There is also a
significant number of online brain training programmes that have come up the
last five years seeking to improve similar areas in our right side of our
brains. Thus, for time-constrained parents, the alternative may be a good and
value for money online brain training programme which they could subscribed to.
Right brain training is a good investment especially for young kids between the
age of 0 and 3.
A third alternative is
for parents to do the right brain training at home. If you google words like ‘right
brain training’, ‘right brain resources’, ‘right brain for kids’, it’s rather
easy to purchase right brain products for your child. For one, there is a very
comprehensive site that sells resources needed to carry out right brain
activities at home - http://www.rightbraineducationshop.com/.
Another that we found is TweedleWink at http://www.rightbrainkids.com/_new/home.php.
(Guru Kids Pro is in no way related to these two companies so please find out
more on your own prior to purchase.) There are in fact many more resources on
the internet.
According to a few
recent studies, while training in those mentioned areas will usually help
sharpen children’s cognitive abilities on specific tasks, such trainings won’t
bring any benefits to the kind of intelligence that helps children to reason,
solve problems and think abstractly. In other words, right brain training alone does not
increase fluid intelligence or working memory which is the intelligence needed
to do well in (academic) work and in life.
We have quite a number
of students who had started on right brain training when they were young.
However, the concerned parents started seeing their children’s lack in areas
especially in logical and mathematical reasoning when formal schooling
commenced. Alas, they had to provide the children with a great amount of tuition
to keep up with academic work which made them perplexed. They would often
lament, “Why is he unable to cope with Math? He had been to right brain
training for 4 years!” Actually, the poor child has excellent cognitive skills,
but the lack of exposure to many different types of reasoning and problem-based
questions at an earlier age had disadvantaged the child. With high demands from
the subjects, the child who is in formal schooling now, may not find sufficient
time (to make up for the loss of time) to do problem solving tasks. Easily, he
becomes an underachiever!
SO, is Brain Training Worth It then?
Given the results of those studies, you might be
wondering if brain training has any value. After all, if it doesn't increase
intelligence, then what good is it? While such brain training might not result
in an increased intelligence, it does increase help someone improve cognitive abilities
in specific areas.
So go ahead, sign up for that brain training programme or
download that brain-boosting app. Just be aware of what you are likely to get
out of using such tools. Ignore false promises that suggest your child’s IQ
will soar and instead, focus on sharpening the specific skills, challenging oneself,
and having a bit of fun.
The Gifted Parents that I know generally are able to
couple both the right brain and left brain lessons with their children. (By left brain trainings, it definitely DOES
NOT refer to tuitions in academic subjects. That’s not what left brain training
is about at all. Left brain lessons at Guru Kids Pro introduced children as young
as 4 to more logical, sequential, rational, & analytical problems, and
focused on the parts of things rather than the whole.) In other words, they know exactly the importance of the
Whole Brain activation for optimal learning. In the next post, I’ll talk about the
importance of having a Bipedal Mind which I frequently share passionately with our
students’ parents.
Guru Kids Pro
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