Teaching Children

Teaching Children

“You can’t do that, you’ll give your baby shaken baby syndrome.” My mom then went into a fifteen minutes lecture on how tossing my baby in the air was damaging my kid. Not wanting to permanently damage my kid I toned down my playing with her. My wife was extremely glad to see that her baby wasn’t flying through the air. In order to stop me completely, my wife asked the doctor if it caused shaken baby syndrome. Much to her dismay the doctor informed her that there was no reason to fear. With this great news my baby can again touch our ceiling. If you look on the internet, most sites will state that it will damage your kid. How do stories like these spread so easily while the important ones die?Chip and Dan Heath book “Made To Stick” explains how a parent can help make the important ideas stick. One of the main tasks of a parent is passing on important information that we have learned as adults. Knowing how to teach our kids will greatly help our ability to communicate effectively with our children. “Made To Stick” discusses six ideas that will make your teachings a “succes”.

Simplicity:

Make your ideas simple! That doesn’t mean that you can only teach simple concepts. It does mean that you should only teach one concept at a time. “If you say three things you say nothing at all.” Children have a great desire to learn new things. If it is muddled with several ideas then they won’t remember any of them.

Unexpectedness:

Have you ever watched a bad movie to the end just to see how it turns out? The Heath brothers explain how our brains hate the idea of a knowledge gap. This is why we watch a bad movie to the end or stay up late to see how the book ends. Creating a knowledge gap for you children will help them want to understand ideas. Try moving a piece of metal with a hidden magnet and watch as they try to figure it out.

Concreteness:

How do you make an abstract idea easy to remember? As adults we have a difficult time understanding abstract ideas, just imagine how difficult it must be for a child to understand. When we teach with something physical that we can see, feel and touch then it is easier to remember. When teaching numbers to children it is often easier to use blocks to teach them how to add or subtract.

Credibility:

How do you get your children to believe your ideas? Luckily, most children naturally believe their parents. It’s not until they reach the dreaded teens where they start to think that they know better than their parents. This is the time when it is most critical to make your ideas credible. The Heaths show that vivid detail add a level of credibility that otherwise wouldn’t endorse your story.

Emotional:

Why do a lot of mothers believe that tossing their kids in the air is going to damage their child? Is it based on facts or emotion? I’m extremely impressed how much my wife sacrifices for our child. I can understand why she is a little protective of her child. Stories that play on her emotion as a mother will stick compared to one that just give cold hard facts.

Stories:

Can any one doubt the power of a story! To this day, I love hearing stories of my dad flying helicopter missions in the navy. Some of the best children’s books use stories to portray a message. Why not use the same tactic when teach our children? We live in an informational era. The amount of information that is available to kids today is amazing and scary. Being able to instill correct ideas that will provide a guide through our kids lives is on extremely important task as a parent. That is why it is important to learn how to make ideas stick. I recommend that every one read “Made to Stick”.