Brain Gym.

Jj is for Jottings 138.  Brain Gym.

WHAT IS BRAIN GYM?

Brain gym is a series of movements which claim to enhance whole-brain learning.  An alternative term is “educational kinesiology”.  The word “education” comes from the Latin educare, which means “to draw out”.  “Kinesiology” is from the Greek root kinesis, which means “motion” and is the study of the movement of the human body. Continue reading

Listening: Obstacles and Good Listening.

Jj is for Jottings 120.  Listening: Obstacles and Good Listening.

Following on from hearing versus listening and types of listening and nonlistening, this article will discuss listening obstacles, and tips for good listening.  They say that love makes the world go around, but I think good listening skills help it along a bit, too.

Photo of 2 alpacas with the caption: A big obstacle to good listening is having an argument!

Listening: Obstacles and Good Listening. A big obstacle to good listening is having an argument!

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Raising a Reader Part 2. Toddlers.

Jj is for Jottings 62.  Raising a Reader Part 2.  Toddlers.

Continuing from the previous article (here), you cannot overestimate the importance of reading with a child at the toddler stage – for intellectual, social and emotional development.  They take in everything: vocabulary and language structure, numbers and math concepts, colours, shapes, opposites and many other language concepts, animals, manners and all kinds of useful information about how the world works. What’s more, when you read out loud, Continue reading

Raising a Reader Part 1: The Baby.

Jj is for Jottings 61.  Raising a Reader Part 1: The Baby.

There are various things parents can do to maximise their child’s chances of becoming a reader (i.e. someone who is proficient at reading, reads for pleasure and has no difficulty in using reading for information-seeking and the school curriculum.)  We can divide this topic into 4 stages: Baby, Toddler, Emergent Readers and Early Readers.  Question: What stage comes before the Baby stage?  Continue reading