Empower The Brain

The human brain is the most complex organ in our body. Its capabilities are infinite. While research on its potential is an ongoing process, the available data is yet to be put into use by the education system in our country.

Research shows that the brain finds it simpler to learn complex things. Information that is straight and simple is not challenging enough for the brain. It does not retain it. That is why we forget the 100 odd movies we have watched in our lifetime but we do remember that one movie which has affected us. This is because that one movie was complex in its situation, its artistry or its creation and that motivated the brain to retain that in our memory.

Most parents and educators believe that we need to simplify things for our kids. We presume they do not understand complex ideas. Research has proved that this is not true. John Medina, (author of Brain Rules) in his book speaks about a simple experiment that anyone can do. Take two groups of people. Give both the groups a list of words. Ask Group One to figure out the diagonal lines on the words. Ask Group Two to associate these words with experiences from their lives. Now take away the lists and after a few minutes ask them to write down words from the list. You will be surprised by the results. Group Two remembers more number of words as their task was more complex. The brain does not retain to memory very simple and monotonous tasks.

The most complex skills are learnt by a baby on its own. The baby learns to crawl, to sit, to toddle and to walk. The brain does the most complex learning early in life and on its own. The brain has evolved to learn by itself and is not meant to follow instruction. Yet we insist on giving instructions to our kids on a minute by minute basis!

“So do you want me to leave my kid all by himself till his brain teaches him how to live in this world? How is he going to survive?” I can almost hear you asking. Well, that’s how the brain has evolved... it has evolved to survive. It has evolved to think things out, to figure out relationships, to feel and emote, to figure out what information is important for its survival.

And that is why today’s kids are wired to technology. It is important for their survival. They instinctively know that they need to learn how to figure out technology before they figure out how to walk and talk. Kids as young as eight months can manipulate remote controls and iPad applications.

The brain is wired to explore and enjoy. It enjoys exploring complex stuff rather than plain and simple things. But as kids grow up we bombard them with so many instructions that soon the brain gives up its ability to explore and enjoy and chooses to just follow. We then deem this as the innate inability of our kids to learn things on their own; especially complex things. We begin to dumb down information so that we make it child friendly.

Every experience that we have adds to the capacity of the brain. By restricting experiences to the kids we reduce the development of the brain. Research shows that a healthy adult human brain has about 100 billion active nerve cells (sounds a lot but is only 20% of what we start with). By the time we enter adolescence our brain has chosen the nerve cells it will keep throughout adult life.

The more open we are with allowing our brain to dynamically change every moment, the more we allow our brains to grow.

Let us not limit our potential. Let us empower our brains.

www.kkel.com

http://www.facebook.com/BillabongHigh

http://www.facebook.com/KangarooKidsPreschool

http://www.facebook.com/whodoyouthinkyouarekidding?