Does your child find learning fun and rewarding?
Learning should be fun and rewarding so why do so many children and families struggle with the basic concepts of education. These children seem to find even the most basic tasks overwhelming and hard. Yet quite often they are extremely bright in certain subjects or activities.
For a child to be able to easily learn and build their knowledge banks the basic functions of the brain have to work effortlessly, both the left and right sides (known as hemispheres), have to communicate with each other and respond appropriately. Imagine what could happen when the two hemispheres of their brain are not communicating?
The brain has both a left and right hemisphere and they are connected by a bundle of nerve fibres called the Corpus Callosum. This region lets one side of the brain communicate with the other and allows exchange of communication. It can be likened to an advanced telephone switchboard. As a message is bought in the switchboard operator must decide where to send it. If the information is sent to a neighbouring point by mistake, then chaos can occur. If the corpus callosum is ‘working’ we can see it all, hear it all, remember it all, have easy co-ordination, write easily, feel centred, are focused and anticipating the next step.
Generally, the left hemisphere deals with the logical, sequential, language, numbers and academic symbols, auditory and conscious control. The right hemisphere often referred to as the Gestalt, is more involved with the artistic, musical, imagination, fantasy, parallel processing, face recognition and feelings.
The left hemisphere works with focal, analytical and serial processing while the right hemisphere works with diffuse, holistic and simultaneous processing. There is a direct link between specific learning difficulties and hemispheric integration. Every learning task requires two types of processing. When the two halves are not working together in an integrated manner then the person has unilateral or one-sided processing. Too much ‘try brain’ and the learner finds it hard to get the big picture and too much ‘reflex brain’ the learner has difficulty concentrating and thinking logically.
Many kinds of stress on the body/mind affect hemispheric integration. Also, hereditary factors and early childhood emotional and developmental stress can also affect integration.
By removing blockages that are causing difficulties the symptoms of learning difficulties and the ongoing stresses of going through learning curves will often fade away. The body brain computer is being programmed every moment of our life and by giving it a better option can lead to enjoyment of learning and growth.
Kinesiology techniques may assist in brain integration and the release of emotional issues that could be hindering your child’s learning.
Take for example a child who finds reading a burden. At a young age they may have been ridiculed in class for stumbling over words, this causes a stress memory. The next time they are asked to read their brain has already remembered that it caused a stress and as they start to stumble again the class laughs at them causing a further stress memory. Eventually the mere thought of reading can cause their brain to stop functioning as they go into a panic stress response. Reading can be considered by their brain to be dangerous and embarrassing. It is interesting to note that the same child could enjoy reading by themselves and not find it difficult at all.
Identifying the causal stress response and replacing it with a better option that does not hinder the brain integration helps to create a new neural pathway. It is then possible to build on that neural pathway so that the child is not caused a stress response to “reading aloud”.
Another interesting point is children (and adults) who experience dyslexia or visual challenges can often find it easier to read upside down and back to front than reading the traditional left to right way. During my kinesiology training one of our teachers was dyslexic and if he became overtired or stressed his reading became challenged. One day he demonstrated his ability to read back to front without stumbling or hesitation. He mentioned it also had to do with the fact that no one was expecting him to be able to read that way so that the pressure to perform was off him.
Kinesiology can help create calm amid the chaos by taking the stress out of your homelife and assisting your child to find learning fun, rewarding and enjoyable. Contact me today to discover how we can work together.
