Enhancing Right Brain Learning

Your children's life is all about learning a number of things, of which some are very essential, while many others are purely academic. Young children develop their brains and their innumerable nerve connections tucked within the tough walls with remarkable agility and swiftness. However, the nature has a unique way of empowering some children with unique abilities of very high IQ and remarkable intelligence. God has a superb way of endowing children with different skills and abilities; some children are extraordinarily smart and intelligent, while many others are stupendously intuitive and creative.

Experts believe that some children are very strong in their left side of the brain, while many others are very strong in their right side of the brain. Each one of these children possesses some special abilities and characteristics. However, more than eighty percent of our children are right brain dominant. Most of these children may struggle in their classroom studies and anything connected to academics. Does it mean that these children are weak and dull in their basic intelligence? Never! Right brain dominant children tend to be very creative and thinking with special abilities that can match those children who are left brain dominant. Right brain abilities tend to show up early in the life of right brain dominant children.

In life, right brain dominant children have the ability to learn things as whole rather than in parts. Children who are right brain dominant may show excellent abilities in learning and understanding concepts very well. However, they may struggle in areas that require checking facts, writing down facts or checking work after the class. Children who are strong in their right lobe of brain always rely on their gut feeling, when compared to children, who are strong in the left lobe of the brain.

Children who are strong in the left side of the brain tend to consider different factors before arriving at a conclusion; in fact, these children are more analytical and methodical than the children, who are strong in their right side of the brain. If you give tests to these two classes of children, you can observe them performing in a significantly different style. Children who are strong in the right side of the brain may like questions that are easy and graphical in nature. On the other hand, children who are strong in their right side of the brain tend to prefer multiple choice questions presented in a purely academic format.

The whole story of right and left brain abilities begins on an interesting note. During a well-planned research, experiment conducted during the 1960's, Drs. Robert Ornstein and Roger Sperry of the California Institute of Technology found that each side of the brain behaved and worked in independently and distinctly different ways. The research results demonstrated that the left side of the brain can process linear and solid factual information and this ability is an important key in language and logic. On the other hand, the right side of the brain can process very random, creative, well arranged and intuitive graphics and images.

However, further advanced research conducted in the last twenty years suggested that each lobe of brain contains at least some of the abilities of the opposite side of the brain. When you develop or activate linked to one lobe with the other, it is possible to activate and develop the entire brain, eventually leading to better brain performance and better personal and professional achievements.

Recent research demonstrates that each side of the brain has its own individual abilities and characteristics. Here are some of these individual characteristics:

Left Lobe	Right Lobe
Aware of surroundings in a conscious manner	Aware of surroundings in a sub-conscious manner
Strong in logical thinking	Strong in abstract thinking
Strong in short term memory	Strong in long term memory
Very slow in inputs	Very strong and quick in inputs
Analyses in a detailed manner	Analyses things in their whole picture
Thinking in a linear, sequential and reasoning manner	Thinking in a detailed and remarkably significantly creative and imaginative manner.
Relies on the natural and physical senses of the body	Relies on intuition part of the brain
Likes information coming in small and repetitive chunks	Can soak up or absorb information like a wet sponge
Very strong in using numbers and words	Very strong in images and graphics
Can process available data in individual chunks	Can process available data all at once and in whole
Can be very practical	Can be very emotional

Now, which brain is easier to teach? Which side of the brain performs better in a classroom? Most children who struggle in their classes are right brain dominant. Most of the classroom curriculum followed in our schools relies on left brain dependant methods. These methods always rely on using note books, worksheets, facts, memorization, tests, and lectures and learning by looking at sentences and words; most of the methods followed always rely on left brain activities.

If you have children who fit the descriptions given on the right side of the table, then you may be dealing with right brain dominant ones, who need a slight shift in your teaching strategies and methods, rather than a complete change in the curriculum. Teaching such children is very thrilling and exciting! Continue to read Enhancing Right Brain Learning - Methods and Strategies here!

Enhancing Right Brain Learning - Fundamentals