Wholeistic learning

What is wholeistic learning? That is to say that when we teach our children we focus on the whole person not just a specific lesson subject.

Imagine a pyramid. The graduated layers of a pyramid in the form of words would look like this from bottom to top.

1. food
2. love
3. physical exercise
4. mental exercise
5. learning styles

Everything in learning is based on these elements. Missing one and no one is going to learn to the best of their ability.

FOOD

I am sure we have all experienced that once our children walk into the classroom threshold, whether it be the kitchen table or an actual room, their belly rumbles and soon we hear, "I'm hungry." or "I'm thirsty." If your little one is focused on thirst or hunger, guess what they are not focused on. Keeping water at the table will decrease the # of interruptions. A couple of snack times throughout the day keeps the belly monster at bay.

LOVE

Philippians 4:13 "...and the greatest of these is love."

An environment created for a learner to feel safe in making mistakes is probably the # 1 thing anyone should remember.

Edison learned 10,000 ways a light bulb did not work. Where would we be without that flick of a switch ( or in our house, push of a button)?

Some get it fast, others don't. This does not equate your child's intelligence capabilities just the time you need to spend developing them.

PHYSICAL & then MENTAL EXERCISE

Physical exercise has been shown to increase the transfers of neurons that cause brain activity... simply put, if we move, we learn better. Our brain is alert by navigating in an environment. Movement in learning creates the perfect environment for those with higher energy levels. Allowing this desire to be fulfilled will decrease in distractions and create a higher mastery in a subject with aides to memory retention. As such, within our lessons we need to allow (2 - 3 minutes) in the beginning of vigorous movement, and incorporate moderate movement throughout the lesson as the age and need of the child demand.

Mental exercise is what it sounds like... exercising your brain. When we challenge ourselves and our children to do something outside curriculum and outside of the things we normally deal with on a day to day basis, prepares the brain for thought. It loves to be challenged, it awakens from a sedentary position and the synapses begin to fire. If you don't then learning does decrease. In fact studies are now beginning to show that those who do not continue to daily challenge themselves have brains that begin to resemble Danny Devito...or was it that senility sets in quicker?

How to accomplish mental exercise?

Mental games are great way of achieving this. Brainquest is a fantastic quick test of knowledge in broad subject matters. perplexors offers great puzzles in deductive reasoning. look for things on lateral thinking. puzzles, mental math challenges. Try anything that you don't know, something you have to spend a little time figuring out. Soon you and your kiddos will be known as the Schwarzenegger of intellects.

LEARNING STYLES

Learning methods are essential in being successful. When a learner understands how they learn best, they become more confident in their ability.

Do not just stop there; understanding how you learn is just the beginning. Life and its encounters are unpredictable.

We need to understand all the pathways to learning. In doing so, we wake the sleeping senses allowing for a more complete mastery of material. This awakening is giving the skills needed to be successful for any situation in life or a new teacher hands us.

look at your child, discover their most natural way of learning, then teach to that whilst bringing out in your lessons ways to encourage and strengthen other learning styles.