Learning Strategies By / Lee Li Li (Psychology lecturer of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman)
Children Need Brain-based Learning
Brain- based education is a wholesome approach and a complete system of instructions based on how available sets of research in brain- based learning impact natural learning by children and adults.
The basic theory of brain
The basic theory of brain- based education stresses on what is known about the actual structure and functioning of children during their early developmental stages. This system of education provides you a natural way of teaching and learning and assists you in knowing more about more frequently occurring learning behaviours in your children. By using this system of education, you can use a judicious mixture of techniques that help you make your children smart and intelligent. Besides, brain- based education techniques help parents to connect and relate learning processes to their children's real-life experiences.
Warm Touch And Interactions
The first and most important thing that you must remember here is to provide the most necessary human touch and interaction to your infant. Your young baby needs ample physical touch and closeness from you. You may need to hold your baby very close, talk in murmurs and a slow voice, sing lullabies and play very gently with her fingers.
Young babies need close eye and body contact and this gesture will help send important nerve signals to the brain, which eventually help the brain to set up a series of critical connections. Your baby needs affection, love and warm interactions that will help her regulate her future behaviour and mannerisms.
External stimuli and triggers are brain foods to your baby. Specific senses, noises, touch, and environmental stimuli can help in releasing specific amounts of different hormones which eventually result in better hearing, listening and brain cell formation.
For example, stressful situations can result in the release of an excessive amount of stress hormones that may cause extra impulsiveness and fighting behaviour in your child. Your child tends to learn by using his or her entire body. Children are known to play with others physically or by using their entire bodies. Physical playing will help the children in mastering the manipulation of objects and materials with their hands and fingers. This helps them to control their behaviours, master and streamline their physical and mental skills. This is the most fundamental step in child brain-based learning.
Before children are able to talk, emotional expressions are the language of relationships. Research shows that infants' positive and negative emotions, and caregivers' sensitive responsiveness to them, can help early brain development.
For example, shared positive emotion between a caregiver and an infant, such as laughter and smiling, engages brain activity in good ways and promotes feelings of security. Also, when interactions are accompanied by lots of emotion, they are more readily remembered and recalled.
During the first 3 years of life, children experience the world in a more complete way than children of any other age. The brain takes in the external world through its system of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. This means that infant social, emotional, cognitive, physical and language development are stimulated during multisensory experiences. Infants and toddlers need the opportunity to participate in a world filled with stimulating sights, sounds and people.
For social skill development, you may try making your children learn to be at ease with themselves and like others as well. They need to interact and mix with other people in an easy going and affable manner. Of course, they have to learn to understand the feelings and expressions of others and respect them. The children have to be taught to understand the importance of contributing their time to socially important activities.
Intellectual Skill Development
For intellectual skills-development, they can be taught by developing the character of self initiation and self actualization to carry out their all assigned tasks and sundry schedules. Instil in them the power of listening and observation. A child must not just learn and memorize the knowledge. They must know how to apply it now and in future.
We need to make them understand the basic relationship between what they learn today and how they can apply what they have learned to all future endeavours.
Specific skills and techniques must be taught to them that help them succeed in their life.
Besides, we also need to help them in building self image, confidence and will power to get success in professional life.
On top of this, get them to respect their time and how to allocate the available time for productive activities.
Emotional Skill Development
Other than social skill and intellectual skill development, emotional skill development is also vital in the brain-based learning. In order to train the emotion of your children, you may train your children in the art of positive thinking by appreciating the beauty of life. From here, they learn the character of expectancy, optimism and vision which will help them a lot in dealing with stressful situations with courage.
In addition, we also need to take responsibility for their action and behaviours. And, we shall not neglect the critical importance of communicating their emotions and feelings to others.
Early brain development research reinforces an important message about children: From birth on, children are ready and eager to learn and grow. Taking advantage of this situation means that all caregivers need to understand the importance of the early years and to recognize appropriate methods for stimulating children's learning and growth.
Early brain development research reinforces the importance of caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness to infant behaviours and needs. As a result, a constructive step out to brain-based learning is to get your child not only a good learning environment but as well as an appropriate care-giver.
Brain- based learning or education is a subtle mix of various parameters and attributes that gel together to make your children develop intellectual, academic, professional and personal skills.
Providing educational opportunities to parents, grandparents, child care providers and other caregivers is a step in the right direction to guarantee productive early years. Sharing this message with policy makers is another strategy for ensuring that infants, toddlers, and young children and their caregivers receive the necessary education and support.
