Make Your Kid A Genius!

How to Awaken Your Child's Innate Intelligence

Irene Helen Zundel, Editor, artwhiz@greenepa.net

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IN THIS ISSUE

Feature Article: Superlearning

Product Review: Superlearning Workshop in a Box

Book Review: Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century

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Superlearning

by Irene Helen Zundel

The brain is a magnificent thing. It weighs just three pounds and can fit in the palm of your hand, yet it is incredibly powerful. Did you know that if you wanted to build a supercomputer with the same number of 'bits" of information the brain contains, it would need to be housed in a building the size of the entire state of Texas, and that stood over 100 stories tall?

With such powerful equipment inside our skulls, why is it that so many of us find learning so difficult? And why can't we easily recall what we learn?

I believe it is because we are raised and educated with faulty methods of learning, and we fail to teach our kids in a manner that maximizes the awesome potential of the brain.

Scientists now recognize there are seven kinds of intelligence, yet schools emphasize only two, verbal and mathematical. There are several styles of learning, yet schools stress the old and tired method of read or listen, memorize facts in isolation, repeat facts on a test, and move on to the next set of material. The atmosphere in schools is regimented, yet educational experts will tell you that students learn more when they are relaxed and enjoying a task. It seems like teachers are trying to program an intelligent machine, instead of developing the unique intelligence and creativity of the children in their charge!

Pioneers in the field of accelerated learning have determined what conditions need to be present for optimal, stress free learning to occur and what techniques help to produce those conditions.

Here are some of the things that they have come up with:

1) People are not alike, nor do they learn the same way as everybody else. Most of us have a dominant learning style, a preferred way of receiving and processing information. Identifying and using your dominant learning style will help you learn and retain new information more easily.

To determine your own learning style, ask yourself these questions:

Would you prefer to listen to a tape or a lecture instead of read a book?

Do you have an ear for foreign languages?

Do you tend to sound out unfamiliar words?

Do you pick up clues about people from the way they speak?

Would you rather give a talk than write a report?

If so, you prefer an audio approach to learning.

Is getting information from a book what you like best?

Do you need visual aids such as pictures, diagrams, and maps to help you learn?

Do you visualize the spelling of a new word?

Do you observe people's dress and eye movements?

If so, then you are a visual learner.

Do you prefer hands on experience when you're learning?

Are you more interested in practical applications instead of theory?

Do you like to get the feel of a new word or a new idea?

Are you aware of other people's body language?

If so, you are an emotional/kinesthetic learner.

Combining all three learning styles is even more effective! It enables you to learn with your "whole self" and mastering new material becomes easier and more enjoyable.

2) You learn best when your body is relaxed and your mind is alert.

Studies have shown that listening to Baroque music puts you in this ideal learning state. The relaxing measured tones, played at a rate of 60 beats per minute, naturally reduce pulse rate and blood pressure, and alleviate stress. Left and right hemispheres of the brain become integrated and the mind absorbs information more easily. The conscious and subconscious mind are also united, allowing the memory regions of the brain to be readily accessed. The subliminally influenced subconscious mind begins to work in concert with the conscious mind, instead of against it, dissolving old patterns of negativity and bad past programming. Learning blocks are dissolved and success states are more readily achieved.

Foreign languages can also be learned at a rapid rate with excellent retention, when Baroque music is played in the background during study periods. Fluency can be achieved in 30 days, instead of the usual two years required in a school setting, and with a retention rate of 85%!

3) Using visualization and imagination can enhance memory. It is especially effective to recall a time when you were extremely happy, experiencing a peak performance, or achieving something memorable before you begin to study. Doing so floods the brain and body with stress fighting, feel-good chemicals called endorphins. Experts have found that this "chemistry of pleasure" enhances the ability to learn and remember.

4) Learning is also enhanced by immersion--- being happily wrapped up in the task at hand, and staying with it until your interest wanes. By putting your whole mind and positive emotions into the process of learning, you absorb more with less stress, and find it easier to recall what you learned later on.

There are many resources for accelerated learning techniques. My personal favorite is the Superlearning website at www.superlearning.com. I have used their methods and products in homeschooling my own son, and with excellent results!

You might also want to check out:

Accelerated Learning Network

4250 South Granby Way Suite C

Denver, CO 80014

USA

Phone: 1-800-797-4616

1-720-870-9797

Fax: 1-303-221-0232

E-mail: aln@accelerated-learning.net

www.acceleratedlearningnetwork.com

Product Review: Superlearning Workshop in a Box

by Irene Helen Zundel

Product Title: Superlearning Workshop in a Box

Publisher: Superlearning Inc.

Ages: Teens and Adults

Suggested Retail Price: $89.95

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Synopsis: This is an entire Superlearning program in a box, consisting of 12 lessons on 6 audiotapes, with an accompanying 40 page handbook. The lessons are:

The Secrets of Superlearning

Dissolving Blocks

The Superlearning State

Superlearning Music

The Superlearning Experience

Learning Well ( subliminal memory )

Your Virtual Reality Machine

Supermemory

Concentration

Super Keys to Success and Prosperity

How to Make Your Own Superlearning Programs

Superlearning Timer Tape

Replay Value: Excellent

Educational Value: Excellent

Pros: The program is complete, crystal clear and informative. The lessons are short and hold your attention. Best of all, the methods truly work!

Cons: Absolutely none!

Conclusion: I highly recommend this product. I did the course myself, and used it in homeschooling my son, now in 10th grade. Superlearning has applications for all ages and stages of life, grade school through college and even into the professional years. It is effective in improving performance in sports and the arts, and even for enhancing spiritual awareness. To learn more, and to see numerous other Superlearning products, please visit the Superlearning website at www.superlearning.com.

Book Review: Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century

Accelerated Learning for the 21st Century

Colin Rose and Malcolm J. Nicholl

Dell Publishing, 1997

paperback edition, 403 pp

This book will help you to:

develop amazing recall

spark your latent genius

help you to master a foreign language easily

improve your test scores up to 300 % and

teach you how to access your right brain creativity.

Sound too good to be true? Not at all! I have used these methods described by the authors for years in homeschooling my own son, and I can attest to their effectiveness.

In a very thorough and highly readable book, the authors map out a variety of methods for jump starting intelligence in an easy to remember manner.

Want to know how to develop a master plan for learning?

Think MASTER:

Motivate your mind (ask what's in it for me?)

Acquire the information (using your best suited learning style-- visual, auditory, or kinesthetic)

Search out the meaning (explore and understand the material, don't just memorize!)

Trigger your memory (use flash cards, memory maps, associations, acronyms, music, storytelling etc)

Exhibit what you know (rehearse it in your mind, explain it to someone etc)

Reflect on what you have learned (is this material significant for me? did I study well? How can I improve?)

Want to acquire a method of methodical creativity? Well, that would be a farce!

Amass a lot of information

Four way thinking ( look at all the angles)

Alternatives (generate lots of ideas)

Recombine (get the best combination of ideas)

Choose (the best combination)

Effect (put it into action)

Besides explaining in detail all the learning strategies, tips and tricks, the authors give some great advice, which can be summed up as follows:

Realize parents are the most important teachers, and home is the most significant learning environment

Remember, it is never too early to start teaching your children

Provide a stimulating home environment from the very beginning

Encourage curiosity Take advantage of developmental windows of opportunity

Make learning fun

Never underestimate what a child is capable of earning!

Use an approach that includes multiple intelligences

Be an involved parent

Individualize learning to maximize your child's innate strengths

If you are looking for a book that covers everything, is easy to read and implement, and is up to date on the latest findings about children and learning, then this is the book for you! I would highly recommend that you get a copy.

COMING UP NEXT MONTH: The Benefits of Homeschooling

Homeschooled children are better socialized than their peers, perform exceedingly well on standardized tests, are generally several grades ahead of kids their own age in public schools and are even getting into Yale and Harvard! Find out why next month. And tell a friend to subscribe so they wont miss it!

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Michigan Learning, a parent guide to maximizing your kids' education. This 16-page bi-monthly guide offers news you can use regarding K-12 education today. Read practical tips on how you can make good educational choices for your children, and how to make those choices work. Order the print publication or read it online at www.PartnershipForLearning.org. Or call 800-832-2464.

Wonder Years: ages 0-5, a bi-montly publication helping parents and caregivers make the most of a child's early years. Everything you do during the first years of a child's life affects brain development that will shape a lifetime of learning. Make the most of these critical learning years, and have fun at the same time. To subscribe, call 800-832-2464 or visit www.PartnershipForLearning.org.

Online issues can be found at http://www.fadco.net/~artwhiz/archives.htm

Irene Helen Zundel

Freelance Writer

artwhiz@greenepa.net

www.fadco.net/~artwhiz

©2002 Irene Helen Zündel