Learn how to read faster

It has probably happened to you: you have read maybe four pages of a book and all of a sudden you realize that you have no idea what you have actually been reading. You have to go back and start over. If this happens frequently you start thinking: “I am not a good reader.” It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and you put down the book.

What happened? Since it is your brain that reads, it isn’t challenged enough by a slow reading technique. It starts engaging in other thoughts, even though you are reading. (Perfect multitasking!) Your attention focuses on other things and you no longer concentrate on reading.

How can you increase the speed of reading? It’s easy: take a thin pencil or a knitting needle and decide the pace yourself. You can do this by guiding the pen or needle along the lines. Don’t vocalize, just look at the words. Experiment with the appropriate speed and you will realize that you register everything. Read faster and comprehend what you read. Your brain needs a challenge in order to concentrate on the reading material and information.

Abstract of the book "Unleash the Secret of Education and learn how to raise a happy child" by Hans-Peter Becker.

Creativity

Creativity (or "creativeness") is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. 

The etymological root of the word in English and most other European languages comes from the Latin “creatus", literally "to have grown".   

 The creative minds of our time, have continued analog ways of thinking. They are not geniuses; they merely realized and used their potential.   

Creativity is neither divine inspiration, nor congenital. Neuroscientists have discovered that creativity is related to our environment and that it can be learned.

The web of knowledge is the key here. Being successful and acting creatively in a particular field is more likely, when we have a large amount of information on diverse subjects. Our brain is able to link independent information and thus to create something new and innovative. It is vital to expand our knowledge, to get to know different cultures and people, so we can provide the best possible avenues for our creativeness.

A musician who practices a Iot and has mastered an instrument, might not be a creative musician.  

"The web of knowledge is the key to intelligence and creativity".

(based on Joe Zawinul)

The plateau

The phase during which we stagnate and feel that we can't learn anymore has been named the 'plateau' by George Leonhard.   He tells us: "We have to learn to love the plateau."

Tip: When we learn a new activity (e.g. playing the piano or skiing), two processes take place simultaneously:  

1. physical execution of muscles and tendons
2. mental control of these movements  

We can save two-thirds of the training period when we proceed in a brain-friendly manner: alternate between carrying out the motion sequences physically and mentally – in slow motion!

Abstract of the book "Unleash the Secret of Education and learn how to raise a happy child" by Hans-Peter Becker.

How can parents support their children? How should difficulties at school be dealt with?

Every parent wants to provide as much support with school as possible: helping with homework, preparing for exams etc. However, is this enough? How can you make sure this is effective? You have to incorporate a new habit and generally the will, to do so. Do we possess the necessary knowledge? How can it be put into practice?

At the kindergarten I illustrated the following example: “Imagine you buy a brand new washing machine with the newest technology on the market including touch screen. How would you go about using it? Would you read the instruction manual? Or apply the ‘trial and error’ method?” The unanimous response is usually: “I would obviously read the manual. Otherwise I might break something.” I provide further examples of new smartphones, heart rate monitors and similar high-tech appliances. The response remains the same. Then I show the image of a brain on the overhead projector:

My question: “Has anyone read an instruction manual for this?” None of the parents I met at the meetings were able to explain the functions of the right and left side of the brain. No one knew how Information was acquired or processed and retrieved again later.
I explained: “The brain is our learning organ. How are you supposed to help your children learn, when you don't understand how the brain works?” A good teacher needs to be a good student first. Someone who knows how to teach needs to be someone who knows how to learn. The learning experience of a child depends on the parents, the environment and the teacher. After six years of natural learning processes, so called “school learning” replaces the child’s experience. Curiously, there are no courses that thoroughly deal with ‘methods of appropriate learning.’ This should be a required subject for all first graders. The other alternative would be for teacher to become better at ‘teaching’.


Abstract of the book "Unleash the Secret of Education and learn how to raise a happy child" by Hans-Peter Becker.

Why Music Makes us Happy?

Music is universal, is a creation that human beings always produced it. People of all cultures around the world have their own music. Every place on this world, that hosts human beings, hosts their sound as well... The oldest artifacts that show people playing musical instruments are found in Asia and are around four thousand years old. Plato, the Ancient Greek philosopher  said that" If you want to measure the spiritual depth of society, make sure to mark it's music." 

By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be. However, no matter how much music may differ in different parts of the world, it seems that music serves a general common purpose: to bring people together.

But, how music can have such a great impact on our emotions? Why music is a spirit healer?   

Scientists finally seem to have the answer on that, there is a biological explanation for why music has been such a major part of emotional events in cultures around the world since the beginning of human history. 

New study shows that musical thrills stem from the same brain chemistry responsible for the joys of food, sex and other more tangible rewards. "You're following these tunes and anticipating what's going to come next and whether it's going to confirm or surprise you, and all of these little cognitive nuances are what's giving you this amazing pleasure," said Valorie Salimpoor, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal. "The reinforcement or reward happens almost entirely because of dopamine." 

In the brain, dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerve cells. It plays a major role in the brain system that is responsible for reward-motivated behavior. Every type of reward that has been studied increases the level of dopamine in the brain, and a variety of addictive drugs, including stimulants such as cocaine or amphetamine and methamphetamine, act by amplifying the effects of dopamine.

"This basically explains why music has been around for so long " V. Salimpoor added. "The intense pleasure we get from it is actually biologically reinforcing in the brain, and now here's proof for it."

So, now we know why just a good song can either make us want to cry or feel immense joy and happiness!

If you want to learn more interesting facts about music and the brain function, here is a great book that will introduce you to this amazing world... Unleash the Secret of Education and learn how to raise a happy child by Hans Peter Becker.

Sources:

wikipedia.org

news.discovery.com/human/psychology/music-dopamine-happiness-brain-110110.htm

scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=musical-chills-related-to-brain-dop-11-01-09

Brain function principles applied to learning techniques.

Every brain is structured in the same way. However, it seems that some people are naturally more capable to memorize numbers and stories better than others. Often unconsciously, they have developed a system to hone their memory skills. Basic principles and continuous and consequent application can increase the receptiveness and learning aptitude of the mind.   

 

Many people already use such memory aiding techniques, called mnemotechnics or mnemonics (from the Greek mneme = memory). For example when spelling arithmetic: A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream.   

But we don’t just want to learn isolated tricks, but rather different techniques. These skills will enable us to develop personal learning strategies. There are different techniques such as pictures, rhymes, acronyms, acrostics, codes, jokes or stories, we can apply.   

Three principles can be particularly helpful when applied to a learning technique; these are:   

1. Visualization

2. Association

3. Intelligent repetition

1. Visualization

Visualization, or pictorial imagination, is what we have done since birth. It can be described as the ability to draw mental pictures. Most adults have unlearned this, since they were told as children: “look at me when I am talking to you!” such demands gradually destroy the ability to visualize. Luckily this can be re-learned easily.

2. Association

Associations refer to connecting elements together. We have to construct an image of two elements and then connect those images together. For example: guitar and train. Here we could picture a train which is running on tracks that are made up of a row of guitars. Then we can link the image of the train to a further element and build a story line. It is easier to remember these stories when the associations are lively and colorful, even absurd and drastic. We remember this better than something ‘ordinary’.

3. Intelligent Repetition

Repetition of isolated facts, the way it has been exercised in school, is ineffective. Intelligent repetition refers to the association of visual images and construction of picture stories. These images and picture stories are retained in our memory. At this point I would like to introduce two techniques that are easily mastered and might provide a ‘jump start’ for you to engage further in the topic: symbolic association and location association

Tomatis Method

Dr. Alfred Tomatis and Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP).

Dr Alfred Tomatis was born on January 1st, 1920 in Nice, France and he died on December 5th, 2001. Dr Tomatis laid the foundation for a new multidisciplinary science called Audio-Psycho-Phonology (APP). This methodology illustrates why “the way we listen” is fundamentally related to most aspects of how we live.

In the early fifties, Tomatis also discovered that deficiencies in listening perception were the source of many learning difficulties. Tomatis developed a highly effective method to treat this.

Tomatis attempts to understand the unique characteristics of each patient. The listening therapy – involving frequencies and sounds – is a gentle, individually designed, form of treatment that respects the natural laws of hearing. This leads to a very gentle and natural healing process.


The Tomatis method can be compared to the traditional Chinese healing method of acupuncture. Only 30 years ago it was frowned upon by orthodox medicine as ineffective charlatanry. However, due to its success, the method has become more and more recognized and respected – even though there is no scientific evidence for its effects. Is it not common practice science to question the logic behind a theory?

If you want to learn more about the positive effects that the author Hans-Peter Becker witnessed at his own daughter who used the Tomatis Method read "Unleash the Secret of Education and learn how to raise a happy child".