Are our kids learning to think quicker?
October 22, 2008
I have just been helping my nine year old daughter with her math’s homework and i am constantly amazed at what she is learning. Gone are the days that every addition or multiplication is worked out in long hand in a detailed, step by step process.
The new way seems to be that if you can get to the correct answer as quickly as you can then so much the better. For example, if you are taking away 18 from 80 the new, short way would be to take away 20 then add two (80–20+2=62). This quick fire way of working out the answer is faster, more accurate and i suspect more fun. It also gives students a better feel for numbers and the relationships between them. As my daughter comments when she is doing her homework, this answer does not feel right so she can quickly redo the work and correct any mistakes.
Is this the way of the future? Is this new way of teaching math’s the way we should be teaching all other subjects? Perhaps teachers and parents are more comfortable with this new way of thinking because there is a single correct answer. You can either do it the fast or slow way but there is only one single correct answer. Yet with most problems at school and indeed in life there is never the one correct answer so there is a continuing belied that somehow the slower we go the better off we will be.
My proposition is that our kids are showing us the way. They are learning to think quicker because it is a better way to adapt and respond to a broadband-paced world. Perhaps it is us adults that need to learn from our kids in this regard?
What do you think?
Yours in Speed, Dr. Ken Hudson
Feel Stuck-Start Moving
October 17, 2008
Have you ever been in a situation where you have reached the crossroads and simply run out of ideas? When I have done so I have often just got up and started moving. There was no purpose to it other than to move my body and to clear my head. Yet often shortly after this a new idea emerged.
This sort of physical restless behaviour may actually be good for you according to the latest research:
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/health/top-story/story/680778.html
Going for a walk for example, is good for your brain on three levels:
1. The heart pumps more blood, affecting not only muscles but also the brain. Your brain needs blood, because in the blood are nutrients and oxygen, which are good for the cells and will make the brain healthier.
2. The act of doing a movement over and over also can stimulate the brain’s neurocircuits, the research author (Dr. Gary Small) ads, resulting in activity in various regions of the brain.
3. The last point is that when you are walking (outside ideally) you can take in any number of fresh stimulus e.g. it might be bird flying or a cloud. This might just give you an insight into solving a new problem in a new way.
The main message seems to be this-if you want your brain to speed up then gets your body moving. It will be healthier aerobically but also better for your brain. It seems our body and our brain is built for movement. That is why in my speed thinking sessions i like to have people moving all the time. It could be working with different partners or having everyone record their ideas on a whiteboard. The energy release is amazing and people become more playful. It is hard to be completely serious and rational when you are moving.
Try Moving. Your waistline and your brain will respond enthusiastically.
Dr. Ken Hudson