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The Secrets to Raising a Smarter Child
- By Inderbir Sandhu, Ph.D

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Brain Balancing - Tips and Practical Suggestions

By Andrew Loh



Left brain exercises are some of the best tools available to balance brain functions and boost dual brain lobe working. The left brain side indicates that the child is endowed with an ability that improves analytical abilities and enhances memory retention and recall. To enhance left brain activities, you may need to do the following:

  • Boost logical reasoning

  • Step by step problem processing

To help refine these abilities, there are several exercises and tools available for parents. All of them involve two approaches both of which mandatory to ensure proper results. These two approaches are as follows:

  • Conditioning and

  • Action

Before learning more about these two approaches, parents may need to learn some more information about left brain lobe enhancement. Left brain activities are very critical for academic success and achievements. Academics need better memory, deductive reasoning and learning through problem solving. The left brain lobe also uses logical power, is detail- inclined, memorizes facts, words and details, performs well in science and social science areas and hones the skills of perception. Follow these procedures to activate left brain cells:

Play cross word puzzles with children

Playing board games that include crossword puzzles can be a big learning booster for left brained children. Use puzzles that belong to different themes and the one that focus on verbs, nouns, technical words and science. Playing these games will help improve learning, enhance mood, put mind into deep relaxation and learn logical thinking. It will also help learn real world problems and help stabilize emotional side of the life.

Enhance word fluency

Word fluency is perhaps a great booster to enhance left brain learning. Play word games with children. Pose challenge to children to create and recite as many new words as possible with a given set of letters. Set time challenge so that they will start processing very quickly. Keep track for the count and help them improve their count in the next challenge. Give them treat upon one instance of success. This is a sure fire way to balance brain power.

Play strategy board games

Playing strategy board games are time tested techniques to enhance left lobe of the brain. Some of the most famous strategy games are Business and Monopoly. Playing such games will help children improve the skills of creating strategy and reasoning. In addition, they will also help children planning and taking action.

Creating a chart of facts and figures

This approach has been recommended by child education experts because it helps children streamline their memory power and reasoning. In addition, it can also help enhance immediate retrieval of long term memory. It will also help in organizing and prioritizing.

Learn symbols and words

Symbols and thematic words are very powerful tools to promote memory and retention. Symbols that represent words and syllables can enhance reasoning as well as pattern making. As they are visual in nature, learning also becomes very easier especially in terms of representation of words in a pictorial form.

Use mnemonics to boost memory

Mnemonics is a group of memory techniques designed to enhance long term and short term memory. This technique uses the power of imagination along with all critical senses like sound, touch, smell and sight. This will make learning very exciting and easy especially those that are involved with memory retention.

Balancing brain functions is a fine tuned activity that needs immense attention and dedication. Some children are both right and left learners and they can learn at the optimum pace because of their highly refined brains. However, most of the children are either right learners or left learners. Hence, they need a focused and calibrated learning system that optimizes learning by using both lobes of the brain.

Full brain workout is a new term coined by some educational experts. Brain responds to immense workout and exercises. Child brain is highly amenable and malleable. One can easily nurture and train to make it the most efficient organ in the body. A typical classroom caters to children, who are endowed with better memory and its retention skills. All creative children use more of their right side of the brain than the left side and this makes it very difficult for them to survive in a typical classroom that relies more on traditional method of teaching. Most of the right brained children are required to study in a left brain world. Hence, course correction is needed, more in case of such children, so that they can survive in the tough world of academics.

Featured Resource

Brain-Based Early Learning Activities: Connecting Theory and Practice
By Nikki Darling-Kuria

Brain-based learning involves both hemispheres of children's brains working together, resulting in stronger, more meaningful learning experiences. Each fun activity in this book is designed to promote brain-based learning in the areas of language, mathematics, science, art, music, and the environment, and encourages physical, social, and emotional development.

Each activity includes a materials list, extension activities, variations for multi-sensory exploration, components for diversity, and an explanation of the brain connections being made. Brain-Based Early Learning Activities also includes a comprehensive overview of early brain development and how to create a brain-based early learning environment.

 

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