Why Don’t We Listen Better?

Helping children learn to listen

The hostess at the dinner party asked me question after question, keeping me actively engaged in conversation. The next day I realized I had done most of the talking. But I thought my new friend was the most fascinating person in the world. Why? Because she listened to me. Learning to listen with interest to […]


Children Love Quiet

children love quiet

Somehow between Madison Avenue and Hollywood, and all the places where kiddie culture is fed, we’re given the view that children are rowdy and eternally needing to be entertained. Picture a scene of children getting out from school. What do you imagine? More than likely it’s children shouting and running from the school building. Though […]


Noise Surrounds Us

noise surrounds us

Blaise Pascal, the 17th century philosopher and mathematician, wrote, ”All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” Almost 300 years later and human misery still stems from not being able to listen to oneself think. An edition of Ode magazine was dedicated to the topic of silence. Several […]


Brains Need Plenty Of Quiet Time

brains need plenty of quiet time

A sign in my father’s office read, ”Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.” Ungrammatical, but it captured the essence of my father. My dad spent a lot of time thinking and planning, but he didn’t hesitate to take the down time of ”just” sitting and doing nothing. Dad understood what was […]


The Best Brains Require Good Nutrition

best brains require good nutrition

Are our children getting the right kinds of food for maximum brain development and health? Most parents believe their children are getting adequate nutrition, but data shows otherwise. Peeking into a few lunch boxes gives some indications and insights into the issue. Recent research is showing that a high level of high-fructose sugar contributes to […]


The Brain Learns Best With Guidance

brain learns best with guidance

Studies on how to age well cite certain factors for well-being: have a close circle of family and friends, stay active and laugh often. Amazingly these ingredients for a good life are what the developing mind of the young child under the age of six years also requires. Positive social contact serves as a buffer […]


The Brain Seeks to Control Stress

brain seeks to control stress

Brain researchers believe that a newborn’s brain creates neurons at a rate of over a quarter of a million per minute. The young brain grows and absorbs information without evaluating, filtering or giving priority to the information. The brain receives each event with the same import as every other experience. The young brain hasn’t learned […]


The Brain Craves Clear and Precise Information

brain craves clear precise information

During the first six years of life, the child’s natural development includes the formation of language, with the most intense activity occurring during the first two and a half years of life. It seems like common sense to say that the more words a child hears during those first two years of life the larger […]


Brains Love Opportunities for Meaningful Learning

brains love opportunities for meaningful learning

During the first six years of life our brains are developing at a tremendous rate, creating a foundation for life-long learning and accomplishment. Research shows that children under six with enriched learning environments are more likely to complete college, to have successful marriages and to have less problems with the legal system than their peers […]


Physical Activity Enriches Young Brains

physical activity enriches brain

During the first six years of life, a child’s brain develops based on the interaction of the child with his or her environment. Research shows that certain factors enrich the child’s environment and produce positive outcomes in terms of the child’s future educational level, social development and self-discipline. These factors include movement, opportunities for meaningful […]