Shhh, be quiet! These are words you will often hear in classes, and many teachers will get awesome results and a calm environment with disciplined learners, but, is that the best way to learn? In our robotics classes, definitely not! Our learners need to be hands-on with their
activities, following the design process of building, testing, re-design, asking questions and sharing their results. This is not a quiet class, nor will the learners sit in their chairs for an hour at a time. This is a great form of kinaesthetic learning.
What does kinaesthetic learning mean?
Kinaesthetic learning is a learning style that involves physical activity and hands-on experiences to facilitate understanding and retention of information. So how do we go about this?
Every child is gifted and talented, every single one, but…
A man can only do what he has been taught to do.
Dr Jan Strydom (audioblox)
So, how do we learn?
Step-by-step!
If we want to be successful as adults, we need to be able to read, write and talk and we need to learn it step by step from a young age.
Our TCR curriculum is the culmination of a few programs to help a child reach his full potential in a fun, relaxed and playful way and to lay a great foundation for the future!
But firstly, we need to look at a child's needs:
The only way to satisfy your intellectual needs, is to learn, that’s why we are adopting
the following motto in robotics: “If you can dream it, you can do it!”
But, before intellectual needs can be satisfied, you need to get a few basic steps in place first. (See the blog about repetition)
The following process should also be in place to help a child get emotionally ready for the intellectual phase of: perception, integration and memory.
The last step of these 5 basic steps to a great learning environment is - you must be stress free. Why?
Let’s have look at the brain and stress:
The integration of auditory, visual and other general sensory information meets in the general interpretive area which lies where the 3 lobes connect; (short term memory).
From there the information is sent to the frontal lobe for action (long term memory) through the carriers of information, called neurons.
Between the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe you will find the central fissure of Rolando.
On the left side of the fissure (to the front of the brain) is where all the motor actions are found. If you are under stress, your brain will secrete neuro inhibitors (epinephrine, nor-epinephrine, cortisol), which forms a barrier and limit the sending of information to the frontal lobe, resulting in “learning disabilities” as classified in the DSM-IV(TR) or the newest term – neuro diverse children. We, as adults, have all experienced moments where general information cannot be retrieved - “it is on the tip of my tongue”, but it only becomes available to you when you are away from that specific situation.
When all these preparations (being able to sit still, self-motivation, persistence, positive attitude and stress free) are in place, learning can start through perception, then integration and finally memorization.
You all know the “I hear, I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” proverb.
This is how learning works best – a combination of the perception phase as shown above!
Hearing is not as good as seeing, seeing is not as good as experience, and true learning is only evident when experience produces an action.
Through visual and auditory input, we get information and store it in our short-term memory – decoding the information. In our stress-free environment that information can go through to our frontal lobe where we can put it all together again and talk, write or act out the information. In short, we are learning through all our senses, and it works best when children P-E-G; Play, Explore and Grow! Happy emotions and movement keep the brain healthy and open the neuro-path for information to be stored in the long term memory!
Kinaesthetic learning has several benefits for learners, including:
1. Improved cognitive development: Kinaesthetic learning helps develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills, as well as enhances the brain's capacity to retain information.
2. Increased comprehension: Kinaesthetic learners often struggle with traditional teaching methods, such as lectures or textbooks. Hands-on activities and physical experiences can help them better understand and engage with the material.
3. Better social skills: Kinaesthetic learning often involves group work and collaboration, which helps students develop teamwork and communication skills.
4. Boosted creative thinking: Kinaesthetic learning promotes divergent thinking, allowing learners to generate multiple solutions to a problem.
5. Improved muscle memory: The physical repetition of tasks in kinaesthetic learning can build muscle memory and further boost learning and retention.
6. Self-confidence: Kinaesthetic learning allows learners to gain self-knowledge and learn at their own comfort and confidence levels, fostering self-confidence in their abilities.
7. Positive social interaction: Kinaesthetic learners are often engaged in positive social interactions, developing problem-solving skills and expressing creativity through self-expression.
In conclusion, we prefer to use kinaesthetic learning in our robotics classes. Learners work on whole brain designs and functions: Step-by-step instructions (left brain), including the creative exploring of ideas (right brain) while moving around (kinaesthetic). Building, testing and coding; they are young “engineers” learning to “tender” for a project.
The result is happy learning with their whole mind and body.
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