Show #107- Dr. Stuart Brown- National Institute for Play
Dr. Stuart Brown is a physician and psychiatrist who has been studying the importance of play for many years, and is the founder of The National Institute for Play. He’s written a wonderful new book, entitled “Play: How it Shapes The Brain, opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul” which should be on every parent and teacher’s book shelf.
Over the course of his clinical career, he interviewed thousands of people to capture their play profiles. His cataloging of their profiles demonstrated the active presence of play in the accomplishments of the very successful and also identified negative consequences that inevitably accumulate in a play-deprived life.
The National Institute for Play includes a catalog of information and research on play in humans and animals; play profiles, and more. You can find out more by going to the website by clicking here. Dr. Brown and his work has been featured in articles in the New York Times (The 3 R’s, a Fourth is Crucial too- Recess) and numerous other publications. Dr. Brown founded the Institute back in 1989, and was surprised that much of the play-related research he reviewed was fragmented and lacked quantitative confirmation of factors readily observed clinically. A science and evidence-based way of understanding and suggesting how to improve play hygeine was and still is lacking. He turned to animal play research to gain insights into human play.
With the support of the National Geographic Society and Jane Goodall, he observed animal play in the wild. He became acquainted with the premier animal play experts in the world, and began to see play as a long evolved behavior important for the well being and survival of animals. He subsequently came to understand that humans are uniquely designed by nature to enjoy and participate in play throughout life.
Many of our kids, even in affluent homes, are often deprived of the free play and free time they need to develop skills in critical thinking they will need later in life. Play is fun, but it’s also a very serious subject for good emotional and social development in kids, and I think it’s one of the things we can often forget about when we try to help improve our kids who struggle in school. We may think extra work is the answer, but extra play might help even more.
In the first part of our interview, we talk about how play is important for kid’s development; in the second part, we discuss how Grandparents and play; how important hands on learning is for kids, and how this seemingly “wasteful” activity may be where most of their most important learning comes from. I know you’ll really enjoy Dr. Stuart Brown- his new book helped me think about play and how we incorporate it in our lives in a whole new way.
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LD Podcast#96: Dr. Andy Van Schaack- Part II
In this second part of my interview with Dr. Van Schaack, we talk about how technology can help students, and what it can’t do. One of the most important things we need to remember is that the tech might make some things easier, but it doesn’t replace real learning.
The crux of this new “computer in a pen” is that while you are taking notes in a regular spiral notebook (on special paper with a watermark…), it is recording the audio in the classroom, at a meeting- wherever, at the same time. The pen stores your handwriting, diagrams, and notes exactly how you write them, and this will get transferred to your PC as a PDF file- just like you took a picture of your notes. It also syncs the audio to exactly when you wrote those words, so whenever you go back to your notes and tap on the word, online or offline, you can hear the audio recorded at that moment. Moreover, your notes also become searchable, so you can find exactly when the professor was talking about the effects of inflation in the economy, or what would be on the midterm.
So you are saying, “Cool, but is it worth the cost?”
Research into how people learn best shows that notetaking is important in the learning process- but when they looked deeper into why, they found that the value is in having this external storage system for information. And if you know that capture of information is worthless without having meaningful access to it, making all of your notes searchable takes on greater meaning, even if there is no accompanying audio!
Now, good note taking is a skill in and of itself. People talk at 40 -50 phonemes a second, much faster than people can read or write. Studies also show the cognitive load of listening to a lecture and taking notes is as strenuous as playing grandmaster-level chess. So assuming even the best notetakers can’t keep up with the lecturer, word for word, maybe we need to alter how notes are taken in class, and add the ability to rehear and fill in details later as a better strategy.
For me, I became intrigued with this “gadget” because I could finally get a handle on what my kids were taking for notes during class, and afterwards, be able to compare what the teacher was saying to what my child was writing- and in the process, we’re trying to hep him build a more effective note taking and studying strategy, that he will surely need for high school and college. Factor in his poor handwriting, and this tool can really help make up for a cognitive and fine motor task that is very difficult for him.
This is not really an infomercial for this product, but a show where you can hear about how something like this product might really make a difference in the classroom- also as a tool for teachers to provide meaningful audio feedback to students, that students are more likely to use to change their future performance, as well as understand the time and effort the teacher is putting into reviewing their work- critique becomes more meaningful, even if the student and teacher are not in the same place at the same time.
I’m excited about this product and how it’s working so far for us, and I hope you’ll find the science behind the learning process as exciting as I do.
Oh, and someone posted on the blog that if you use this code, SCRIBE5A20 on the Livescribe site, you can receive a 5% discount on the purchase of the pen, which is great!
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Show #63- Avoiding Extremes
Show # 63- Avoiding Extremes- We’re Back From vacation!
In today’s show, I talk about how we need to keep centered, and avoid the extreme reactions to things. For example, we can choose to be an advocate, or we can choose to be adversarial with school staff; We can ask for help or we can demand services; we can work as a team or take defensive and polarizing positions.
In the end, parents need to work together with schools, teachers, doctors, therapists and more. We need to work through the bureaucracy, rather than just rail against it. We need to work as much within the system as possible, and try to get as many others on our child;s side as possible. By showing yourself as an engaged and concerned parent, you are more likely to get what you and your child need, than if you take an adversarial and combative approach to every interaction with professionals.
You want to be respected, and as such, you have to be the professional as well, even when it’s frustrating and makes you angry. We all need to remember- When the elephants fight- it’s the grass that gets trampled. In other words, when we fight with professionals, our child may really be the one hurt in the end by all this conflict.
Today’s song is Black Coffee by Chaz and is available on the podsafe music network.
If anyone’s interested, you can see some of the great shots we got on our whale watch by going to our main website, at www.ldpodcast.com and clicking on the link. That way, you won’t get the whole movie downloaded to your computer by accident!.
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Show #56- Anne Ford and John Richard Thompson
This is the last of our three part conversation with Anne Ford and John Richard Thompson about their new book, On Their Own: Creating an Independent Future for Your Adult Child with Learning Disabilities and ADHD, published by New Market Press. We talk about how we need to help kids develop self-advocacy skills, in order to help them succeed in the workplace. We also talk about life coaches, accommodations and estate planning. Many thanks again to Anne & John for their time and their truly wonderful book!
Congratulations to our book winners so far – Kim, Tracey, Sue, Terry, Shelly and Patty!
Thanks to Joey and Patty for their audio comments- I will include them in an upcoming show. Please keep those comments and emails coming- I’d like to have enough to do an audience -participation show, answering questions, playing comments, and making you part of our growing community.
Please send an email to ldpodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (206) 666-2343 !
I’d also love it if any listener would take a moment and leave a review of the show on itunes- it will help the show break into the top 100 featured shows- even if you don’t listen through itunes!
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New Free Reading Material!
I’ve also recently added a chapter from my book-in-progress, in PDF format, if you are interested. You’ll have to go to the main website at www.ldpodcast.com to get it, though. It’s about the basics of brain and cognitive development in kids, presented in a “Bill Nye The Science Guy” way for parents. For me at least, it always has been helpful to know what part of a child’s issues might be developmental (They’ll get better over time as they get older) and which parts are hard-wired (this is something in their basic makeup and unlikely to change much). I am eager to hear what you think- if you do read it, please send you feedback to me at ldpodcast@gmail.com. Any and all feedback, positive, negative, indifferent- is all valuable and helpful, so please be honest!
Upcoming shows:
Dr. Robert Brooks- All about Raising Resilient Children and Raising a Self-Disciplined Child
Jan Olsen- Handwriting Without Tears- a great handwriting program used in many schools that you can use easily at home!
Click here to download or listen to Anne Ford & John Richard Thompson- Jobs, Self-Advocacy, Life Coaches & Estate Planning