Over our Heads

‘that went straight over my head!….’sounds like gibberish to me!’…. ‘you might as well be speaking a foreign language’

 DO THESE PHRASES sound familiar to you? Ever wondered why sometimes you can listen to something and it makes sense and other times it just goes over your head? Maybe you are listening with the wrong ear?

Many children and adults find challenges with everyday activities that frustrate andhinder. Understanding how we personally take in and process information and what actually happens to our thought process when we are under pressure may help us place ourselves to our best advantage.

Every individual is born with dominant strengths. We never question or think about writing with our right or left hand: we just do what feels natural and we take it for granted. Well, the rest of the body works in the same way; our feet… you footballers out there, which foot is most comfortable to kick with? Our eyes… if you’re asked to cover an eye which do you automatically choose? Our hearing… which ear do you place your phone to when you are really concentrating?

All of these strengths make the intake of information easier for the brain to both understand and process, which, in turn, allows the retrieval of that information to flow quicker and more fluently when the time comes to use it. As well as these strengths we are such amazing individuals that we also have unique preferences for the way in which information is delivered. Some of us like to look, and find that the required info is visually accepted by our system; some of us need words to be used, as we process auditorily; some of us need to touch and feel an object and break it apart and put it back together to understand.

As a result of these differences in the ways in which we process, both children and adults learn in many different ways. You can see this clearly in the classroom. One child may sit still and read, absorbing and remembering while they read; some close their eyes and listen; some doodle… and yes, doodling is good! Others have to move around or touch things or be excited by something for it to sink in. is doesn’t change as we grow up, so ask yourself: what do you do?…
We understand the necessity of the classroom as a structured environment for childhood learning, but when we set out a task with step-by-step instructions without appreciating, for example, that the individual needs to know what the goal is before they can break down what has to happen to get there, the individual will switch off before they have a chance to learn. How sad it is when children are disengaged and lose passion for learning. The same is true in the meeting room:
some people stare blankly, some take notes vigorously; some listen intently.

Understanding how an individual takes in and processes information should help each of us to consciously think about how we plan activities for both our own benefit and that of our peers.

Once we are aware of our dominant strengths we can start encouraging our non-dominances to strengthen too, by doing bi-lateral exercises. Writing with both hands at the same time, playing the drums, stirring your coffee with the other hand… all these things help our systems to become more balanced, which presents itself by feeling calmer under pressure, enabling us to focus for longer – and hey, you might even confuse be able to confuse your football opponents by changing feet
mid-field!

Learning core skills and adapting to new ones encourages brain muscles to exercise and creates opportunities for new internal growth pathways to emerge, strengthening our ability and motivation for learning, keeping us young, relaxed and clear for thought and life – along with balancing emotions and perceptions of ourselves as individuals and the world as a whole. By keying in to your own specific dominant strengths and knowing that the person you are with is completely unique, just like you, encourages understanding of self and others, opening you both to new avenues
of learning.

When we become aware that we have within us those strengths that can make our experience of learning easier, quicker more fun, life may not seem so ‘over our heads’.

 

Know your Child Better

English: Lucy Merriam (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading an article today led me to thinking about how well we think we know our children opposed to actually how well we know them. The article http://m.healthmeup.com/news-healthy-living/child-health-know-your-child-better/19877 rightly advised on understanding the developmental stages and milestones of our young ones so as not to try and get them to emotionally understand relationships way before they are ready or try and explain to a 3 year old that his measles injection which hurts like hell is for his own good!

 

Where I am on this discussion is here…when do we seriously spend undisturbed time with one child and hear them with our whole selves? I am sure many of you reading this will be saying to the screen “I spent time with my child yesterday” or even “It is often just me and them.” This is so valuable and important for your children and this is great. What I am wondering though is “hearing” them with openness, without our own ideals and beliefs getting in the way, without our view on the world getting in the way. This is when we can truly start to know our children not just as our child, the beautiful creation we have in front of us but the person whole, individual, unique and probably with very different ideas and ideals than you.

 

1 in 5 Children Suffer from School Phobia but only 50% of parents are aware

English: this is my own version of what bullying looks like (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I read this ‘One in five children suffer from school phobia and only 50% of parents are aware’. Daily Mail – Tues 19 February 2013.  Oh my word, is this true?  What are we doing?  Are we really failing our next generation so severely? Are our children so clever that they cover so well.  How can we be missing the signs?  Have we ever as adults been aware of a child’s world?, Really be truthful, have you any idea what is really going on in their world?

We need to ‘STOP’ and think what affect this is having on our up and coming brilliant minds.  How can we get the next generation of amazingness if we are failing 1 in 5, that is far too many; too many for the prisons; gangs; railway arches; you name it, you know they are there!

I am wondering how we can ensure that we do not miss the signs:

Watch out for the following;

Primary:

1:  Stressful nights without

2:   Resistance in getting up in the morning

3:  Consistant Tummy Ache (sometimes known as tummy migraine)

4:  Resistance of going into class.

5: Bullying or perceived bullying

High School:

1: Consistent Truancy

2: Reduction in discussions relating to school

3: Bullying

4: Social group changes / diminishing

Being able to communicate with our young in relation to their emotional needs is key to ensuring they feel secure in asking for help, and knowing that it is ok.

How can we train the internal school staff to recognise changes within individuals in the classroom in such a transient subject rotation system? The key is the tutor heads taking time with their tutor group and being open to the young minds and helping them to start understanding themselves as well as workshops for the young to build confidence, understand themselves and the world around them.

Exercise: If/When you recognise and concern with your child or a child in your classroom, ask them to make a personal profile.They can use words, colours and pictures, whichever works for them. Give them space to think about:

What they are good at?

What people Like about them?

How can people support them?

This will allow them to think about who they are and what they are about and by working with them on this you will start to recognise where the concerns lie and find the right people to support you with the change.

Special Education Needs Children spending 1/4 of their school week outside of the Classroom

A recent statement says that children with special educational needs spend more than a 1/4 of their school week outside of the classroom.

‘Children with serious special educational needs (SEN) spend more than a quarter of their week away from the schoolroom, research has found. A report by the Institute of Education concluded that teaching assistants were taking on more responsibility than teachers for pupils with a statement of special needs. The study of 48 pupils and interviews with more than 200 teachers, teaching assistants, special educational needs co-ordinators and parents or carers, found teaching assistants often co-ordinated alternative curricula and prepared intervention programmes for these pupils. Children with statements in mainstream schools also spent less time in lessons with the rest of the class. The report’s authors said the study provided “further evidence that schools need to fundamentally rethink the common approaches to the way teaching assistants are deployed and prepared, if they are to get the best use from this valuable resource”.’

This information gets me thinking… if the children are outside of the classroom, what are they doing? Is it constructive outside work, such as one on one?, occupational/speech/integration/social therapy support? Or is it unstructured, removal, un-integrated time?

I am also thinking, if this is the research found for SEN statements, what about the children who are on the cusp, who have no statement, because we know they are there! Are they also out of the classroom? How do these children get tracked? How is the teaching staff managing to assist these children as well as teach a full curriculum. The answer is, with great difficulty.

When will the system start seeing the change in requirements and utilising the vast array of experienced additional experts out there to assist the individual requirements of our children, so that they are receiving the modern support and education that they are entitled to, whatever their unique learning style is?