The Post About Brains

    
This post is about brains.

I guess I should clarify. More specifically, it's about brain development. Brain development and all its little nuances is so intriguing to me. As I've begun working again (post on that forthcoming this week) the students I am working with in the Autism program have brought this fascination back to the forefront of my mind, probably because of the more obvious and puzzling differences in brain development that I am faced with on a now daily basis.

Children fascinate me. Maybe this is why I'm a teacher by trade. Discovering the learning styles that hinge on differences in brain dominance is like a puzzle, and I love puzzles. My own children, of course, are no exception to this brain development fascination. As my boys have grown, their personalities have naturally revealed themselves, but their learning styles and brain dominance have also begun to emerge. It's fun to see how they play out in everyday situations.

The other day in the bathtub, I got out a tub of foam animals for the boys to play with. They immediately began sticking the animals to the bathtub walls, but each arranged theirs in a completely different way. Kayden lumped his all together in a pyramid of sorts. There was really no rhyme or reason to how they were arranged. As he picked each up and played with it, he just slapped them on up there on the wall. See for yourself:

Cam, on the other hand, had a very different system in mind. He was meticulous about placing each of his animals, one by one, into neat rows:

Am I the only one who thinks this is really cool?? Don't answer that. Seriously though, to get glimpses of how their little brains are working while they are still so young is just really neat to me. And it gives me insight into how I can raise them up as they learn and grow so that it speaks to their individual learning styles and brain dominance. I think this is really exciting! And maybe I'm kidding myself, but I'm betting maybe just a couple of you do too. So...I'm planning on coming up with a couple more posts on how I/we can cater to our individual children's learning styles as we raise them and teach them. Look for those in the next week or two.

I'm off to gather up my children from a gardening adventure out in the yard with their grandparents. Check back tomorrow for "Not Me!" Monday. As usual, its got a couple doozies!