ing TV interferes with that face-to-face interaction,” says Aamodt. Teach a second language. Bilingual children consistently outper- form single-language speakers in tests of executive brain function (a measure of organizational and planning skills) and tend to be better at making choic- es and understanding other people’s perspectives, Aamodt says. “The very first act of speech for a bilingual per- son is picking which language to use, and you do that based on your under- standing of the other person’s perspec- tive.” Aamodt recommends exposing youngsters to a second language in infancy—if possible, just by speaking to them in a different language—and exploring more formal instruction before the age of 8. Foster self-control. “Ultimately, parents can make the biggest differ- ence in their child’s adult quality of life by promoting self-control,” Aamodt says. Recent research pub- lished in the journal Science and elsewhere suggests that children with greater self-control (meaning they can resist temptation, stay on task and control their own behavior) achieve greater success in school, the workplace and their personal lives. “Preschool children’s ability to resist temptation is a much better predic- tor of academic success than their IQ scores,” Aamodt notes.
She recommends engaging and progressively more challenging tasks. “You want to stretch the child just a little; get them to do something a little bit hard, but that they can succeed at if they concentrate.”
Encourage study breaks. “Some very old science tells us that to learn effectively, you need to take breaks and allow your brain to consolidate what you have already learned before you go back and try to learn some more,” says Aamodt. “If you study a total of an hour, you will learn twice as much if you break it up into two 30-minute spans.”
Hooray for recess.
Lisa Marshall is a freelance health writer headquartered near Boulder, CO. Connect at
Lisa@LisaAnnMarshall.com.
natural awakenings February 2012 43
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