Right brain learners love to read when they are taught to their strengths!
Right Brain Learners Benefit from a Different Approach
For the Right Brain Learner this is especially true when it comes to teaching our kids how to read!
Not everyone learns to read the same way. As parents, we have have been primed to think that studies on HOW CHILDREN LEARN TO READ, a logical and sequential approach, is the absolute best way to teach children how to become successful readers. Yes it is easy to run studies on how kids’ brains can ‘change’ when drilled to say certain sounds when presented- but that does not seem to translate to children UNDERSTANDING what they read! Hence we have thousands of children who are not successful at this approach and give up because they never understand the bigger picture or achieve any understanding; they quit because it is just not enjoyable! Why should these kids continue?? They are not engaged and worse yet, made to continue doing tasks that make no sense to them.
The author goes on to say “To get ahead in most disciplines, you need to be logical, factual, use language (verbal, mathematical) and pay attention to the details. Look at our education system: few courses are provided that teach people how to be more intuitive and to think big picture. Even creativity is rarely taught, and when it is, it’s a side effect of a course in the arts. Typically, creative and intuitive thinkers are seen as having a gift, but one that has not been trained.”
What if we USED those gifts to help these Right brain learners read? I’ve worked with thousands of students, including my own children, who have found that decoding words does NOT lead to UNDERSTANDING what they are reading. These kids are the most creative, and intuitive thinkers but because they often steer ‘off course’ they are never encouraged to use those skills. How frustrating that must be for these kids! All of that creativity is locked up! They become anxious and often just shut down. Of course, as this article suggests, wouldn’t it be nice if we ALL learned to use both sides of our brain to be more creative and logical – but for those students who are stronger at the creative stuff, don’t we owe it to them to teach them to use those abilities instead of squashing them? I am often asked by parents “What will happen to my child in the real world if she doesn’t learn like everyone else?”—- REAL WORLD?? What is that? Companies are spending millions of dollars to train employees to THINK DIFFERENTLY! There are New entrepreneurs starting creative and successful projects everyday!– It is only in our schools that we want our students to all think and learn the same way.
Observe and listen to your child/student– and encourage them to use their creative skills– and if READING instruction is not working-and kids are NOT READING (which certainly shows that the instruction is not working!)- FIND ANOTHER WAY!!!-Your kids will forever be grateful that they were recognized for their creativity– and they will learn a valuable skill–even if it was not learned the same way everyone else did.
If you think you are lucky enough to have a child who might be a right brain learner, take our no cost success assessment and then call 561-361-7495 for a Success Strategy Session.
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