The New Science of Learning

I caught by chance a Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) program today on "The Science of Learning". What an eye opening program. The segment on "New Science of Learning Brain Fitness for Kids" blew my mind. The National Science Foundation has conducted this research for thirty years on how children learn and the result is a new understanding on what is called nueroplasiticity. What researchers have found is that the brain is shaped through rigorous exercise much like with physical actions. Four building blocks have developed by researchers with astonishing results in the learning process. (1) Memory, (2) attention, (3) processing rate and (4) sequencing. I will not go into detail in these, but will say that children who could not learn achieve astonishing results in learning. Go to WHRrg for more info. The segment that really stood out for me was the young black male Willie Brown who was unable to read during much of his childhood until he was 17 years of age could not read. I admire his courageous mother who fought to keep him off the streets and joining a gang. She fought to get him into one of these programs in accelerated learning that allowed him to finally in his life achieve what alluded him most of his life, the ability to read. Now, Willie Brown himself is teaching other kids to read and is himself planning to go on to college. What an uplifting program this was for me. I will learn more about this brain research in nueroplasiticity and get some of the programs available to conduct my own home learning enviornment for my own child someday.