HARD IS GOOD
“Ooooh! This one looks hard!” This dad had a sparkle in his eye as he leaned toward his daughter with a smile. I chimed in, “You’ve got this. Hard is good. And if you need help I will help you.” This few second exchange transformed a fearful encounter with a new cognitive skill. Positivity, encouragement given with a safety net of help, if needed, made it fun and she was successful. To be challenged, to struggle just a tiny bit, is good.
To keep the amygdala from going into flight, fight or freeze we want the brain to feel it is successful. That’s why we don’t want to say “No. That’s wrong.” Even with a mistake, we tell our kids: “Check it.”, “Good thinking. What else could it be?”. These convey that we believe they can find the right answer independently. We can also praise something besides the answer: “You are being so diligent.” “I like how you are thinking.”, “Nice pencil grip.” Sometimes children feel they should come up with an immediate answer and therefore get frustrated. Try giving them permission to take the time they need. “I’m glad you are giving yourself the freedom to think. I’m really comfortable with silence while you give yourself time.” Learners are vulnerable, struggling and making mistakes is a natural part of mastering new skills. (Recall how humbling it was to learn how to drive or another difficult task.) Come along side your student.
We are designed to learn, overcome, conquer, keep growing. Giving our children the encouragement they need to persevere and think and be okay with a mistake is empowering. It helps hard things become more welcome. We are not designed for lazy comfort and ease and stagnation. Let’s help our kids embrace challenges as good things. Hard really is good.
The mission of More to Grow Cognitive Development Training is to improve learning ability and function through cognitive exercises that meaningfully transfer to all educational and everyday life situations so individuals maximize their potential.
Darlene Lewis, darlene@moretogrow.com, https://moretogrow.com/
The difference between training and tutoring is the ability to transfer meaning to new experiences verses replicating the taught task. Tutoring is an intervention centered on remediation of classroom content, such as math and reading skills. While these are wonderful helpful supports, they do not train the brain’s cognitive ability to learn. Cognitive training can be viewed as building legs under a table top so someone can sit at the table to learn various kinds of content.
Sally Goddard, in Reflexes, Learning, and Behavior, says, “Most education and many remedial techniques are aimed at reaching higher centers in the brain. A Neuro-Developmental approach identifies the lowest level of dysfunction and aims therapy at that area.” Training addresses foundational neurodevelopment and cognitive development needed for success academically and personally. Together these yield growth in auditory and visual memory, processing speed, working memory, attention, comprehension, communication and critical thinking that will transfer to the content of the classroom or workplace.
The purpose of training is to expand cognitive capacity for “transfer”, that is to say, the ability to generalize a learned skill to another thought or experience. If the children cannot transfer meaning to dissimilar tasks then cognitive development isn’t being achieved. Consider an example of being tutored how a cell utilizes ATP for energy as an example of learned content. Training transfers developing working memory skills to doing long division math problems or remembering all five chores mom asked you to do before school.
Training the brain’s cognitive ability to learn depends upon the neuroplasticity of the brain, the changeability or modifiability of the brain. Jean Piaget’s theory was intelligence was fixed and could not be changed and that it developed at predictable stages at predetermined times with mastery required before each new stage. This view has been embraced by many educators and psychologists. Yet, his contemporary Reuven Feuerstein was a cognitive and clinical psychologist, who believed intelligence was modifiable regardless of age, neurodevelopmental conditions, and disabilities. He believed an inability to do something was the person’s intelligence lying dormant. A mediator takes the learner beyond their natural limitations so they can reach their full cognitive potential. Through training, a latent intelligence can surface even if it is years beyond critical age for learning that skill. More than 2000 scientific research studies and many case studies spanning various populations support Feuerstein’s statement, “Everyone – regardless of age, etiology, or disability – has immeasurable ability to enhance their learning aptitude and heighten their intelligence.” The brain can change. IQ is a snapshot of what you know, not what you can know.
Cognitive Development Training strengthens learning ability through cognitive exercises that meaningfully transfer focus, comprehension, and processing to all educational and everyday life situations so individuals maximize their potential.
Brown, CT. Computer Training or Human Mediator, Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
URL: https://equippingminds.com/research/research-studies/
Feuerstein R, Feuerstein R, Falik L. Beyond smarter: Mediated learning and the brain’s capacity for change. New York: Teachers College, 2010.
The journey to excellence. Intelligence is not fixed. URL: http://journeytoexcellence.org.uk/videos/ expertspeakers/intelligenceisnotfixedbrianboyd.asp.