Learning Does Not Need to Be Boring!

Play and Imagination Expand a Child’s Learning Dimensions

1. The creation of thought is a product of imagination
2. Play develops the thinking of a child
3. Give your child a playing field that teaches him to read
4. The child's brain development and his thinking
5. Teach your child in a way that matches his thinking
   
   

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The Creation of Thought is a Product of Imagination 

A child aged 4-7 years is primarily a multi-sensory learner.  He actively develops his imagination during these years.  Magically, so it seems to anyone watching, the child puts together light patterns, sounds, smells, tastes, pressure on the skin, the rhythm of movements within his body, and other sensation patterns, and gradually creates an impression of his own self living in an external world. 

As the child’s imagination grows, he sees clouds in the form of animals, plays with imaginary friends and animals in the yard, invites you to a “pretend” tea party, or digs trenches with his trucks (which can be simple blocks of wood) around a castle to protect it from the dragon. The child learns to interact with and create his world during this play time.

(For detailed information about how a child's behavior affects the development of his brain, see Joseph Chilton-Pearce's book, The Magical Child.)

A Child Sees All Possibility with his Mind’s Eye — His Internal Ability to Imagine and Make Imagery

As he plays, he projects what he imagines into his physical world, and works with the projections of his imagery in 3-dimensions. In turn, his play provokes more inner experiences and imaginings. 

Slowly as he learns to work with his imagination, he learns to interact with his external world. As a result of his play and his imagination, his understanding of the world and his preferences grow. He slowly expands his learning dimensions as he learns who he is and what is beyond his physical being.

Play Develops the Thinking of a Child

Movement is Essential for Thinking to Occur. Young children play and move to stimulate their brains and bodies to develop. The thinking dynamics of the brain begin to develop in the womb through the sensory and movement feedback that the fetus senses. The muscular movements and sounds used in speech also develop while in the womb, in response to hearing mother’s voice or the sounds of other voices from outside of mother. Sensory-motor input drives the learning system of the child in the womb, and it is just as essential after birth for the learning dimensions of the young child to expand.

Children Learn Through Play, Story-telling, Imagining “What if we pretend that ….”

Give Your Child a Playing Field that Teaches Him to Read

The learning dimensions of a child 4-7 years old expand when his multi-sensory nature is given a “playing field” within which to explore and discover. 

Although the early learner may seem precocious and capable of learning concepts and skills that older children are being taught, he also needs lots of time for play, movement and imagination so that he can develop a healthy integration of all parts of his brain.

It is unwise to sit this child behind a desk, tell him to be still, and expect him to develop abstract, logical thinking skills suited for the brain functions of an 11 year old! 

Such emphasis on logical development and required stillness will restrict development of the dimensions of his learning and his preparation for successfully meeting the rigors of his future life. The imagination that develops in the first 7 years of a child’s life becomes the resource that will later enable the rich functioning of the logical areas of the left hemisphere of his brain. 

The Child's Brain Development 

Brain Development guides Thinking Development

 

During the child’s first year,The corpus callosum, which connects the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain, slowly begins to develop during the child's first year.  Until the corpus callosum is fully developed and functioning to connect the activities of the two hemispheres, there can be little sharing and exchange of information between the 2 cerebral (linear and gestalt thinking) hemispheres, and thinking and awareness are processed largely in the brain stem.  Movement and sensory exploration activate and begin to integrate the early automatic reflexes of the child that will later become integrated into more complex movement patterns, and brain function and learning.

In the 1-4 year old child, Most “thinking” occurs first in the brainstem, producing the state of "I am my experience; I am my feelings." Thinking moves to the midbrain, producing the thinking state of "I have preferences." Next,  thinking moves into the right cerebral hemisphere, producing activation in the realm of intuition and imaginative thinking of the child.   

Around age 4, The corpus callosum begins to function more fully around age 4. Now all the information and processes occurring in both of the left and right hemispheres of the cortex, as well as in the rest of the brain, can begin to be connected and integrated.  From 4-7 years of age, the child creates a wonderful balance between his sense of his body, his emotions, and his developing mind. 

 

From ages 7 to 11,The balance of a child’s awareness and thinking moves into the left hemisphere between the ages of 7 to 11.  The brain is now ready to begin developing its functions of logical thinking and abstraction. 

During these years, a child gradually develops the ability to think abstractly and to know that he is other than what he thinks.  The rich internal creativity and stimulating energy of his intuition (the creativity of his right hemisphere) is shared with his left hemisphere’s ability to linearly systematize, organized and analyze and express planned action in the physical world. Ultimately, as the left and right hemispheres of the brain work together, through the bridging of the corpus callosum, the rich mind of the teen, and later the adult, can develop. 

 

A dyslexic individual, however, tends to remain primarily a multi-sensory processor of information as his way of initiating his thinking throughout his life.  He has a different outlook on the world than the individual who initiates thinking with his logic functions.  Neither of these styles of initiating thinking is right or wrong. The important point is that each style has different teaching requirements in order to learn to read.

 

A child around 11

A child's brain and mind are usually ready to think objectively —he becomes able to see himself as standing outside of what he is thinking and begins to operate on what he is thinking.  He sees that he can direct what he dreams and thinks about, and he can send away images he does not want to experience, such as nightmare images. 

 

By age 15

 

The individual’s mind is no longer localized in any one part of the brain. His mind, like that of an adult's, seems to exist vaguely somewhere in his head.  Brain and mind are no longer viewed as one unit, but rather as counterparts of the other’s function and development.  Conceptualization develops as the outer world provides models and opportunities for discovering, experiencing and developing an internal awareness and world-model that is no longer identified with the physical world itself.

Teach Your Child In a Way That Matches His Thinking Style 

When you consider and understand the developmental capacity of your 4-7 year old child, you can help him expand his learning dimensions by utilizing the skills and abilities he is using to learn about the world –

• Play
• Imagination
• His many senses
• His curiosity
• His desire to learn 

The MELT™ techniques and The Learning to Read program were developed to help you to teach your imaginative and sensory-guided child to read.   The Learning to Read Program encourages your child to play and use his imagination while learning to read.