20 Sep How are you Able to apply the content from chapter 5 to your personal life as a student, parent and or as a caregiver? ?Write a 2 ?DOUBLE SPACED pages?CH5.pdf
- How are you Able to apply the content from chapter 5 to your personal life as a student, parent and or as a caregiver?
Write a 2 DOUBLE SPACED pages
C hapter 5
C hildhood into A
dolescence: F
urnishing the A dult M
ind, A ge E
ight and B
eyond
The grow th of a child's m
ind tow ard the capacity for adult thinking
is one of the m ost dynam
ic aspects of brain developm ent. N
ature builds the fram
ew ork; it is up to the child, parents, and school to
com plete the w
alls and do the interior decorating. Throughout childhood, developm
ent m oves upw
ard from the basem
ent of reflex response tow
ard the highest levels w here the frontal lobes
take over. A t least tw
enty years are needed to finish this process, and for adults w
ith active m inds the job m
ay never be finished! Children need tim
e to practice w ith fancier m
ental furnishings at each stage of developm
ent. The m ore they use the equipm
ent, the m
ore com fortable they becom
e w ith it-and the better their
base for the next level. The m iddle elem
entary years are an im
portant tim e for consolidating early foundations,
because som
etim e around age eleven the m
ind's top floors start to get a new
set of furnishings. N ew
types of thinking are suddenly possible, but the view
from the penthouse is often scary and
confusing. Let's explore som e of the perils
-and wonders-o f the
fascinating years that m ark this transition.
M E N
T A
L G
R O
W fH
IN A
C TIO
N
O ne bonus of m
y job, w orking w
ith students at all grade levels, is the opportunity to see m
ental grow th in action. For a bird's-eye
view
of children's thinking, consider
these responses
from
different ages to the question, "W hy do w
e have Jaw s?"
A ge six:
RICA RD
O : "B
ecause you m ight get hurt."
These children are all delightfully concrete thinkers, but there are som
e interesting differences in their answ ers. Suzie's answ
er is typical of a younger child-
caught by personal, very concrete experience. Peter has m
oved on a bit, pushing out beyond his playground to
one particular law
, and Ricardo
m anages
a rudim
entary generalization. Such different levels of abstraction are com
m on at age six and seven
-an im
portant transition point in children's ability to grasp ideas that go beyond concrete physical experience.
A geten
: G
EO R
G E
: "If w e didn't have law
s people w ould go out and steal
things. C ar crashes w
ould be to often because people w ouldn't
stop for red lights. O ther people w
ould shoot each other." N
A O
~!: "W e have law
s because if w e didn't, then the w
orld w ould
go biserk. If w e didn't have laws like 'D
O N
'T LITTER ' or 'D
O N
'T FISH
H ER
E' or 'NO H U
N TIN
G ' then people w
on't know if their
supposed to do this or that." A
N N
: "Law s w
ere m ade to protect us and to keep the w
orld or our country safe."
These typical ten-year-olds w rote their answ
ers-and their spelling is, as alw
ays,just as interesting as their ideas. N otice how
this age level loves rules, Jaw
, and order-o ne of the hallm
arks of late elem
entary years. H aving absorbed a lot of inform
ation about the w
ay the w orld w
orks, they are still inclined to relate ideas back to concrete personal experiences. Ann is one of the few in the class w
ho m anaged a m
ore abstract statem ent. At this age there is
usually less variability than at others. Let's see w hat happens in
three years.
SU ZIE: "B
ecause som e people eat bubble gum
and it's notfai,· if som
e people have it and others don't!" A
ge thirteen: T
IR O
N E
: "W e have Jaw
s to keep control of people. Law s help us to
be safe. They teach us to follow directions and obey them
. If you PETER
: "If you're driving too fast they m ight give you a ticket."
106 of 330
do not, you m ay be severely punished just as in school."
KATE: "The m ain reason is to keep this w
orld under control. For exam
ple: an eleven-year-old boy could go into a bar and ask for a vodka, but since there are law
s they prevent eleven-year-olds to be able to do that."
BIA N
CA : "Law
s are very im portant to have in any form
of group. They protect people from
others. N o one or group could or w
ould survive w
ithout them . If w
e had no law s w
e w ould have no
rights." FR
A N
K LIN
: "W e have to run by som
e sort of guidelines to live by and to run our society in an efficient w
ay. If w e did not have law
s, w
e w ould probably be the only anim
als that w ould not have som
e sort of system
."
W elcom
e to adolescence! N otice the striking contrast betw
een tw
o students' personal, concrete thinking (Tyrone, K ate), and
near-adult perspectives on society's needs and universal principles (Bianca, Franklin). The rigid law
-and-order em phasis of m
iddle childhood (rules should be follow
ed so you w on't be punished)
eventually gives w ay, for m
ost teenagers, to larger perspectives Oaw
s are necessary for the survival of a society), but tim etables for
this change vary dram atically. H
ow w
ould you like to be a teacher trying to plan a lesson to interest every student in this class? Som
ething exciting is taking place, but it hasn't fully happened to everyone.
Everyone know s that the physical changes of adolescence are
im portant, and neurological changes are also an im
portant part of the process. This chapter w
ill sum m
arize the m ost current
inform ation
on brain
developm ent
from
m iddle
childhood through adolescence, give you a look inside som
e schools, and suggest w
ays parents and teachers can collaborate to help.
FIN ISH
IN G
C H
IL D
H O
O D
: T
H E
Y E
A R
S F R
O M
E IG
H T
TO E
L E
V E N
"School's O
K , I'm
O K
"
A ges eight to ten are a relatively calm
period for m any children. As
academ ic skills from
previous years are practiced and refined,
m ost students feel capable and in control. T
he brain strengthens its
abilities for
learning as
m yelination
of fibers
speeds associations betw
een senses and ideas. Late elem entary grades are
an ideal tim e to apply skills already learned. R
eading to learn replaces learning to read; m
ath becom es useful in the shopping
m all or on the com
puter. R epeating skills and rituals lays a solid
base for m oving on to new
challenges. C
hildren at this age love to soak up inform ation and facts, but
they m ay not reflect very deeply about them
unless an adult guides them
. T hey painstakingly copy paragraphs for reports but need
help in paraphrasing them . Lots of practice is
needed-and instruction on organization skills. A
bove all, older children need plenty of tim
e for their ow n brands of play. They still learn best by
starting w ith concrete experience. The m
ost helpful parents and the m
ost successful teachers capture their w ide-ranging curiosity
in active, project-oriented learning.
H ands-O
n Ju stice
O ne creative teacher got w
onderful results w hen she capitalized
on a "teachable m om
ent." N oticing that all her "sophisticated"
nine-year-old girls w ere bringing their dolls to recess, she w
isely figured they w
ere expressing a need to be children for a little w hile
longer. A s she eavesdropped on the doll society, it w
as rocked by an argum
ent over playground territory (reptilian brain?). The girls set up a "court" to m
ediate the dispute, and soon the boys began to take sides, although no one w
as too clear on the judicial process. Sensing a golden opportunity to w
eave together interest, concept, and skill developm
ent, the teacher expanded her plans and suggested that the class investigate firsthand how
courts w ork,
neatly supplem
enting the
fourth grade
A m
erican history
curriculum objectives. In the follow
ing w eeks students searched
out books, new spaper articles, and Internet sources to w
rite about and discuss in class. C
hildren chose group or independent projects and practiced defending a point of view
w ith oral and m
ultim edia
presentations. A law
yer father cam e to discuss his experiences in
court and answ er questions. Parent volunteers organized a visit to
a real courtroom , w
here the judge w as so im
pressed w ith these young scholars' know
ledge that she let them sit in on a trial and
took them on an unscheduled tour of the justice center. Finally,
the dolls' ow n court w
as held, and the classroom new
spaper proclaim
ed the result-a hung jury. N
ot all teachers are this im aginative or hardw
orking, but all need parents' support if they try to flee now
and then from the tyranny
of w orksheets, overly abstract curricula, and from
artificial standards of"com
petence" that put lim its on intellectual curiosity.
The hum an brain learns and rem
em bers best w
hat it understands. Sim
ply restricting students to the m em
orization of facts for w hich
they have little conceptual grasp is poor preparation for grasping the com
plex issues of a com plex w
orld. Such "real" experiences are particularly im
portant in late elem entary years because students
need help witi! abstract concepts such as "justice" or "law ." A
t hom
e, parents1'iave an im portant role in seeking out opportunities
to supplem ent the school's efforts, capitalizing on children's ready
curiosity for m ind-stretching conversations, fam
ily trips, and activities. The follow
ing list m ay give you som
e ideas.
ST R
E T
C H
IN G
T H
E B
R A
IN S O
F P R
ET E
E N
S
• H elp them
begin challenging literal fact:
"W hy do w
e go to school only on w eekdays? W
hy.five days a w
eek?" "W
hy shouldn't people steal?" .
, Let them see that there are m
any points of view on issues,
and probably no one right answ er on m
any questions. , Play gam
es w ith open-ended questions:
"W hat w
ould happen if … every day w
ere M onday?
autom obiles w
ere declared illegal? com
puters needed to be fed three tim es a day?"
"W hat w
ould you do if …
108 of 330
w e w
on the lottery? w
e lost all our m oney?
you w oke up one m
orning seven feet tall?"
• H elp them
articulate their feelings, and don't be afraid to talk about yours. ("I really felt scared w
hen I thought G randm
a w
as seriously ill. I bet you did, too.") • Play gam
es of strategy that require w eighing alternatives,
planning m oves ahead, or view
ing a situation from the
opponent's perspective (Stratego, B attleship, U
no, chess, checkers, gin rum
m y, hearts).
• Play Tw
enty Q
uestions. Show
how
to ask
categorical questions. ("Is it an anim
al?" rather than "Is it a dog?") • Practice allow
ing the child to m ake som
e reasonable choices and to experience the natural consequences. ("If you use your allow
ance on the CD , you w
on't have enough to go to the m
ovies on Saturday.") D on't w
eaken and bail them out of
m inor consequences.
• If your child has trouble understanding a school assignm ent,
look for a w ay to present it w
ith pictures, tim e lines, m
aps, or objects that can be m
anipulated. H ave fun acting out ideas
or situations. Your child still learns best from concrete
experience. • Get a book of sim
ple science experim ents and try som
e at hom
e. Talk about possibilities of w hat m
ight happen. M ake
guesses together, w ithout w
orrying about w ho's right or
w rong.
• H ave dinner together and talk w
ith your child. • W
atch TV together and talk about w
hat happened. Listen to w
hat your child is saying. G ood fam
ily conversation tim es
produce good students, and psychologists know that parents
w ho
are good
listeners tend
to have
better-adjusted teenagers.
• D on't stop reading aloud. Encourage m
em orization of fine
poetry or prose. T ry round-robin fam
ily reading. • A
ppreciate those childlike qualities even w hile you help
preteens stretch. Rem em
ber, they still reason differently
from you.
ST U
M B
L IN
G B
L O
C K
S T O
L E
A R N
IN G
A lthough brains w
ork quite sm oothly for m
any children of this age, untreated learning differences m
ay finally be recognized as schoolw
ork places m ore com
plex dem ands on basic sensory
system s and executive function. As described in chapter 4, parents
m ay need to press the school for needed services or consult w
ith outside
specialists. Tw
o com
m on
and baffling
quirks are
particularly likely to show up now
.
A Problem
of O utput
Som e children are fine until required to w
rite som ething dow
n presentably or get it organized and executed in som
e other w ay.
They understand and reason as w ell as anyone else but can't "get
it together" for hom ew
ork or w ritten assignm
ents. They m ay score
adequately on standardized tests w here all they have to do is check
the right answ er, but if asked to produce a report or project, their
output m ay resem
ble a childish-looking m ess even after hours of
effort. This puzzling problem often gets blam
ed on lack of effort or "carelessness," but m
ore likely results from som
e sort of glitch in the nervous system
that causes far m ore anguish to the child than
to anyone else. O
ne young friend of m ine, Jules, bad trouble from
the early grades, w
hen he couldn't organize his fingers around a pencil. H e
alw ays found w
riting slow and frustrating-even though he w
as one of the brightest children in the class. Jules m
anaged to get by until he arrived in the m
iddle school w ith serious difficulties in
producing decent w ritten w
ork or even getting organized to do his hom
ew ork. By now
he had a secondary problem -avoidance of
norm al am
ounts of practice. His parents becam e really w
orried and altered their busy schedules to help him
every evening. Pitched battles ensued as they pushed and Jules dug in his heels.
Luckily, Jules attended a school w here special help w
as available. At his parents' request, he w
as tested by a psychologist, w ho
confirm ed a high
IQ and
a specific learning problem . The
psychologist leveled w ith Jules and they developed a plan together.
H is teachers w
ere asked to shorten som e w
ritten assignm ents, but
to insist that Jules keep up his end of the bargain and com plete a
reasonable am ount. H
e w as encouraged to shine in oral reports
and class
discussions. H
is parents
w ere
counseled in
understanding his difficulty and helping him plan hom
ew ork tim
e and proofread assignm
ents without taking over his share of the responsibility.
As the tension eased, Jules began to try harder. H e practiced
keyboarding so he could use a w ord processor and developed som
e basic strategies for tackling hom
ew ork. H
e still w rites the bare
m inim
um , but w
hen I saw him
in the hall recently, he confided that he had decided it w
as "w orth it" to keep trying.
It is not too late for such early difficulties to be overcom e in the
m iddle grades if parents and teachers w
ork together. Like Jules, m
any students 1i
uffer from
w
hat D
r. M
elvin Levine
calls "developm
ental output failure," w hich m
ay go unnoticed until an em
phasis on "decoding"-reading w ords-changes to a need for
"encoding," w
hich requires
organizing, rem
em bering,
and restating inform
ation. N eural system
s for input are w orking just
fine, but im m
aturity at the output level causes trouble. Such youngsters also have trouble organizing their thoughts. Pulling together inform
ation from m
any sources, m anaging tim
e and m
aterials, and handling heavy dem ands on m
em ory m
ay be too m
uch for them . "M
ind-m apping," as described in chapter 11, can
be a big help. Calling such a child "lazy" m
akes the problem w
orse, as Levine's book, The M
yth of Laziness, asserts. I have seen m any boys and
girls like Jules, and I believe this problem is one of the m
ost pervasive-
and difficult-of the m iddle childhood years and is a
hidden com ponent of underachievem
ent, attention deficits, and problem
behavior later on. N ot all schools are as enlightened as
the one Jules attends. M any teachers and even som
e psychologists are not inform
ed about this type of learning problem , so parents
m ust becom
e the first line of defense. H elp from
an expe1t tutor m
ay be required. M eanw
hile, don't let a child like this develop habits of"Iost" hom
ew ork and deception. ("The dog ate it." "It blew
out of the school bus.") U
nderstanding children's problem s does
111 of 330
not m ean w
e stop expecting anything from them
. H ere are som
e points to keep in m
ind:
• Som e neurological differences, particularly in later-developing
parts of the brain, m ay not show
up until those areas are called upon for new
kinds of school learning; w hen children run into
trouble in m iddle years, do not rush to blam
e the teacher or the child.
• Be alert for a negative change in attitude tow ard school, or
avoidance of hom ew
ork or classroom assignm
ents. • M
ake yourself available (or, if necessary, inescapable) to help w
ith assignm ents that are genuinely difficult for your child.
• K eep in close contact w
ith the school and ask for the teacher's advice about helping at hom
e. Y ou m
ay need to help organize study tim
es, assignm ent books, and long-range projects.
• If problem s
persist, get an evaluation from
the school psychologist or a learning disability specialist.
• A sk the school to provide special support services, or m
odify dem
ands for w ritten output. K
eep the child's ego intact so he can com
pensate for his difficulty. • The w
ord processor and spell checker are life rafts for this child, along w
ith good instruction in keyboarding skills. Som e com
puter softw
are also helps organize thoughts for w riting, although it does
not substitute for good
educational therapy to
teach basic
organization skills and strategies. • Your hardest job w
ill be to let the child suffer the natural consequences if he falls dow
n on his end of the bargain. Refuse to "ow
n" his school responsibilities if they are reasonable. • Be patient! If a task is genuinely hard, your child suffers enough
from feelings of "stupidity" w
hen he yearns to be com petent.
R em
ind him and yourself that, even in very sm
art people, all parts of the brain do not grow
equally fast, and som e need tim
e and extra practice to do their job.
• If you cannot w ork with your child without dam
aging self- esteem
( even the best parents get into "scenes"), find som eone w
ho can. Look for a tutor w
ho understands this type of problem .
• Rem ind yourself that children are not by nature lazy!
T he H
om ew
ork Issue
Supervising schoolw ork at hom
e puts parents on a tightrope over tw
o fearsom e chasm
s. O n one side lies the danger of m
aking a child overly dependent, negative, or dow
nright defiant; on the other- school failure. W
hat a choice! W hile perfect solutions are, as
alw ays, only dream
s, here are som e suggestions that have helped
other parents.