The longest serving Major League Baseball manager in the US, Cornelius McGillicuddy (known as Connie Mack), often observed, “You can’t win any game unless you are ready to win”.

The same applies to learning, you cannot learn unless you are prepared to learn.

Children learn best when they are relaxed and comfortable in a warm friendly environment, free from distractions.

Under these conditions the brain frequency is low and the brain is said to be in either low beta mode or alpha mode.

The following extract from Colin Rose’s Accelerated Learning explains this ALPHA, BETA, THETA, DELTA – The brain generates tiny electrical pulses as thoughts traverse the labyrinth of the mind. Brain waves can be measured on an electroencephalograph machine. These waves are usually expressed in the number of cycles per second.

The brain produces four main frequencies:
BETA level brain waves range 13-25 CPS.
ALPHA level brain waves range 8-12 CPS.
THETA level brain waves range 4-7 CPS.
DELTA level brain waves range 0.5-3 CPS.

Thus the main impediment to learning is stress.

The generator of stress can either be real or imaginary.

“If you are under stress of any kind… you cannot learn”.

Children learn more efficiently in the alpha or low beta state.

Given this environment, the right encouragement, and the patience to lead a child to understand his/her true potential, then you will have not just a talented child, but also really a genius.

It has long been noted that any child who develops the right side of their brain through learning a musical instrument, or spends time being creative through art, or learns a second language, fare better in their overall performance at school.

It should be noted that when children are placed in a one to one learning environment they are under stress, feel spot-lighted, and do not learn nearly as effectively as children learning in a small group.

Next week we will continue the pursuit of preparing to learn. See you then!

See: The Weekender (Page 58)