Parents Blog

If you don’t use your brain you could lose your mind

French neuro scientist Francois Dartigues has looked into the relationship between how intellectually challenging a job is and the likelihood of you becoming mentally impaired as you get older.

He concludes that if you don’t use your brain then its powers could diminish, so to help avoid this you need to keep your brain active.

One interesting observation he made was that retired farm workers were more than twice as likely as retired farm managers to become mentally impaired as they got older. The workers were considered to have had less intellectually challenging jobs than the managers and that this was the cause of the difference.

And what is the moral of the story?  Well, the way to keep mentally alert is to do things that challenge you intellectually, to keep your brain active.  How?

More »

A question of identity – Can you as a parent be a teacher and help your children learn?

Many a parent thinks that the role of helping their children learn should be left to the teacher, after all they will say “I’m not a teacher”.

You can help your children learn outside the classroom, you therefore can be a teacher to your children.

Anthony Robbins says that;

“what we consider possible or impossible is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.”

Have you said to yourself I can’t do that, or that’s just not me or that would be impossible to do?

If so you have, as Robbins says;

“run up against the barriers of a limited identity”.

You have confined what you are able to do within certain boundaries because you see yourself as not being able to do something, it has become what you are and it has become part of your identity. Is this ok?

More »

Left brain, Right brain – Your learning resource in two halves?

It has been said by researchers such as Roger Perry that the human brain can be viewed as being in two halves with each providing its own defined learning resource to the individual.

The left side of the brain is thought to be the logical half processing information sequentially in parts. The right side of the brain is said to be the creative side processing in ‘wholes’.

This understanding has led to an industry of commentators who have categorised people as predominantly ‘left brained’ or ‘right brained’, often saying that one is better than the other, if you like that one learning resource is better than the other. Is this the correct view and how does the answer matter to you personally and as a parent?

More »