Category: Parenting

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Parenting

So Your Kid Is A Verbal Learner – Now What?

Of all the learning styles, verbal learners tend to be the rarest. This doesn’t mean that they are harder to teach or destined to have problems in school. In fact, verbal learning indicates that people will succeed later in life because they have better language skills. 

It is important to understand that verbal learning is different from auditory learning. Auditory learners learn the best when they hear about a topic, whereas verbal learners need to hear the words and speak them in order to understand. 

Interested in helping your verbal learner succeed? MindFinity helps you to teach your children and increase their Inventive IQ through various activities that strengthen all of their learning styles. Our games will have your children learning while dancing, singing, cooking, and more. The games only take a few minutes every day, but they will quickly become your favorite time with your kids. To learn more, click here.

For now, let’s talk more about your verbal learner.

What Is A Verbal Learner?

Verbal learners tend to learn best through the words that they hear and the words that they say. They need to have both levels in order to understand a topic, though they can usually learn just by hearing words spoken out loud. Traditionally, they benefit from singing songs, repeating chants, and lectures.

Verbal also includes writing. Verbal learners can best express what they know through written essays, speeches, and presentations.

How Do I Know If My Child Is A Verbal Learner?

Has your child ever used a word that you weren’t even sure if you knew the meaning to it – and then you looked it up and they used it correctly? That’s a sign they are a verbal learner. Some other signs include:

  • Loving reading, vocabulary, and spelling
  • Enjoying writing activities
  • Playing word games like Scrabble or crossword puzzles
  • Learning new languages easily
  • Disliking silence or independent study
  • Performing well in front of crowds
  • Preferring writing, history, and reading over math and science
  • Remembering quotes, passages, and songs easily

Of course, every child is different and some verbal learners may excel in math or science. It really just depends on the instruction, teacher, and the child.

How Can I Use This Information To Help My Child Succeed?

If you think that your child is a verbal learner and you want to help them succeed, there are a few different steps that you can take to improve their study skills and performance in school. The first is to encourage your child to read instructions to themselves by mouthing the words. When your child is learning a new subject, have them read the textbook or story aloud to you instead of to themselves. You don’t need to give it your complete focus, as it will benefit your child either way.

Encourage your child to learn as many songs, mnemonic devices, puns, riddles, and wordplay to remember topics – think something like “My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” to remember the planets or “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” for mathematical equations.

Encourage your child to write things out that they don’t understand – verbal doesn’t just mean speaking and hearing. It can mean writing something down. These are the kids that are going to benefit from well-written notes that are color-coded and organized perfectly.

MindFinity Helps Kids Learn Through Gameplay

Our award-winning program helps your children expand their brains and learn polymath thinking skills while dancing, playing music, doing martial arts, and moving around! You get a new game each day of the week, which takes a few minutes a day. And you can expand on the games and have your child put their imagination to use. For visual learners, the games can help to quickly spot patterns and increase their Inventive IQ, which can help them to learn better throughout their entire school career.

Interested in learning more? To learn more about MindFinity and sign up for a free trial, click here.

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Parenting

Teaching Mathematical Logic To Your Kids – 3 Key Things To Know

If you are struggling to teach your child mathematical logic, you aren’t alone. It is one of the most difficult subjects for kids to grasp and for parents to teach. Even veteran teachers struggle with it sometimes. It is such an important topic for kids to learn, so you need to do it. But how? 

At MindFinity, we help children learn the foundations of mathematical logic and polymath thinking skills. Our focus is on making connections and pattern recognition, which helps to form their basis of mathematical logic – click here to learn more.

Start With Pattern Recognition

From a very young age, children start to notice patterns. They are able to place colors together, put items in lines, and stack cups together based on sizes. Watch them play with toys and you will see that most of those toys have patterns built into them. The little plastic rings that they stack, their mobiles, and even their dolls will have patterns built right into them. Teaching pattern recognition isn’t the main goal of most of these toys, but it is still an important part of them.

MindFinity gives you simple pattern recognition games that are expandable in countless ways. So you can teach patterns through shapes, drawing, toys, karate, music, cooking and more. 

Answer Their “Why” Questions

Kids ask, “Why?” all the time and it can sometimes get annoying. However, they are trying to form patterns in their mind, understand cause and effect, and figure out their place in the world. If your kid asks you a question, try to answer it as completely as you can.

If you are teaching math and your child asks you why the answer is what it is, try to help him think through the logic that is used to solve the problem. Eventually, the time will come when they have to justify their answers in class (and in life), so they need to know how to go about it.

Start Playing Games That Require Mathematical Reasoning

Games can help children learn while they are having fun and just being a kid. There are plenty of games out there that teach mathematical logic and reasoning without feeling like educational games. Think about Sorry!, Parcheesi, Yahtzee!, Phase 10, and other games that don’t just allow your child to passively sit and count. They need to think about what to do with numbers to win.

As your child gets older, you can play different games to teach deeper mathematical reasoning. Even something like Monopoly can help to teach reasoning skills.

Use MindFinity To Help Them Learn Mathematical Logic

Children who can spot patterns and quickly make connections, use analogies to help them understand math concepts and can apply thinking algorithms, learn faster.  Those who build these specialized skills will likely enjoy school more than their peers. This is because when you teach through play, you are taking away a ton of the pressure that they feel. By taking just a few minutes every day to play MindFinity games with your child, you can make school easier for your child, and learning, faster. Not only that, but you will help them to use their imagination to become more adaptable to change, which can help them succeed long into the future!

MindFinity will have you dancing, drawing, singing, and more with your children all while learning these skills and building Inventive IQ,  the human capacity to invent, solve or innovate using a trained imagination. MindFinity is a great tool for younger children and their families to have fun learning together for just a few minutes every day. For more information, reach out to our team today to get started. 

If you want your child to have fun in school and take advantage of all the opportunities they are given, MindFinity is a great place to start.

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Parenting

Fun Family Activities You Will All Actually Enjoy

Fun Family Activities You Will All Actually Enjoy

Do you wish you spent more time doing fun family activities? It can be really difficult to get everyone in your family together to do something that everyone enjoys. Often, what we do caters to one or two members of the family and the rest just tolerate it. It doesn’t have to be that way! 

If you need ideas for fun, project-based learning activities, consider investing in MindFinity. We will have you and your child learning through different activities and projects. With MindFinity, you won’t have to plan out quite so many activities, as we do that work for you! Even better, you’ll be able to expand on them and raise smarter kids! 

If this sounds interesting to you, click here to learn more. 

If you want to learn about more fun family activities, keep reading:

Go Geocaching!

Geocaching is a great way to learn about directions, talk about coordinates, and get some physical activity into your day. Geocaching requires at least one smartphone and a good pair of sneakers. Your family can download a geocaching app, where you will be able to pick “geos” based on your location, the difficulty, and the time.

Some geos are hidden in plain sight and others require climbing trees, figuring out puzzles, or even looking for names in cemeteries. If you have playgrounds or parkland around your neighborhood, you will probably find a few options. Bring something with you to put into the capsule and be sure not to disturb any wildlife or vegetation.

Once your family has done some geos, you can even buy your own and hide it somewhere!

Learn A New Board Game

Board games are fun because everyone in the family can get into the action. They are old-fashioned, sure, but they are proven winners. You can play them on vacation, holidays, or just when you need something to do. Don’t feel limited to board games, you can learn card games too!

If your family does like video games (and there is nothing wrong with that!), consider getting multiplayer games that you can change the levels on, something like Mario Party.

Plant A Garden

Gardens are a really cool way to get everyone in the family together and working towards a common goal. Whether you want to plant flowers or an herb garden, you can use this as a learning experience. Teach your children how to survive off the land, take care of something, and do something good for their mental and physical health all at the same time.

Gardens can help you to teach fractions, photosynthesis, and many “life lessons” that they will need in the future. Even better, an herb or vegetable garden can lead to cooking healthy meals together where you can teach about nutrition.

Explore A New Culture

As your child gets older, becoming a global citizen is going to be important. If you have more time to spend together as a family, consider making an entire day or weekend of exploring a specific culture. You can watch documentaries, go to museums, eat meals, listen to music, and just explore cultures that maybe they haven’t been exposed to before. This is a great way to teach your children about people who don’t look like them or sound like them. Even better, there is probably a ton of information that you will learn too.

Make Artwork

Art is a great way to do something individually while still coming together. Collect different arts and crafts supplies and then have a day where everyone just makes something new and interesting. Maybe someone will use watercolors while another person makes a collage. Someone may go outside and color with chalk while another person uses only a pencil to make a sketch.

When everyone is done, come together and explain your artwork. Maybe even make a display area!

MindFinity Provides Projects The Whole Family Will Love

Our award-winning program helps your children expand their brains and learn polymath thinking skills while dancing, singing, doing martial arts, and moving around! 

You get a new game for each day of the week, which takes just a few minutes a day. And you can expand on the games and have your child put their imagination to use and expand other projects that they are already doing. You’ll get some fun ideas as well!

Interested in learning more? To learn more about MindFinity and sign up for a free trial, click here.

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Parenting Schooling

So Your Kid Is An Kinesthetic Learner – Now What?

If your child is a kinesthetic learner, they have a few things going for them and a few things that you need to be on the lookout for, especially in schools. Kinesthetic learners are the types of people who learn by getting up and doing things instead of sitting there and hearing about doing them. Often, they are the kids who succeed in science or math because it involves movement. They may struggle with more introverted subjects like English or history.

MindFinity helps you to teach your children and increase their Inventive IQs through various activities that strengthen all of their learning styles. Our games will have your children learning while dancing, singing, cooking, and more. They only take a few minutes every day, but they will quickly become your favorite time with your kids. To learn more, click here.

What Is Kinesthetic Learning?

Kinesthetic learners are the types of kids who move around a lot, and they do better when they are active. Whether they remember things better when singing a song that has movements, or they are gifted in some type of movement, they will always remember things better when they can use their bodies as well as their minds.

How Do I Know If My Child Is A Kinesthetic Learner?

 Children who are kinesthetic learners aren’t just the kids who can’t sit still, and kids who can’t sit still aren’t always kinesthetic learners. To spot a kinesthetic learner, look for these signs:

  • Your child excels in sports or physical activities
  • They move their hands or bodies when working on a problem
  • Your kid has a good sense of body awareness
  • Kinesthetic learners often grow bored of assignments quickly
  • They don’t like “step by step” projects

There are some negatives to having a kinesthetic learner as a child as well. Some of these signs include a general disinterest in things like reading or studying. These learners are easily distracted by what is going on around them, if only because it allows them to move their heads. 

How Can I Use This Information To Help My Child Succeed?

Kinesthetic learners are some of the most easily spotted learners in a class, but they are also some of the most underserved students. With class sizes swelling to 30+ in almost every public school, teachers can’t incorporate learning into their lesson plans. There simply isn’t enough room! Unfortunately, kinesthetic learners also tend to be very bad at auditory learning, which is what the modern school system uses the most often.

To help your child succeed, you need to figure out a way to get them moving. This could be by using manipulatives while doing something like math or science, building out labs or projects that require them to physically move around. For English class, buying an audiobook and having them walk on the treadmill while listening can be helpful. 

With younger children it is a bit harder, but if you can find dances, plays, or activities that require them to at least stand, which can be helpful.

Consider the environment as well. Kinesthetic learners benefit from standing desks, peddlers, yoga balls, and even fidget toys. Teach your child how to calm themselves down when they get the urge to move around the room. If you can control the classroom or the schedule, make sure your child has breaks to get in movement. If you don’t, talk to the teacher to see if he or she can schedule some movement. Teachers often need a student to run errands for them, and kinesthetic learners are great for that.

MindFinity Helps Kids Learn Through Play

Our award-winning program helps your children expand their brains and learn polymath thinking skills while dancing, playing music, doing martial arts, and moving around! You get a new game each weekday, which takes about five minutes a day. And you can expand on the games and have your child put their imagination to use. For auditory learners, many of the basic skills are taught through music and patterns, which they then learn to transfer into visual and kinesthetic disciplines, helping them to develop the skills that they need to thrive.

Interested in learning more? To learn more about MindFinity and sign up for a free trial, click here.

Categories
Parenting Schooling

What Is Meaningful Learning In Today’s School System?

Meaningful learning is a bit of a buzz word these days, and there are some pretty clear reasons why. In a world where children are leaving school not prepared for life, it has become clear that we need to get better at teaching kids.

Meaningful learning is a way to solve that problem, at least in part.

One of the basic foundations of meaningful learning is pattern recognition. Without it, children will struggle to see the connections between their material. MindFinity can help to teach your child how to recognize patterns in the world around them, including in real-life situations. For more information on MindFinity, please click here. 

What Is Meaningful Learning?

Meaningful learning takes what children have already learned and allows them to apply it to new situations. It helps them to understand how all of the pieces of a concept fit together and make a whole. This is the type of learning that helps children once they become adults.

Mindful learning isn’t sitting there, getting lectured at. It is playing, moving, active learning that is constructive and allows children to be fully engaged in their lessons. 

What Are The Goals Of Meaningful Learning?

Meaningful learning has two major goals and many, many small goals depending on the lesson. These two main goals are:

  1. Retention – students need to be able to remember the material at a later date.
  2. Transfer – students need to be able to use the knowledge that they’ve already learned to solve new problems.

This is different from the type of learning most students are exposed to now, which is basically “remember this until the test and then forget it,” except in rare instances.

Pros and Cons Of Meaningful Learning

Like any type of schooling or learning, there are some distinct advantages and disadvantages of meaningful learning. Meaningful learning helps to foster learning in kids of all levels by:

  • Encouraging them to be an active part of their schooling process;
  • Enabling them to understand a topic, not just remember test answers;
  • Connecting the dots between previous topics and new information;
  • Focusing on how the world fits together with pattern recognition and cause and effect.

Of course, there are some disadvantages to be aware of as well:

  • Children are often hesitant to change to this type of learning;
  • Teachers need to tailor their lessons to different types of learners;
  • It can take a while to achieve meaningful instruction

It helps to start your child with meaningful learning at a young age. This will give them more of a foundation to build upon. It isn’t impossible with older learners, but it is a more difficult transition to make.

Can Meaningful Learning Serve All Children?

It can be very difficult to serve every single child in a classroom with every lesson, but this is something we have to try to do. Meaningful learning isn’t necessarily a way to structure a lesson, but rather an end goal of that lesson. It can be tailored to fit many different learning styles. The execution can look like a lecture with a slideshow presentation or it can look like an educational video game. 

What you need to pay attention to is whether or not the topics your child learns build on each other or they can simply forget what they learned and move onto the next topic.

Interested In Learning More About MindFinity?

Join Mindfinity today, and see how playing daily games will transform your child’s mind into that of a multi-talented polymath thinker. Your membership includes unlimited access to the videos from Opher’s Toronto Parent Workshop where he teaches you the award-winning methodology, new games to play with your child released over time in the Games of Genius Program, live online events, (membership to the private MindFinity Member Community on Facebook where you can share ideas, get help from certified trainers, and get inspiration from other super parents like you, and new levels of the MindFinity program as they come out.