Queen Essays

C h

a p

ter6

"A P

ath to

th e F

uture": H

em isp

h eres, L

e a

rn in

g S

tyles, H an

d ed

n ess,

an d

G en

d er D

ifferen ces

A gu

idan ce cou

n selo

r on ce recom

m end

ed th at a ninth grade boy

w h

o w as h

aving academ ic difficulty be given only ten

m inutes of

h om

ew ork each n

ight. T he reason? S

he claim ed the boy w

as "right­ b

rain ed

" an d

couldn 't b

e expected to concentrate norm ally. H

is parents

sensibly refused

to go

along w ith

this idea,

w hich,

unfortun ately, is n

o t th

e only peculiar one th at em

erged w hen

research about the tw o hem

ispheres becam e a popular topic.

M ost p

arents h ave heard about differences betw

een th e tw

o sides of th

e b rain, b

u t they share professionals' co

nfusion about th eir

p ractical im

plicatio ns. ls there a battle going on in

side children's h

eads as these tw o halves fight for con

trol? A re so

m e children

"right-b rain

ed" learners destined to experience failure in a "left­ brain

ed" curriculum ? C

an a child's "learning style" b e ch

anged? W

h at is a learning style anyw

ay? D

espite w hat you m

ay have heard , tw

o facts are clear. Children are w

hole-brained learners, and th e brain prefers cooperation to

conflict. M oreover, anyone w

ho claim s to h

ave answ ers or "cures"

based on

h em

ispheric research

is undo

ubtedly guilty

of oversim

plification . W

hile the term s "right-" and "left-brained"

m ay provide an interesting m

etaphor, they are neither a scientific fact n

o r an

unch anging asp

ect of brain function . In th

is ch ap

ter I w

ill try to explain w hat is understood scientifically and how

it can sensibly b

e applied to help children link both h em

ispheres into an efficient an

d flex

ible system for learning.

P artn

ers in T

h in

k in

g

If you looked dow n at the top of the h

ead and co uld peer th

ro ugh

the skull, you w ould see that th

e cortex is not one solid m ass, but

it consists of tw o distinct halves-

th e cerebral h

em ispheres. T

hese hardw

orkin g team

m ates contain tw

o sets of co rtical lobes and the associated subcortical structures that w

ork together for all m ental

activity. In a m

ature b rain

, a thick bridge of fibers called the corpus callosum

carries

m essages

in a

constant flow

betw

een the

h em

ispheres. W ith the exception of a few

surgical cases, w hich you

w ill learn about shortly, it isn't possible to be "left-brained" or

"right-brained." E ven after surgery th

e brain fights for norm alcy.

L ikew

ise, a curriculum could not be developed for only one side,

since any

activity au

tom atica

lly engag

es both

o f a

child's hem

ispheres. T h

ere are, h ow

ever, m any individu

al variations in th

e w ay th

e b rain distributes the load, and experien

ce does help "sculpt" their b

alance. C

arl Sagan term ed the corpus callosum

a "path to the future" because he b

elieved th at only dynam

ic cooperation betw een the

hem ispheres can achieve m

ankind's highest objectives.

L U

M P

E R

S A N

D SP

L IT

T E

R S

"C areless" or T

oo C areful?

A s h

e stood to leave m y office, M

r. Jarvis turned to his w ife. "W

ell, w

e h ave our w

ork cut out fo r us, but at least w

e know h

e isn't lazy or stup

id. N ow

that I understand T im

a little better, I'll try to be m

ore pati~~t and app reciate the th

ings he's good at." A

lthough"'th ere is no such thing as a "typical" child, T

im Jarvis

h as a lot in com

m on w

ith m any yo

ungsters w ho strain the p

atience of paren

ts. In fact, tw elve-year-old T

im w

as b affling all the adults

in his life because he w as so goo

d at som e things and

, as he ad

m itted, so poo

r at oth ers. A

star soccer player and vice president of his class, he excelled in art and show

ed a real talent for W eb

design , b

u t h

e w as running into tro

uble w ith m

ath and E nglish

. H e

asto nished his father w

ith his intuitive ability to figure out th e

relatio nship betw

een w ind, w

aves, and th e speed of th

eir sailboat, b

ut he co uldn't rem

em ber the order of the m

ultiplication tables. H

e w as pop

ular w ith h

is teach ers, bu

t his repo rt card reflected their

frustration: "W

ritin g and spellin

g need attention. T im

should take m ore tim

e on sentence strncture."

"T im

seem s to get the ideas in m

ath , bu

t is careless \~th w ritten

w ork. H

e often forgets assign m

ents given in class."

136 o f 330

"T im

can understand stories very w ell, but he m

akes m any

careless errors w hen he reads out loud. I w

ish he w ould participate

m ore in class discussions, as he alw

ays has good ideas." I spent several hours talking to T

im and adm

inistering so m

e tests, on w

hich he scored, overall, som ew

hat above average. T he

extrem ely uneven profile of his abilities, how

ever, suggested a neurological basis for his apparent "carelessness." H

is style of thinking w

as w eighted tow

ard processes usually associated w ith

the right hem isp

h ere-ev

en w

hen he w as perform

ing tasks m ore

appropriately m anaged by the left.

T im

's classm ate, C

arl, on the other hand, w as a w

hiz w ith the

kind of details th at really "bugged" T

im . H

is E nglish com

positions w

ere m eticulously w

ritten , altho

ugh his teacher lam ented that he

should "use

m ore

im agination."

A flaw

less oral

reader, he

som etim

es m issed the po

int of a story even w hen he could recall

all the details. In m ath

, he loved com putation but avoided story

problem s, just as he tried to avoid graphs, charts, an

d m aps. C

arl preferred w

riting linear com puter program

s to athletics, adm itting

that h e h

ad a h ard tim

e getting the "feel" of positions and plays in team

sports. C arl didn't h

ave a lot of problem s in school, but his

parents w o

ndered w hy he w

asn 't very popular.

T h

ese boys' differences reflect the "styles" w ith w

hich their

brains balance

various types

of learning.

For purposes

of illustration

, let's call T im

a "lum per" and C

arl a "splitter." T hese

term s

ch aracterize

the hem

isp heric

m odes

of handling

inform ation.

D ivid

in g B

rain s

Scientists first learn ed about hem

ispheric differences from adult

patients w ho needed surgery to stop epileptic seizures. T

hese sud

den electrical storm s flood th

e b rain w

ith uncon trolled activity;

som etim

es the only w ay to stop them

is by cutting through the corp

us callosum . Such "split-brain" patien

ts, w h

ose hem ispheres

are deprived of a chance to co m

m unicate w

ith each other, have cooperated

in research

to discover

how

each hem

isph ere

fun ctions. B

ecause cortical areas are prim arily connected w

ith sensory organs on th

e opposite (contralateral) side of tl1e bo dy,

scientists are able to "feed" inform ation into one side or the other

depending on w here they present it. T

hese studies have show n that

each hem

isphere has

its ow

n unique

style of

processing inform

ation. F or m

ost people the right hem isphere learns by

getting the w hole intuitive "feel" o

f a situation, w hile the left tends

to analyze system atically and sequentially. T

he right sees outlines and w

holes ("G estalts"), w

hile the left arranges the details in order. T

he right

is a

sim ultaneous

"lum per," the left a

sequential "splitter."

T he left hem

isphere "splitter" is a natural for the analytic, sequential requirem

ents of spoken language. It can deal w ith

rapidly changing sound patterns such as phonics o r w

ords in sentences and fast-m

oving fine-m otor patterns such as w

riting o r

rapid, repeating finger m ovem

ents. W

hile the left hem isphere thinks in w

ords, the right relies m ore

on em otional and sensory im

ages. Its prim ary jobs are im

portant o

n es-m

ain tain

in g

control o f visual space and enabling us to

understand situations. It can form m

ental m aps, organize physical

exploration, m entally "look at" or conceptualize an idea, o

r know

how to rotate suitcases in order to m

ake them all fit into the trunk

of a car. A rtistic talent and ability to "see" others' perspectives also

seem s to spring from

this side of the brain. It has stronger fiber connections to the em

otional centers in the lim bic system

than does the left, and lim

bic em otional centers are also larger on the

right.

H O

W T

H E

H E

M IS

P H

E R

E S

S H

A R

E T

H E

L O

A D

L E

F r: T

H E

" S

P L

IT fE

R "

A nalytic-sequential

P rovides details

R easons logically

A nalyzes, understands tim

e

R IG

H T

: T H

E "

L U

M P

E R

"

W holistic-

sim ultaneous-"hands-on"

Sees w holes

R easons intuitively

D esigns, understands three­

dim ensional space

L anguage: speech, letter sounds

L anguage: pitch, gesture,

gram m

ar ' prosody (m

elody), social interaction

R apidly changing m

otor patterns M anipulospatial abilities:

(w riting, repeated finger

changing environm ent w

ith m

ovem ents)

hands L

ikes autom atic routines

V erbal short-term

m em

ory P

rocessing rapidly changing auditory patterns (u

n d

ers~ d

in g

speech) P

utting things in order E

m otion: approach

L ikes novelty

M em

ory for sensory im ages

G en~rating m

ental m aps,

conceptualizing m entally

U nderstanding intuitively

E m

otion: w ithdraw

W hat are the im

plications for children's learning? F irst, both

hem ispheres are im

portant! O ne m

ajor job of childhood is to develop an efficient system

that utilizes a com bination of"lum

per" and "splitter" skills. O

n the follow ing page is a sum

m ary of som

e im

portant strengths and w eaknesses of T

im and C

arl at age tw elve.

C learly these boys illustrate only tw

o of the innum erable w

ays in w

hich learning

abilities are

m ixed

and m

atched in

each individual's brain. N

o such thing exists as a "one-size-fits-all" diagnosis or teaching plan, and even the usual labels can't capture an individual m

ind.

138 of 330

T IM

: A "

L U

M P

E R

"

S T

R E

N G

T H

S

L arge-m

uscle (global) sports (soccer, sw

im m

ing) S

patial relationships (sailing, m

echanical draw ing): scores at

high school level

V isual creativity ( excels at art

and design)

L earning by doing (carpentry,

m echanical gadgets)

D oing puzzles w

ithout sm all

internal details (seeing "w

holes")

G etting along w

ith peers

C A

R L

: A "SP

L IT

T E

R "

W E

A K

N F

.S S

F .S

Sm all, patterned m

otor sequences (w

riting) A

uditory short-term m

em ory

for w ords: scores like an eight­

year-old Follow

ing sequential directions, being neat and punctual L

anguage expression, gram

m ar, accurate oral

reading, spelling G

etting m ath equations in

order (analyzing and sequencing) H

earing and rem em

bering hom

ew ork assignm

ents, taking notes in class

S T

R E

N G

T H

S

L inear-sequential

com puter progran1m

ing

W E

A K

N E

S S

F .S

Phonics, gram m

ar, story details

M ath "facts"

A lgebra (form

ulae) P

unctuality A

udito1y m em

ory for w

ords or digits

L arge-m

uscle sports, sense of field positions C

om prehension of "big

picture" (reading com prehension,

relationships) M

ath concepts; unfam iliar story

problem s

G eom

etry, m aps, charts, graphs

Im agination, creativity

Social aw aren

ess, understanding oth

ers' points of view

H ow

do all th ese differences com

e about? A s w

ith alm ost every

aspect of brain developm en

t, each child com es into the w

orld w ith

a special

pattern, but

environm ental

influences affect

its realization.

W E

R E

T H

E Y

B O

R N

T H

IS W

A Y

? In

fan t S

p ecialists

W h

en a baby is born, the brain is w aiting for experience to turn on

th e sw

itches. T he right and left hem

ispheres, although clearly defined,

are n ot yet functionally connected, since the bridge

betw een th

em is one of the last m

em branes to be "finished" w

ith coatings of m

yelin , at age tw

elve or later. T he tw

o h em

ispheres are p

rim ed, even before birth, for different types of w

o rk. S

equential noises, such as a series of clicks, provoke greater brain w

ave activity in new

borns' left hem ispheres, w

hereas visual flashes of light arouse the right side, w

hich also responds to no nverbal

m usical notes or the sound of the w

ashing m ach

ine.

U S

IN G

B O

T II H

E M

IS P

H E

R E

S

Z 1

J 'cjii

~ ~

~ – – ~

3 w

_

~1 f1

( CC:~I

~~-? <':= -~

:–=::=':

Scientists are finding that m aturation seem

s to m ove in w

aves, first tow

ard the right, and th en tow

ard th e left sid

e at around eighteen m

onths w hen language co

m prehension and speech are

actively developin g.

T his righ

t-left altern ation continu

es even

through adolescence and m ay differ betw

een boys and girls. W hile

w e can't yet draw

m uch in the w

ay of im plication

s from th

ese findings, th

ey certainly poin t to a need for adults to be patient and

supportive w hile a youngster's brain takes on new

challenges w ith

new m

ental equipm ent.

O ne w

ay to track h em

ispheric developm ent is by observing the

skills exhibited by the tw o hands, since the right hand usually

reflects left-h em

isphere use an d

vice versa -at least w

ith m ost

right-h anded people. F

or exam ple, one study evaluated w

hether three-, fo

ur-, and five-year-olds w ere b

etter at using their right or left han

ds fo r different kinds of activities. T

he right hand 0eft hem

isphere) w as better at sequential m

otor actions, such as finger tapping or peg m

oving, w h

ereas th e left hand (right hem

isphere) p

referred visual-spatial tasks such as copyin g another person

's hand postures.

Innate differences in the h em

isph eres m

ay also influence our habitu

al em otio

nal "style," or tem p

eram ent. C

hild ren w

ho tend to app

roach new situations m

ore p ositively

-th e m

ore extroverted one

s-show

greater left-hem

isphere activation

, w

hile m

ore w

ithdraw n

children activate

m ore

right-h em

isph ere

circuits. C

hild ren also show

b rain activation differences w

hen stressed ;

right-frontal activators show m

o re distress at m

aternal separation .

T h

ese tendencies have been fo un

d in children as young as seven m

on th

s ~ d ap

pear to be related, at least in part, to th e m

oth er's

em otional state. D

epressed m oth

ers show m

ore righ t fro

ntal brain w

aves, an d so do their infants.

O n

e S id

e In stead

o f T

w o

Several dram atic cases prove that hem

isp heric organizatio

n can b

e altered to som e degree. Im

agine yourself as a parent w ho h

as a terrible decisio

n to m ake: Y

our child has been afflicted since birth by a rare convulsive disorder th

at does not respond to m edication.

N eurologists find that one side of th

e brain is seriously injured, causing continu

al, violent reactio ns th

ro ugh

out the b rain

. T he

rem edy is d

rastic: rem oving the entire hem

isphere th at is th

e so

urce of th e tro

uble. A

n um

b er of child

ren w ho have un

dergone this surgery, called "hem

id ecortication

," have dem onstrated brain plasticity in action

. A

s they grew up

, the child ren have asto

nished do ctors by their

app arent norm

alcy, as the op posite hem

isp here and sub

cortical

141 of 330

structures assum ed m

any o f the duties o

f the m issing hem

isphere. C

hildren w ithout

a left hem isphere developed

language and

learned to read, w hile

right hem idecorticates

could perform

visual-spatial tasks.

L ong-term

studies have show n th

at overall ability is som ew

hat low

er th an

m ight be expected if th

e child's brain had been able to develop norm

ally. T he younger the brain at th

e tim e o

f surgery, the greater its potential for redistributing assignm

ents, but any such com

pensation has its cost. S

om e children are born w

ith agenesis o f th

e corpus callosum ,

lacking p art o

r all of th e fiber bridge, m

uch like th e "split-brain"

patients. T hese yo

un gsters often have problem

s w ith language and

social skills, b ut som

etim es they show

up w ithout debilitating

learning d isabilities. I have talked to m

others w ho discovered th

at their child had this co

nditio n only w

hen the child's brain h ad to be

scanned fo r som

e other reaso n-sh

o w

ing once again how adaptive

th e h

u m

an brain is. M oreover, their language difficulties often

resp ond w

ell to skilled intervention.

T h

in k

in g S

tyles

A s w

e co nsider the im

plications of all this inform ation

, it becom es

clear th at, w

hile no norm al environm

ent w ill m

ak e a child "left-"

or "right-brain ed

," experien

ce does influence how

w e

deploy different types of thinking skills. In chap

ter 9, I w ill describ

e h ow

specific aspects of a child's brain functio

n for reading can b e

sw itch

ed from

one

hem isphere

to the

oth er

b y

p articular

instructio nal techniques, as ju

st one exam ple.

H ere's a sum

m ary of som

e m ajo

r points about the hem ispheres:

1. H

em ispheric

specialization is

p resent

from

birth ,

but develo

pm ent is shaped by input to th

e brain . H

eavy auditory­ verbal stim

ulatio n m

ay increase left-h em

isph ere capabilities and

vice versa.

D eaf

children, for

exam ple,

sh ow

a

pattern of

h em

isph eric organization th

at is different fro m

th at of h

earing ch

ildren .

In E

ndang ered

M inds,

I suggest

th at

dim inished

language use an d less tim

e for reflection in th e lives of child

ren tod

ay m ay be eroding left-h

em isp

here language areas.

2 . L

atera lization m

eans th e pattern by w

hich abilities such as language are distributed betw

een th e tw

o sides. 3. H

em ispheric dom

inance is one side's tendency to determ in

e the style of processing to b

e used fo r a job. In

our highly verbal society, the side w

ith language in it, usually the left, is m ore often

dom inan

t; b u

t for visual, holistic thinking, the right m ay need to

be th e leader.

E X

E R

C IS

IN G

B O

T H

H E

M IS

P H

E R

F .S

SA M

P L

E A

C T

M T

IES

S P

L IT

T IN

G

Sequ ential: A

nalytic

L U

M P

IN G

Sim ultaneous: V

isual­ Spatial

Fin e-m

otor activities: cutting out sm all L

arge-m uscle play:

item s, coloring inside lines, detailed

team sports,

neecllew o

rk, finger gam es w

ith gym

nastics, clim bing,

seq uenced m

ovem ents

free play (tag, etc.) .

. 1

bal 1

. F

ree-form draw

ing, L

1stem ng to

anguage, ver ana ogies

. .

pam ting

T alking about events

L ooking at pictures

P utting things in order,

m aking lists

U nderstanding tim

e sequences

M usic: the w

ords

W riting sentences

D escribing objects system

atically

U sing pig L

atin, rhym ing w

o rds

R epeating directio

ns in order

W orking w

ith shapes, block-building, inventing D

oing three­ dim

ensional puzzles M

usic: the m elody

M anipulating

m echanical devices

D ram

atizing, creative m

ovem ent

F inding hidd

en pictures Seeing or creating patterns

L isting steps in an activity

H E

L P

IN G

T H

E M

W O

R K

T O

G E

T H

E R

E asels, paints,

fingerpaints, clay, craft activities

• G am

es that com bine visual and verbal cues (e.g., S

im on

Says). • V

isualizing pictures

from

listening or reading

(m ake

a "m

ental m ovie").

• L arge block play w

ith a story attached. • D

escribing actions w ith w

ords. • T

alking about m anipulating toys or m

echanical gadgets. • V

erbalizing intuitive discoveries. ("H ow

did you know that?

W hat clues did you use? W

hat cam e into your m

ind first?") • D

escribing problem -solving experiences. ("C

an you tell m e

how you did that puzzle?")

• M em

orizing m ath facts to m

usic. • ~

e llin

g w ords backw

ard, rem em

bering num ber sequences

backw ard.

, K eeping the score of th

e gam e in your head.

• D oing proofs in geom

etry (proving an intu itive process w

ith seq

uential logic). • W

riting up science experim ents.

• C ooking by follow

ing recipes. • W

atching TV and then retelling the st01y in order. ("F

irst they found th

e treasure, an d then … ")

• D oing electrical w

iring from a sequential plan

. • B

uilding m odels from

directions. • R

eading m usic.

• T elling tim

e from a nondigital clock

.

4 . In

divid uals vary in

th eir ability to com

m unicate betw

een hem

ispheres. Such flexibility m ay be a m

ajor factor in intellectual ab

ility as w ell as in differences betw

een m ale and fem

ale brains.

143 o f 330

5. H

em ispheric

style is

a term

suggesting

an individu

al's preferred w

ay o f processing inform

ation . F

or exam ple, in putting

a puzzle together, you can use a p redom

in antly analytic strategy

by nam ing each piece and assem

bling th em

in a logical order, or you can w

ork from the w

hole outline, using m ainly visual clues.

A lthough both hem

ispheres are w orking, one m

ay set the tone. 6. Y

ounger children m ay tend to use a right-hem

isphere style, acting on situations globally w

ithout analyzing them ; as verbal

dem ands increase, the left side takes over m

ore often. A n activity

such as reading m ay be handled in different w

ays at different ages. 7. H

orm ones, particularly sex horm

ones such as testosterone and

estrogen, influence

hem isphericity.

T hey

appear to

be pow

erful factors

before birth an d

again at adolescence.

O n

e unproven

hypothesis suggests

th at

the reason

som e

early­ developing teenage girls fall

behind in m ath is that estrogen

suppresses developm ent of right hem

isphere visual-spatial skills.

A ge G

u id

elin es

T he hem

ispheres com m

unicate byw ay o

f the corpus callosum , the

thickest netw ork o

f connections in the entire body. It holds on e

key to m ental efficiency by activating and suppressing hem

ispheric control. F

or exam ple, in reading, areas in both sides are used, but

if the langu age centers o

f the left hem isphere aren't dom

inant, accuracy, fluen

cy, and com prehension m

ay suffer. P

arents w ho w

ant to help their children build this pathw ay to the

future can follow three m

ajor guidelines:

1. E

ncourage a w ide variety of activities to engage all parts of the

brain .

2 . L

et the child's interest direct learning . C

onnections develop in resp

onse to dem an

ds from the child's brain, not from

an adult's.

3. D

on 't expect full hem

ispheric integration until after puberty.

H ere are suggestions for each age level:

B irth

to th ree years: T

he baby and toddler m ay still be usin

g

prim itive brain areas for m

any tasks that the cortex has not yet taken over. D

uring this period th e child essentially has a "split

brain," because the co rpus callosum

is im m

ature. Y ou m

ay have noticed a young child transfer a crayon from

one hand to the other w

hen crossing the center of the paper. T his inability to cross th

e body's m

idline is a sign that the h em

ispheres are still w orking

ind ependently. W

e can't expect a child of this age to put com plex

things together-

either physically

or m

entally. S

he can't

effo rtlessly coordinate tw

o sides of the body or link w ords and

im ages for reasoning. S

he can't picture the characters in a story in her m

ind, rem em

ber com plicated directions, understand her ow

n reaso

nin g process, or solve problem

s that she m ust "see" in h

er head. ("Sally w

alks behind Suzie. W ho w

alks first?") T hese years

are im portant foundations for expanded use of both hem

ispheres (see "E

xercising B oth H

em ispheres").

F ou

r to six years: D id you ever w

onder w hy so m

any people have trouble rem

em bering m

uch from their lives before age four? A

t around

that tim

e the

corpus callosum

undergoes

m ajor

developm ent, so children can becom

e m uch m

ore aw are of w

hat is happening and even begin to reflect on som

e of their ow n

learning. T hus they begin to form

conscious m em

ories- a talent

that w ill

expand through the school years. Y ou

can observe

increases in connectivity w hen children instinctively start to talk

to them selves w

hile doing puzzles or planning the use of art m

aterials, and they m ake progress in

activities, like riding a

tricycle, that involve coordinating tw o sides of the body. B

y age six, m

ental activities

com bining right-

and left-hem isphere skills

becom e even m

ore im portant for schoolw

ork. R eal-life challenges

build connections- especially w

hen the child has a real reason to solve them

. T ying shoes, for exam

ple, com bines tw

o hands using sequential

m otor

m ovem

ents in

a visual-spatial

task, and

handw riting requires m

otor sequences as w ell as a global concept

of w here you are on the paper and w

h ere the spaces should be

betw een w

ords. W

ise parents use these years to link language w ith creativity and

hands-o n m

anipulative skills, w hich build bridges to

abstract reasoning. T

h ey pass up rote-level m

em o

rization tasks designed to m

ake the child (or th e parent) look im

pressive.

A nursery school teacher told m

e one story about a m other w

ho w

as anxious to m ake her little girl appear intelligent by teaching

her som e im

portant facts. W hen th

e teacher reported that Susie had succeeded in tying her shoes for the first tim

e, M other brushed

off the new s.

"T ell us w

hose picture is on th e one-dollar bill, Susie," she

dem anded.

A greeably, the child replied, "W

ashington R edskins!"

T o

build h em

ispheric bridges, stick w ith things

that have m

eaning for th e child.

S ix to

ten years: H

em ispheric allocation oflabor m

ay be affected by

school dem

ands for

reading, w

riting, spelling,

and com

putation. C hildren w

ho tend to b e "Jum

pers" often experience difficulty and begin to think they are "stupid" because their individual style seem

s out of place. T hey require extra practice w

ith lang

uage (seasoned w ith recognition of their visual or creative

talents) and specialized help w ith the skills of reading

, personal o

r~ nization, and solving m

ath equations. C onversely, "splitters"

adept in linear detail (soundin g out w

ords, com putatio

n) m ay risk

becom ing one-dim

ensional if th eir school fails

to em phasize

com prehension and original thinking. V

isual·spatial skills, like verbal skills, are very responsive to environm

ental stim ulation.

B ecause th

ey und erlie m

any types of conceptual reasoning , they're

w orth w

orking on. W ise parents try to, understand th

eir child's preferred

style and

provide supplem

entary experiences

for balance, especially enco

uragem ent of creativity and the arts. G

o together to m

useum s, children's concerts, plays; try sculpture,

creative m ovem

ent, or dram a. If these activities are not your

favorites, give th em

a try anyhow . Y

ou are a w onderful exam

ple of "parent as learner," and you m

ay even build a few bridges of your

ow n!

E leven

years an d

up: T his is th

e age for the final m aturation of

the "path to th e future." B

y now your child has a distinct learning

style, w hich adult expectation

s should take into account. C hildren

w ho still "m

arch to a different drum m

er" probably have strong creative talents. H

elp each child respect h is ow

n style, but don't

146 of 330

give up on m aking connections. F

or m any children this is a tim

e w

hen new m

yelin and synapse grow th or changing horm

one balances eventually help things fit

together, if the em otional

clim ate perm

its. L et the yo

ungster know that his brain is gaining

w onderful new

p o

w ers-it's w

orth the effort to try again on som e

old problem areas. V

isualizing stories or"seeing" and turning ideas around m

entally should becom e easier, but som

e young teens, especially girls, m

ay need verbal strategies for talking through m

aps, geom etric problem

s, o r com

plex visual displays. S om

e types of visual-spatial skills can be im

proved by appropriate com puter

activities th at require m

ental m anipulation of objects on the

screen. D

uring thls period of rapid change, parents take on m ore of a

spectator role. D on't forget to applaud! In addition, keep providing

supplem entary cultural experiences and lots of conversation ab

out thoughts and ideas.

C on

stru ction

D elays

In a recen t parent conference, the father, a neurologist, w

as sym

pathizing w ith his seco

nd grade son 's spelling difficulties.

"I realize now ," he explained, "that I am

still hopelessly confused about all the w

ords I learned before I w as in sixth grade. T

hen, suddenly, spelling just cam

e together." F

ortunately, he hadn 't already been pressured into believing he

w as a failure. If your child has trouble m

aking connections of any kind, I w

ould suggest that yo u focus hard on keeping the road open

w ith em

otional support and good teaching w hile the bridges have

a ch ance to develop

.

B U

IL D

IN G

B

R ID

G E

S

B E

'IW E

E N

T

H E

H

E M

IS P

H E

R E

S :

PR A

C T

IC A

L T

IP S

• U sing tw

o parts of th e brain at the sam

e tim e develops w

ith age and practice. T

he farther apart tw o areas are, the easier

it is to use them

together.

(It is easier to carry on a conversation w

hile draw ing a picture th

an w

hile w riting a

letter.) • A

positive

em otional

state im

proves con

n ectivity

for m

essages crossing

betw een

hem ispheres,

w hile

excess pressure o

r anxiety m ay interfere.

• F ood allergies m

ay slow dow

n transfer tim e across th

e corpus callosu

m . S

ince traditional skin tests are n o

t alw ays a reliable

detector o f food sensitivities, you should keep track o

f any substances that seem

to m ake your child tired

, grouchy, listless, less m

entally alert, o r "hyper."

• W hen

transfer tim e is im

paired, th e m

ost com

plicated thinking goes first.

• S om

e parents inadvertently give different signals to each hem

isphere. If your w ords say "T

hat's okay" b u

t you r body

signals are

negative, your

child's brain

w ill

b e

understandably confused. • Y

our ow n hem

ispheric style influences th e activities you

choose for your child. B e aw

are o f it and don

't lim it varieties

o f adventure. If you hate puzzles o

r w ord gam

es, for exam ple,

let your child know th

at you are approaching a challenge together.

• H elp your child learn to estim

ate in m ath

. S eeing th

e big picture before starting gives a fram

ew ork for understanding.

Y oung children find this very hard.

• V isualization-also hard for young children-

is im portant

for learning an d

m em

ory. A t first, read stories o

u t loud w

hile you show

pictures; tl1en have child ren draw

pictures o f their

ow n. E

ventually, suggest th at they close their eyes and m

ake a "m

ental m ovie" w

hile you read a sho rt passage. A

sk, "W hat

color w as tl1e queen's dress in your im

agination? W hat did

th e house look like?" D

on't b e surprised if it takes a lo

t o f

practice. Y ou can start gently around age four. A

udfotaped stories are useful an

d fun.

N o

t E n

ou gh

B rid

ges?

R ecently I received a c1y for help from

a prekindergarten teacher. C

harles, sh e reported, "is very bright and has w

onderful language com

prehension b u

t is m iserable in school. H

e is exceptionally aw

kw ard w

ith crayons and scissors, frustrated because h e can't

w rite his nam

e, and h e resists clay and fingerpaints because they

are 'm essy.' H

e is socially inept, can't seem to im

agine or pretend, and alw

ays w aits for a teacher to tell him

how to use new

m aterials.

H e is so clum

sy in gym class that the other children are starting to

m ake fun of him

. I found him crying in the hall yesterday."

A fter observing C

harles in th e classroom

, I understood the teacher's concern

. T he only joy this handsom

e little boy show ed

w as w

h en his turn cam

e at the com puter. H

e kept to h im

self i:;sdespite the teachers' tactful efforts to get him

involved. W

hen w e voiced our concerns to his m

other, she w as surprised

. S

he recognized th at C

harles w as verbally advanced and w

as proud o

f the fact that h e spen

t a lot of tim e at hom

e playing w ith

educational com puter alphabet and num

ber gam es. H

e disliked puzzles, how

ever, and they didn't have an easel, paints, crayons, clay, o

r fingerpaints in the h ouse. C

harles loved books and stories, b

u t he had never liked pretend play and had little contact w

ith other ch

ildren. Since they lived in an apartm ent, he got outside

o nly for supervised w

alks to the park. H is parents thought they had

provided their son w ith the latest and best tools for learning. W

hat h

appened? A

child's basic learning profile is innate, but C harles's p

arents h

ad unw ittingly created an environm

ent that augm ented som

e of his potential problem

s. H is fam

ily didn't realize how im

portant feeling

, touching,

m anipulating,

seeing, hearing,

expressing, im

agining, socializing, and th ree-dim

ension al reasoning are as

forerunners to learn ing. T

he difficulty w as com

plicated by th e fact

that C harles didn

't seek out these activities for h im

self. H e lived in

1 4

8 o

f 330

an environm ent enriched in one sense but deprived in others.

W hen C

harles got to preschool age, h

e qualified for a diagnosis o f

m ild developm

ental disorder. It is h

ard to w

rite a prescription for m ud pie m

aking and tree clim

bing, especially for a child w ho tends to

avoid them . F

or C

harles, w e settled for

an occupational therapist w ho began

sensory integration therapy an d

urged the parents to lim it his

obsessive use o f th

e com puter. W

e encouraged them to slow

ly initiate activities to

b alance his skill developm

ent: finger gam es,

painting, sew ing cards, bead stringing, large m

oto r gam

es such as rolling and kicking a ball, tactile and m

ovem ent activities-and

som e free play outdoors. Since C

harles also needed a lot o f help in

m aking connections w

ith other children, a teacher w orked w

ith him

o n

social interaction skills, and his parents w ere encouraged

to invite classm

ates for sho rt, w

ell-structured play dates. C

harles w ill alw

ays h ave his ow

n set of abilities and quirks, but th

e least w e can do, w

hile his b rain is still able to learn new

things so easily, is to give him

the fullest possible shot at a com plete

adjustm en

t to school, oilier people, and life.

T H

E Q

U F

S T

IO N

O F

H A

N D

E D

N E

S S

W

h o

se R esp

on sib

ility?

O ne interesting question related to hem

ispheric interaction is th at

of right-, left-, o r m

ixed (am bidextrous) handedness. H

andedness is in part genetically determ

ined. A pproxim

ately 9 0

percent of all people are right-handed, but up to 3

0 percent m

ay carry genes for left-handedness. T

o determ ine handedness, several tests sho

uld be used

: for exam ple, eating w

ith a spoon, w riting, throw

ing, ham

m ering, and th

readin g a needle. If a child does any of th

ese w

ith ilie left h and

, h e is classified as "not right-h

anded" or"m ixed

." S

ince each

h an

d

is connected

to the

opposite cereb

ral h

em isphere, it w

as once assum ed iliat a right-hander inevitably

has left-hem isphere lang

uage lateralization, and vice versa. W hile

it is true tlrnt alm ost all right-handers have speech housed in the

left h em

isphere, so do 6 0

to 70 percent of nonright-handers. So m

e nonright-handers have speech in ilie right hem

isphere, and som e

in both sides. H

andedness does not tell us anyiliing definite abou t a person

's

learning style, although it can offer clues. M any left or m

ixed­ handers

end up

in professions

th at require

visual, holistic, nonverbal, and creative thinking-

b u

t so do som e right-handers.

W e do have som

e evidence that nonright-banders' brains are different.

T hey

m ay h

ave language

m ore

evenly distributed

betw een the tw

o hem ispheres, giving them

a "reserve" in case of

dam age to either side. L

efties w ith left-handed relatives m

ay have different patterns of brain organization th

an those w

ithout. S om

e believe that nonfam

ilial left-handers w ere m

eant to b

e right­ handed b

u t suffered som

e subtle early dam age th

at changed things around

. H

anded ness

can also

b e

influenced by

less dram

atic environm

ental factors. R ecent studies have show

n th at even the

w ay a prim

ate fetus is carried in the w om

b, o r w

hich side the m

other cradles the infant on, m ay affect handedness. In

hum ans,

this finding m ight also apply to

a m other's habitually handing h

er infant a spoon in one hand or the other. In

turn, an infant's handedness

seem s

to influence

th e hem

ispheres' fu n

~ o

n a

l specialization, o

r the w ay they apportion different tasks. M

ost new

borns show right-sided preferences by lying o

n their backs

facing right v,'ith their right arm s outstretched, and m

ost infants use their right hand m

ore than th e left by age nine m

onths. A bout

half of infants have established a dom inant h

an d

for m ost things

by th e end of the first year; those that do are m

ore skilled in m

anipulating objects. M ost children have clear hand preference

by age four, but som etim

es as late as age seven.

T h

e H an

d an

d th

e B rain

R esearch in anthropology and neurology have converged on the

im portance of hand and tool use as prom

oting higher form s of

hum an intelligence. W

ith grow ing num

bers of "m ouse pushers,"

sedentary view ers,

and children w

ith learning and behavior

problem s,

renew ed

interest is being

focused on the critical

interaction betw een m

otor patterning (coordinated use of the body) and developm

ent of cognitive skills. Lifestyles that lim it

either a child's m anual play or her tw

o-sided body coo rdination

m ay have longer-range effects than anyone has im

agin ed

. Read F rank W

ilson's interesting book T he H

and to learn m

ore about how

tool

use has

influenced the

developm ent

of hum

an intelligence.

" E

xcep tion

al" B

rain s

A n

unusually high percentage ofnonright-handers is found am ong

children w ho have developm

ental disabilities, including reading problem

s- and also am

ong the ranks of unusually gifted m ath

students, chess players, and m usicians. Individuals and fam

ilies w

ho have reading problem s often excel in right-hem

isphere skills: visual-spatial abilities or creative fields (e.g., engineers, artists, architects, surgeons, carpen

ters, interior designers). A fter eight

dyslexic adults w ho had lifelong reading and spelling problem

s donated their brains for postm

ortem study at H

arvard M edical

School, scientists discovered that their left-hem isphere language

areas had

som e

unusual cell

form ations,

and that

right­ hem

isphere areas w ere b

igger than they are in m ost people. W

hy these tendencies seem

to occur in certain fam ilies is being looked

at very carefully. W e do know

that people w ho have atypical

lateralization often prove to be extrem ely talen

ted if they can get by the verbal/analytical priorities of ou

r education system !

S h

ou ld

W e C

h an

ge H an

d ed

n ess?

Som e parents feel they should insist a child use the righ

t hand, b u

t forcing the issue m

ay create a new set of problem

s. Such pressure has also been suspected of causing stuttering by confusing innate b

rain organization or, m ore likely, by creating em

otional conflict. G

iven curren t inform

ation , the best advice seem

s to be to let you r

child be the guide about w hich w

ill be the p refen

ed hand. I once knew

a four-year-old girl w hose father, a physician,

insisted she use her righ t hand instead of her preferred left because

he though t he could force her left hem

isphere to beco m

e dom inant.

H e w

as convinced that this sw itch w

ould counteract a fam ily

tendency tow ard reading problem

s. W hen he asked m

y opinion, I rem

inded h im

that even top neurologists are hesitant about tam

pering w ith the developing brain. M

ore im portant, th

e child w

as clearly a nervous w reck. U

ndeterred, he persisted, and I lost

151 of 330

track of the case until tw o years later w

hen a tutor called m e. She

had been hired to w ork w

ith the little girl, w ho had just been

diagnosed as

having a

learning disability-accom

panied by

em otional problem

s. W ould she have had it anyw

ay? I don 't know

.

H A

N D

E D

N E

S S

IN A

N U

I'S H

E L

L

, W e do not yet know

enough to fool around w

ith child ren's

developm en

t in any w ay that violates com

m on sense.

, If m em

bers of you r fam

ily are nonright-h anded, you m

ay transm

it the tendency even if you are right-handed. • If your ch

ild is not righ t-handed, it does not m

ean that he w ill

autom atically be either reading disabled or a visual-spatial

genius, but be m ay have a better statistical chance for both

. , A

m bidexterity

m ay

suggest incom

plete language

lateralization, putting a child m ore at risk fo

r delay in language or reading. If your child does not have a hand p

reference by

age five,

show s

signs of language

delay described

in chapter

-, and has

difficulty w ith

sch ool

readiness, you m ight consider a professional evaluation.

Please try to shield the child from your anxiety, how

ever. Y ou

don't w ant to crea

te a "problem "!

• A t

this tim

e there

is no

solid evidence

that "m

ixed dom

inance" of hand, foot,

or eye is

of any diagnostic im

portance.

"T H

E O

T H

E R

D IF

F E

R E

N C

E " B

E T

IV E

E N

B O

Y S A

N D

G IR

IB

A lik

e b u

t D ifferen

t

A fter a recent parents' m

eeting, one m other asked a question that

w as obviously troubling her. "I don't know

w hat to do about m

y five-year-old tw ins," she

confessed. 'T

m doing m

y best to raise them in a 'nonsexist'

environm ent, but Shauna spends a lot of tim

e playing 'house' w ith

her friends, and B uddy only w

ants to build things and run around the neighborhood. N

o m atter how

m uch I encourage them

tow ard

other activities, they seem to be stereotyping them

selves!" T

he topic o f gen

der differences has been hotly debated in

professional circles. F irst o

f all, there are m any m

ore differences am

ong children o f the sam

e sex than betw een th

e sexes. If w e lined

up all

boys an

d

then all

girls on

the basis o f alm

ost any characteristic, there w

ould b e lots m

ore overlap th

an difference

attributable only to gender. N

evertheless, tw o im

portant strands of research are confirm

ing w hat parents have know

n all along: O

verall, boys and girls p refer different activities an

d excel at

different skills. T hey m

ay even think differently. M uch o

f this variation is clearly due to environm

ental factors, b u

t som e o

f it reflects biological variation in brain organization.

F em

ales score better on tests o f som

e verbal skills. F em

ale infants are m

ore sensitive to voices, particularly their m

other's, respond m

ore readily to face-to-face contact, an d

are m ore easily

startled b y

loud noises. T he m

ajority o f girls talk earlier th

an boys.

T hey score better on tests o

f verbal abilities th ro

u ~

o u

t the elem

en tary years, tending to

m aster reading an

d w

riting sooner and to excel in gram

m ar an

d spelling. T

hey are m ore verbally

fluent an d

do better on tests o f nam

ing objects quickly. F em

ales, overall, rely m

ore on talking and have few er language disorders

an d

better hearing throughout life. G enerally th

ey are superior to

m ales

in fine

m otor

coordination, such

as placing

pegs in

pegboards o r using a pencil, and in perceptual speed at m

atching item

s. T hey surpass m

ales in m athem

atical calculation an d

in tests o

f "ideational fluency," such as quickly thinking o f things th

at are a certain color. Socially they are m

ore sensitive to others' facial expressions; girls (but not boys) recognize photographs o

f their m

oth er as early as four m

onths. T hey ten

d to prefer one-on-one

play w ith a friend, w

hile boys tend to play m

ore in groups. G irls

pick up "clues" from the environm

en t m

ore sub tly; this ability for

inciden tal learning m

ay acco unt for th

e phenom enon of"w

om an's

intuition." M

ales o n

the other hand excel overall in tests of visual-spatial skills such as m

oving th ree-d

im ensional objects aro

und in their m

inds, finding

shapes hidden

in a

picture, un

derstanding relationships in th

e physical w orld

, and in throw ing things at a

target o r catching projectiles. S

tudies in different cultu res have

show n th

at th ey are better at solving m

azes- a task th

at m any

w om

en find irritating. B oys consistently do better in m

athem atical

reasoning; in one study they outpaced girls at age thirteen in th e

"highly gifted" m ath category by thirteen to

one. B y tenth grade

the m ajority o

f boys of norm al intelligence have passed m

ost girls up in m

ath. T his differential could be related to their tendency to

solve problem

s by touching and lookin g instead o

f "talking" them

through, since higher m ath requires a type o

f abstract reasoning based o

n relationships in tl1e physical w

orld. M

any boys sh ine at activities requiring large body m

ovem ent an

d

show m

ore aggressive behavior. T hey are less dependent on others'

reactions for their ow n judgm

ents, being m ore influenced by the

objective characteristics of a situation. B

efore w e conclude that these differences are all rooted in

biology, how ever, it is im

portant to rem em

ber som e im

portant facts: M

any children of both sexes don't fit the pattern, and it has often been show

n that adults tend to treat boys an

d girls differently

– even w

hen they think they do not. B oth parents and teachers

tend to e>.'Pect m ore of boys in problem

-solving, and som e teachers

inadvertently give boys m ore feedback and call on tl1em

m ore often

than they do on girls. M

oreover, TV ,

ads, and video gam es

continually reinforce gender stereotypes, as do toys advertised to children and products directed at teens. Perhaps as a result, peer pressure starts very early for gender-role confo

rm ity. N

o one can m

easure how these subtle pressures have contributed

to the differences betw

een the sexes that show up on school tests.

S ex

an d

th e H

em isp

h eres

M ost scientists now

agree th at

there are genuine differences betw

een the average fem ale and m

ale b rain. W

hen your daughter is learn

ing how to w

alk to school, she is m ore likely to find her w

ay by observing landm

arks; you r son m

ay be m ore inclined to m

ap out the route in his m

ind . T

he sam e gender differences are also

found in rats- unless an experim

en t has altered the balance o

f their sex horm

ones d uring a critical period o

f brain developm ent,

in w hich case fem

ales can be m ade to behave m

ore like m ales and

vice versa. S patial abilities m

ay be affected by "m asculinizing"

153 of 330

horm ones, and horm

one balances m ay be influenced by either

genetic o r environm

ental factors. O ne hypothesis bolds that stress

in the pregnant m other m

ay tend to m asculinize the fetal b

rain, w

hich m ight cause an increase in such m

ale-linked characteristics as visual-spatial skills and assertiveness in a girl.

M any girls

(and som

e boys)

h ave

earlier left-hem

isphere language lateralization, but overall abilities are m

ore w idely

distributed. A sectio

n in the back o

f the corpus callosum called the

splenium

is thicker in fem

ales, enabling

them

to use both

hem ispheres in

terchangeably, w hich m

ay account for their skill at picking up nuances o

f a situation o r doing several things at once.

H ow

m any husbands w

onder how their w

ives can talk on the phone, cook din

n er, and discipline the children all at the sam

e tim

e? Som e m

ales, on the other hand, seem to have stronger

con nections betw

een the front and the back parts of the brain, perhaps accounting for a greater interest in the sensory properties o

f objects rather than the nuances of hum an relationships.

B oys

(and som e girls)

m ay also have m

ore assertive right hem

ispheres, particularly w hen they are young. T

heir interest in large-m

otor and visual-spatial play activities (clim bing, building,

m anipulating)

precedes later

m aturation

of left-hem

isphere language centers-

and puts m any little boys at a disadvantage in

school, aliliough this early object play m ay m

ake them better at

m ath later on. B

y tile tim e language is fully lateralized, it is shoved

firm ly

into the

m ale

left hem

isphere; consequently,

w hen

inform ation com

es in, m ore o

f an either- o

r choice of strategies m

ust be m ade. B

oys m ay m

iss inform ation because they are

concentrating on another kind of input. Y et iliey score higher in

tests o f abstract tl1inking because they are not as dependen

t on outside cues.

W h

at C an P

aren ts D

o?

W e are only beginning to understand the influence of gender and

learning style differences in our society. P erhaps you w

onder, ''W

hat's w rong w

itl1 differences, anyw ay?" C

learly, they m ake us

m ore interesting, bu

t if a child is going to be penalized at any stage in the learning process because of lagging developm

ent, parents

w ill w

an t to

take som e action.

• C ertain individual differences seem

to com

e w ith the package.

E ach child's basic pattern o

f brain organization is valuable. P arents

are often the m ain cheering section for one w

hose pattern is slightly divergent from

school expectations. I think the term

"nontraditional learner" is a helpful one for describing such youngsters, w

hether m ale o

r fem ale.

• S

tudies show

that

parents unconsciously

increase reinforcem

ent o f traditional gender-linked play and social roles

w hen children are about one year old, a tim

e w hen th

e brain is very m

alleable. • Y

oung boys (and som e girls) suffer needlessly in early school

years if th ey lack verbal and fine m

otor skills. L ikew

ise, you r

daughter (o r son) m

ay bog dow n in m

athem atical and som

e types o

f abstract reasoning if she lacks visual-spatial ability. W e don't

know how

m uch you can shape these abilities, b

u t it ~

akes sense to plan activities w

ith an eye to balance. C onsult th

e suggestions listed under "E

xpanding L earning for B

oys an d

G irls."

• E ncourage your school to appreciate each child's talents. W

hen I go into an elem

entary classroom and see th

at all th e spelling

papers w ith sm

iley faces have girls' nam es on them

, I understand w

hy boys som etim

es grow up resenting th

e fem ale o

f th e species.

• Y ou and the school m

ay be orchestrating gender differences by projecting subtle attitudes that you are not aw

are o f.

• B oys' later-bloom

ing verbal abilities p u

t th em

m ore at risk for

early learning problem s. If your son has a late birthday, consider

his learning pattern carefully before you enter him in school. A

professional evaluation m

ay be helpful.

E X

P A

N D

IN G

L E

A R

N IN

G F

O R

B O

Y S

A N

D G

IR L

S

A ttitu

d es

• B e aw

are o f subtle pressures you exert. P

arental m odels m

ay be one o

f the m ost im

portant factors in creating sex differences. M om

telling h

er daughter "It's okay. I w as terrible in m

ath , too" is clearly

a no-no, b u

t m ore subtle m

essages are also pow erful.

, F athers seem

m ore likely to perpetuate sex stereotypes w

ith

children th an

do m others.

• B oys m

ay be placed "at risk" for educational problem s by a lack

o f responsiveness in their m

others; girls are m ore "at risk" if they

lack exposure to challenges.

• P raise girls for achievem

ents just as you w ould praise boys.

D on't

low er your expectations for ei ther sex o

n th

e basis o f

anticipated differences. • D

on't assum e th

at girls w on't take to blocks and other building

toys, engineering, o r m

ath, o r that boys w

on't b e interested in

reading or cooking. Y our assum

ptions m ay becom

e self-fulfilling prophecies.

• B e alert to you

r child's "style" o f responding an

d its influence

on your interactions. F or exam

ple, a child w ho is very context­

sensitive w ill sense you

r m oods and say things to m

ake you feel positive tow

ard him , a nd vice versa. Y

ou m ay need to

h elp som

e boys be m

ore sensitive in their personal relationships. S how

them

how to respond. ("It really m

ade m e feel uncom

fortable w hen you

didn't say anything after I told you about m y new

project. If you m

ade a com m

ent, I w ould know

you w ere interested.")

• B e sym

pathetic to som e inevitable b

u t unfair pressures in

school. W hereas expectations in prim

ary schools are som etim

es m

ore appropriate for little girls, som e college e n

trance exam s m

ay favo

r m ales.

• H elp all children learn to rely on their ow

n judgm ent. G

irls in science class tend to look to adults o

r peers, w hile boys are better

at ju dging their ow

n w ork.

• D

on 't

provide too m

uch · assistance

as children

confront unfam

iliar equipm

ent o r activities. T

hey w ill

gain skill

and confidence if you stay in the background as a support rather than a director.

A ctivities

• P rovide all children w

ith varied toys and experiences. • P

roviding variety in toys and activities isn't enough . Y

ou m ay

have to sit dow n and p

la y together. Show

your child how to play

in a variety of w ays, avoiding sex stereotypes. M

other m ay b

e surprised how

m u

ch fun sh e can have w

ith an electric train o r a set

156 o f 330

o f blocks; D

ad can read to his so

n in

addition to playing baseball w

ith him . B

oys can enjoy needlew ork an

d girls love carpentry.

• E

ncourage children

to use

m echanical

an d

scientific

equipm ent: telescopes,

m icroscopes, cam

eras, radio kits,

and science kits. L

et them take things apart. S

om e children need to ta

lk their w

ay through, w hile others should also b

e encouraged to use w

ords describing w hat they are doing an

d seeing.

• Y ou m

ay need to help som

e children broaden their contexts and help others focus theirs. B

roadening m eans calling attention to

elem ents in a situation th

at they have m issed. ("-I/bile you w

ere kicking th

e ball, did you notice th at D

ad w as having a conversation

w ith

your school

bus driver?")

F ocusing

calls for

specific suggestions. ("W

hile you're w atching that T

V program

for social studies, w

hy not save your talk w ith S

ue until later?") • S

om e children m

ay need help relating ideas to their ow

n experiences ("W

hen the characters in the story couldn 't achieve

their am bition

, did it rem ind you o

f the tim e you didn't m

ake the first team

?"), w hereas others m

ay profit from a push tow

ard m ore

abstract, less personal thinking. ("Y ou noticed that it is harder to

squeeze the icing o

u t o

f the narrow er tube; can you figure out a

rule ab o u

t how force and the size o

f a tube are related?") • R

em em

ber that m any ch

ild ren

-ev en

into their teen y ears­

m ust m

anipulate the environm ent in order to learn; they don

't get inform

ation w ell by only listening.

• Y ou can h

elp both sexes develop lagging spatial skills by play that involves m

anipulating and exploring three-dim ensional space

and objects. • M

ore verbal children m

ay need to talk through problem s in

m ath,

chem istry,

and physics.

O tl1ers

profit fro

m

diagram s,

pictures, and dem onstrations.

• H ands-on com

puter program s, such as L

E G

O /L

ogo, offer interesting possibilities for com

bining analytic and spatial skills. • A

ppropriate com

puter gam

es (e.g.,

T etris)

th at

prom ote

m anipulation o

f spatial concepts can im prove these abilities in

children for w hom

tl1ey are w eak

. Players already adept in these areas do not seem

to gain m uch in skill level through extra practice.

S E

E IN

G T

H E

F O

R E

S T

O R

T H

E T

R E

E S

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fl (i

)-~:·::: ;·l ,

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B A

C K

T O

T H

E L

U M

P E

R S

A N

D S

P L

IT IE

R S

S

trateg ies fo

r L earn

in g

L et's

return to

specific recom m

endations for T

im

an d

C arl.

A lthough

there are as m

any styles of learning

~ there are

individuals, flexibility in

presenting m

aterial can help

m ost

children understand and rem em

ber m ore easily. T

he idea is to capitalize on the child's natural "style" w

hile boosting w eak areas

w ith extra help

. C

arl, our splitter, is big on facts, details, and "right" answ ers.

M ore

interested in

inform ation

than in

people, he

is an

industrious, w ell-organized stud

ent. D epending on the school h

e attends, his lack of creativity and insight m

ay be a problem , but

youngsters like C arl generally do w

ell in traditional classroom s.

T hey thrive w

ith a lecture m ethod of instructio

n, m em

orization, and objective, short-answ

er tests. T heir w

eaknesses show up w

hen they m

ust stand back and view the w

hole forest instead

of concentrating on the individual trees. O

ften a child like this becom

es m entally lost unless som

eone rem inds him

w here h

e is supposed to be going.

A V

isu al O

u tlin

e

~-r5 ,, …. _

::§

_____,{' l

, G

~

(::!_") _

,,

f_ L

( ~

·;–· … I ,'f:V

~~-D

C arl had a habit of getting caught up w

ith details and m issing the

m ain point of class discussions. I gave him

a draw ing of th

e forest and the trees and suggested his teacher take him

aside w hen he

started to get enm eshed in splitting and ask, "C

arl, can you stand back and look for the forest, or are you bum

ping into the trees?" O

ne day h e looked up in pure frustration and said, "I haven't even

gotten to the trees. I'm stuck in the bushes!"

C arl benefited from

being encouraged to look for the big picture before h

e started anything. W e tried to help him

see connections and und

erstand how details fit together to m

ake w holes. O

ne tactic that helped him

pull ideas together w as sum

m arizing a paragraph

or a story in only ten w ords o

r one sentence. H e learned to think

about his m ain idea before h

e tried to m ake a point in a discussion.

H is teachers tried to provide C

arl w ith a fram

ew ork before he

started to plug

in isolated facts.

T hey discovered

that m ost

students like a verbal outline and a blackboard diagram of the

general ideas to be covered at the beginning of a lesson. ("T oday

w e're going to talk about the causes of the A

m erican R

evolution. Y

ou w ill need to think about w

hat w e have learned about life in the

colonies before you

can understand them

.") T hey also

used tim

elines and other devices to put facts into perspective.

""•-,=·- rg;1?~ …. , J

~ . e.~;z.~

J ~

~t ~

R ~

~ ~

,,y &! ~~-~),' ~

~13,i:

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f-¥£;:–J '_b) .

.·

f f ~

D raw

ing diagram s, or "m

ind m aps," ofideas is a w

ay to put verbal m

aterial into visual form ;

it seem s to help both Jum

pers and splitters. It is initially hard for m

any people, but since using this technique w

ith students, I am a convert. T

hey don 't care how

in ept

I am ; th

ey love th e w

ay it helps th em

"see" the m ain points. O

ther teachers and I im

provised th e ones in this chap

ter. T ry it w

ith yo ur

child , rem

em bering th

at there is no "right" w ay, as long as it

expands und erstanding

.

158 o f 330

T h

e P aren

ts' R ole

C hildren display learning style differences as early as

nursery school, b

u t not all teachers know

about th e im

portance of varying teaching techniques to accom

m odate them

. P arents m

ay have to help the school understand a youngster's individual needs and take the initiative at hom

e in suggesting new w

ays of studying. T ry

different approaches to see w hat w

orks best. T he techniques

suggested in this chapter can be adapted to alm ost any age level.

P arents often rem

ark th at because their learning patterns are

sim ilar to those of their children, they have strategies o

f th eir ow

n to share.

W eird

b u

t W on

d erfu

l

T hen there's T

im . A

nontraditional learner w ho needs to see and

do rather than listen , w

ho reasons w ith im

ages rather than w ords,

T im

is on the other end of the splitter-lum per scale. H

e can see w

h ole forests easily, but usually lacks the patience to go in and

analyze the trees. H e jum

ps into the m iddle of situ

ations and m ay

intuitively com e up w

ith the right so lu

tio n

-o r one that is w

ay off base. H

e can 't organize him

self- or his strategies for schoolw

ork. "H

ow can he read so carelessly and still get the idea?" his E

nglish teacher

asks. "T

im

gets the

answ er but can

't w

rite out

the equation," com

plains his m ath teacher. S

om etim

es, if people are w

illing to listen as T im

struggles to describe it, his id ea is "w

eird b

u t w

onderful." T h

e T im

s of this w orld usually have a harder tim

e in sch

ool than the C arls, but not because they lack ability. If they

get out of school w ith th

eir self-esteem still intact, they are often

very successful in the '·real w orld

." If your child is like T im

, your w

ork is cut out for you, but the first step m ust be to get rid of the

w ords "lazy" and "stupid

." E

valuating T im

's strengths and w eakn

esses helped m e and his

parents und erstand som

e of his inconsistencies. F or exam

ple, he liked m

ath in elem entary school but now

found him self unable to

"get it." H e didn

't realize that earlier m ath classes had involved a

lot of doing –

w ritin

g on the board, and m anip

ulating objects and sh

apes. N ow

he w as in a class w

h ere the teacher taught by talkin

g. C

onsidering T im

's difficulty w ith rem

em bering even one sentence

at a tim e, it is n

o surprise he w

as in trouble. I explained to T

im th

at h

e needs to ask th

e teach er to show

exam ples in addition to telling

him , an

d th

at h e needs to w

rite problem s in his notebook as w

ell as sit an

d listen (or fail to!). F

ortunately, his teachers w ere all

w illing to cooperate b

ecause they recognized th at h

e really w anted

to im

prove. T

im w

as m issing hom

ew ork assignm

ents that, teachers being only h

u m

an, w ere often given quickly at th

e en d

o f class: "O

h, b y

th

e w ay, tom

orrow 's hom

ew ork is to

do all th e odd-num

bered exam

ples on pages seventeen an

d tw

enty an d

w rite a

short paragraph ab

o u

t the effects o f clim

atic conditions o n

fossil form

ation." F orget it! (T

hat's w h

at T im

usually did.) T im

's parents w

en t to the school to

explain th at he needed to

have directions w

ritten d o

w n

o r given m

ore slow ly. H

e m ay eventually need to

use a tap

e recorder, as som e students do, in lJ.t_gh school lectu

re classes an

d use som

e type o f electronic device to sp

eed up n

o te-taking an

d

help w ith organization. S

im ultaneously, he can practice trying to

rem em

ber longer an d

longer chunks b y

repeating th em

back an d

w

orking on im proving his sum

m arizing skills. U

nderstan d

ing his style does not m

ean low

ering o u

r ultim ate expectations for him

. T

im 's quick intelligence h

ad succeeded in m

asking th e serious

deficits in his reading skills, b u

t h e finally adm

itted they w ere

causing him a great deal o

f trouble. H e began to w

ork w ith a special

tu to

r w ho focused on th

e basics h e had m

issed o u

t on earlier, an d

he soon show

ed rapid im provem

ent in b o

th reading an d

spelling. S

he also helped him w

ith stu dy skills and n

o te-taking.

A t hom

e, in addition to reassuring rum th

at all this w ork is w

orth th

e effort, T im

's parents can h elp him

o rganize lo

nger reading assignm

ents in a visual form . T

im took readily to m

ap ping ideas

to help him rem

em ber w

hat h e has studied. It is also never too late

to w ork on language developm

ent and exp ressio

n o

f ideas at the dinner table; th

ese habits m ay can

y over in

to in creased classroom

participation.

P arents

can help

w ith

auditory m

em ory

by practicing a lim

ited num ber of directions at a tim

e. ("P lease go

upstairs, close your

bedroom

w indow

, and

bring dow

n the

new spaper.") T

hey w ill und

oubtedly have to help him organize his

h om

ew ork tim

e and be available to proofread reports. A com

puter h

elps him be m

ore fluent and accurate in h is w

riting. S tud

ents like

T im

often like to study to m usic; if it w

orks, let rum .

T he b

ad new

s for T im

is th at h

e w ill have to w

ork harder in school th

an som

e o f his frien

ds. T he good n

ew s is th

at h e can su

cceed ­

both in school and, m ore im

portantly, w hen real life exerts a

differen t

set o

f dem

ands. T

he ultim

ate success

o f

m any

"n o

n traditional" learners confirm

s this pattern as different, n o

t in

ferior. D

oes accepting

divergen t

learning styles

m ean

low ering

academ ic standards? N

o! H elping children achieve an

d enjoy

learning can only im prove the intellectual clim

ate. P arents an

d

teachers m ust take the tim

e and effort to m eet individual needs

w ithout caving in o

n expectations. T ruly, w

e all have o u

r w ork cut

ou t for us!

D ifferen

t D ru

m m

ers

T his ch

apter has been about m aking co

nnections- betw

een the h

em ispheres, betw

een the sexes, betw een individ

uals. W e are ju

st beginning to explore th

e neural variations that underlie the

colorful m osaic of hum

an talent. D iffe1,ences m

ake us interesting and provide society w

ith a broad pool o f abilities. U

nderlying the history o

f hum an accom

plishm ent are m

yriad com binations ofleft

an d

right, m ale an

d fem ale, Jum

pers and splitters. T he m

ost effective thinkers are those w

ho can link their m ental talents in

vaiying co

m binations-

w ho

can see

ideas and

plan their

im plem

entation, grasp a total problem and analyze its elem

ents, create and com

m unicate.

W e're not yet su

re w here people get their unique styles of taking

o n the w

orld, o r how

m uch w

e can-o r should-

c hange th

em . T

he suggestions in this book are for expanding, not altering. I hope you w

ill apply them w

ith th e love and com

m on sense that are your

paren tal gifts. B

y broadening bridges, you can ease your child's in

tellectual passage, fo r differences often cause children pain

. A

dults are

privileged because

th ey

are respected

and even

acclaim ed for un

iq ueness. T

hey choose th e arenas in w

hich they w

ish to appear and avoid th ose w

here they are inept. C hildren are

not so lu cky. If their skills are unbalan

ced, if the school fails to app

reciate their gifts,

there is little respite from

inadequacy.

16 0

o f 330

P arents, frustrated by their child's defeats, can easily lose sight of

talents th at reach beyond th

e classroom w

alls. O

ne little girl, a fourth grader w hose m

ain strengths are creative an

d intuitive, cam

e u p

w ith an

im portant though

t one day as w e

w ere

discussing a

story about

prejudice. F

ace clenched

in concentration, she struggled m

ightily to find w

ords for her idea. H

ere they are:

F eelin

gs a b

o u

t O th

ers

Som e people are nicer

B ecause th

eir brains

A re d

ifferently attached to their hearts

T han other p

eop le's.

N o m

atter how you

r child's brain is attached, I hope you can respect th

at sing ular pattern even

as you help to integrate its

design . Society n

eeds pathw ays to

th e future built by effective,

fleidble, and interesting lninds.