to Grow a Child's Brain

As I mentioned in a earlier post we went to a parents evening at L's Montessori preschool about How to Grow a Child's Brain.  My husband and I were totally impressed and I thought I'd share some of what we learned.
The presentation was by a wonderful Brain Based Learning Facilitator named Gary Anaka.  He entertained and enlightened us by using techniques such as Brain Gym exercises and audience participation with physical movements and repetition.  Even my skeptical husband was enthusiastically applauding and saying thank you at the end.
What I found most useful was the list of Brain Boosters he gave us to help grow a child's brain.  These are what I'm going to share with you.
What Gary said is our motive as parents is to grow your child a three pounder!  That's a brain we're talking about. Early childhood is the most critical time for brain development. Oh and for those of us over thirty he said our mission is to try and keep our three pounder : )

So here are the top ten brain boosters according to Garry Anaka

1.  Movement-the number one most important thing for a child's development.  Get your child moving and outside.  Walking, running, jumping anything to get them going.  This is why sitting at a computer or sitting watching TV are more brain killers than boosters.  Movement helps and is essential for learning.  It's amazing how Maria Montessori got it so right!

2.  Learning-a child needs to be constantly learning new things.  Repetition is the key so read those books over and over until your child can recite them back to you.  That is your child's brain growing!

3. Nourishment-It's essential that your child gets enough oxygen(fresh air), water and a proper diet.  Some brain boosting foods he suggested are walnuts, avocados, apples, blueberries,bananas, dark chocolate and dark leafy greens like kale.

4. Safety-a child needs to feel safe in his or her environment before their brain is able to start learning and developing.  If a child is constantly in the fight or flight part of their brain because they feel threatened they are not able to develop.  So the next time you are about to loose control and yell at your child or get into a yelling match with your husband take a deep breath and think of the negative consequences it's going to have on your child's brain.

5. Play for fun-I love this one.  Something that is so important is unstructured play, outside in nature.  This is where I love the Waldorf philosophy.  Gary says children should be allowed to play without parents always setting rules and structure to games.

6.  Reading-Reading to your children or having them read is so important.  Apparently it takes a child hearing 1000 stories before he or she is able to read. 

7.  Story Telling-This is also where I like the story telling elements of Waldorf so much.  He gave us a quote from Einstein "Imagination is more powerful than knowledge"

8.Experience-"rich experience grows a rich brain" Gary Anaka

9. Novelty-novelty grows the best brain so remember to spice up your routine and do something different every once in a while

10. Caring-I know that everyone who reads this blog does this already as they are taking an interest in their children.  Love, attention and affection.

So there they are.  Nothing we didn't know already but it's sure nice to have them all affirmed knowing we are on the right track and our child's brains are growing every time we do one of these things that comes so naturally to us.
Here are a few websites he suggests to check out:
www.mindworkspress.com if you go to the SPECT Atlas part you can see fascinating brain scans showing the effects of different things on the brain such as drugs and alcohol and abuse.
www.brainplace.com
http://www.brain.com/

A day of learning for everyone

Well today was L's first day of Montessori pre-school.  The morning routine went along smoothly and she even helped to make her own breakfast and put he dishes in the dishwasher.  Long may it continue.  I did have to keep her moving along but we were nice and early and the whole process was positive.  Except for the last bit. 
When we did our cards the last one in the sequence was driving to school with a picture of a car.
 We went outside this morning and she said which way should I go?  Which door should I get in?  This confused me and I said where you car seat always is.  She says, "But I'm driving."  "I'm driving to school."
Somehow L had figured that the last bit was and then SHE actually drives to school!!!  I explained that she needs a license to drive and that when she gets bigger she can learn. 
Thankfully these were the only tears.  Once we got to school she was so happy and chatty and I left her with no problem.  When I picked her up she was playing in the playground.  She looked totally wiped but was having fun.  The teacher said she had a great first day and was very outgoing and chatty.  Yeah!
She was starving and after lunch I wanted her to take a nap but she went to her shelves and got out her napkin rolling activity and then proceeded to tell me how to do it.
I did eventually get her to take a nap though.  Phew!

The best thing about today for me though was not actually L's first day of school but our first parents night.  It was all about children's brain development and how to grow your child's brain and was presented by Gary Anaka a wonderfully dynamic Brian Based Learning Facilitator. 
The evening was so enlightening and my husband and I were both captivated. 
I'm so excited about what we learned that I'm going to talk about it in an upcoming post.
For now just let me say to you my bloggy friends that we're all on the right track!

Lovin' the Double Doodle

We just tried out the Double Doodle Brain Gym activity from Making of a Montessori Mum. It was so much fun for both of us. L enjoyed the freedom of it and I found it strangely relaxing. I could see it being something to do when I'm really stressed. We'll just both double doodle for a while!!

I also finally found the best medium for the black card that I had. Chalk. I know obvious. Sometimes it takes me a while : ) I like chalk because it's not as messy as other things like paint. The colors turned out so vibrant. At first I just let L go to it but she quickly got bored and just started putting the chalk in and out of the bag. Then I realised that how is she supposed to know what to do if I don't show her. So I sat down beside her and got my own card and went to it. She quickly got the idea and got really into it. L's is on the left and mine is on the right.