FLIP the FLAP FLOP: Turning the summer slide into a summer jump!

28 Jan

A new school year is here! The newness brings feelings of excitement and sometimes a splash of anticipation anxiety - for students, teachers and for parents. Some parents may be concerned about the ‘summer slide’ and what they see as a loss of important school skills over the long summer break. Some students may have flicked through their new textbooks and be feeling a little daunted about learning expectations…don’t fret!

Let’s not FLAP about, let’s FLIP this worry and sidestep any chance of a FLOP in 2020!

First, it’s usually a good idea to ‘listen to your Father’, so let’s listen to the Father of Neuroplasticity – Dr Michael Merzenich:

“Whatever the circumstances of a child’s early life, and whatever the history and current state of that child, every human has the built-in power to improve, to change for the better, to significantly restore and often to recover. Tomorrow, that person you see in the mirror can be a stronger, more capable, livelier, more powerfully centred, and still-growing person.”

Watch and listen to Dr Mike talk more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Qm3kWVKAs

So, our Merzenich mantra for this year is:

‘My brain is a work in progress. Every opportunity is an opportunity to improve.’

How are we going to find and use these opportunities?

New school year new teaching team.

Your main classroom Teacher is one part of a big teaching team at your school. Who else is there to guide this year: the School Principle; School Deputies; Education Assistants; Teacher Librarians; Library Officers; Teaching (and other) Students on placement; Physical Education Teachers; Arts Faculty; Student Support Officers; the Teacher in the alternate classroom…Making the most of each of these teaching relationships will optimise opportunities for learning with, and from, many important others in the school environment. When I think back to my high school years it was my sport and art teachers that really changed my learning life.

Start the year by making constructive connections and establishing clear open communication with your Teachers. Teachers are devoted to maximising efficient learning for each of the distinctive students in their classroom. Teachers are masters of education that are also experts in Positive Behaviour Support, understanding unique learning styles and learning preferences; scheduling learning; creative group and individual brain breaks; and so much more. Teachers will be a wealth of helpful strategies you can modify and apply at home, and, in turn, you can give the Teacher a welcome head start on getting to know your individual child. Particularly in early learning, Parents taking up the opportunities Teachers offer to ‘stay and play’ or participate in learning activities with your child can be invaluable.

Be particular about your extracurricular

Children have buckets of energy to expend on diverse learning and there is so much more to do than just school, in this wide wonderful world. There is evidence to suggest that children engaging in particular extracurricular activities may also see a boost in their school performance. The trick is to be selective of the time your student is spending participating in the activities and the type of activities they are engaged in - their brains are designed to love newness and a challenge.

Be discerning about the difference in the experience offered – ask yourself – ‘Does it offer something valuable, and unlike anything else they get the chance to do each week?’

Know your brain, know how to change it.

In 2020 the ways in which we are able to understand our brains will develop even further. Technologies improving specificity and availability of accurate brain scans will advance, and with these knowledgeable clinics and professionals, with a focus on harnessing neuroplasticity using brain-based treatments, will grow. Your capacity to ‘know your brain’ is deeper today than at any other point in history.

Experienced clinics with a focus on brain function, not just behavioural dysfunction, can inform you of a child’s strengths, along with the existing challenges, at a brain based level. Really knowing ‘where we are at’ can powerfully steer ‘where to from here’ in the precise incremental way a brain needs to make those positive changes lasting and effective.

It is by finding out more about the way a child’s brain is working and learning that we have the greatest potential to rewire in the most progressive direction possible. Capitalising on strengths first can boost confidence, pride and a positive sense of self. Understanding and rewiring our plastic brains, in the most informed way, can profoundly rewrite the learning story of your student and their daily changing brain for LIFE.

Variety in learning landscapes.

We want continuity across the two main learning environments – home and school – but we also need to appreciate the importance of the differences for the child in a holistic approach to growth and development. School and home are not, and will never be, the same. The way a child behaves in each space will never be the same either. Home is a safe space – where ‘meltdowns’ are a reflection of a deep sense of security, trust and support. A child may have held onto disappointment, embarrassment, worry, indecision, fear…all day at school, and only now, at home, with you, they have the chance to let it go…and it may come out weird, and tough, and may seem to take a while. Remember, always, it is an honour that they feel safe to let it out with you…just imagine if all that negative energy had no safe space to go.

When we think about designing learning landscapes, and how much our brain learns from immersion in our environment and experiences, it pays to be mindful of these think bits, THINK:

Green time not screen time

We all spend enough time inside boxes – get outside into gorgeous green nature! Whatever you were going to do, think of ways to do it outside. In summer there is nothing stopping you reading a bedtime story in the backyard under a tree.

The perfect effect of a project

Project based learning may be familiar to those versed in the Montessori Method of teaching. Take BUILDING A PIZZA OVEN as an example, think about: the math involved in calculating the dimensions; engineering, perception and planning required for construction; knowledge of finance required for costings; environmental science for placement…a Family project offers great learning and memorable fun.

Prosperous purpose

When we can connect new learning to things we love and things we love to do, it seems to be effortless, even a joy. There is a reason for that: it is easier for our brains to do. If there are already existing brain connections, then we do not have to forge and then reinforce so many brand new pathways…the new information can ‘light up’ when we turn on the well-known thought or purposeful activity.

That’s probably enough food for thought, for now, it’s a big day at school tomorrow…just remember:

‘My brain is a work in progress. Every opportunity is an opportunity to improve.’

…and before you go to sleep tonight, remind yourself how cool it is that ‘nature has given you a brain that survives in a changing world by changing itself’ and it is changing all the time ― Norman Doidge

About the author: Emily Goss, Senior Clinician – Perth Brain Centre