Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them (NYT article)
Beliavsky
some teachers and parents were doing the things discussed without
knowing any "cognitive science".
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/health/research/21brain.html
Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them
by Benedict Carey
BUFFALO — Many 4-year-olds cannot count up to their own age when they
arrive at preschool, and those at the Stanley M. Makowski Early
Childhood Center are hardly prodigies. Most live in this city’s poorer
districts and begin their academic life well behind the curve.
But there they were on a recent Wednesday morning, three months into
the school year, counting up to seven and higher, even doing some
elementary addition and subtraction. At recess, one boy, Joshua, used
a pointer to illustrate a math concept known as cardinality, by
completing place settings on a whiteboard.
“You just put one plate there, and one there, and one here,” he
explained, stepping aside as two other students ambled by, one wearing
a pair of clown pants as a headscarf. “That’s it. See?”
For much of the last century, educators and many scientists believed
that children could not learn math at all before the age of five, that
their brains simply were not ready.
But recent research has turned that assumption on its head — that, and
a host of other conventional wisdom about geometry, reading, language
and self-control in class. The findings, mostly from a branch of
research called cognitive neuroscience, are helping to clarify when
young brains are best able to grasp fundamental concepts.
In one recent study, for instance, researchers found that most
entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division, by
distributing candies among two or three play animals. In another,
scientists found that the brain’s ability to link letter combinations
with sounds may not be fully developed until age 11 — much later than
many have assumed.
The teaching of basic academic skills, until now largely the realm of
tradition and guesswork, is giving way to approaches based on
cognitive science. In several cities, including Boston, Washington and
Nashville, schools have been experimenting with new curriculums to
improve math skills in preschoolers. In others, teachers have used
techniques developed by brain scientists to help children overcome
dyslexia.
Betsy
> I think this article was interesting but a bit "gee-whiz" in tone --
> some teachers and parents were doing the things discussed without
> knowing any "cognitive science".
>
Yes, many families include counting and games as part of normal life. I
learned the basics of fractions and measures from baking with my mom,
long before these were addressed in school.
The part about children not being able to fully attach sounds to letter
combinations until age 11 was interesting. I have read a variety of
articles suggesting that reading instruction be delayed. I would not
delay it until age 10 or 11 though. While phonics skills are useful,
great phonics skills are not absolutely necessary for good reading
comprehension. I think it would be a good idea to review English
phonics at age 11 and continue to a more advanced level than most
children attain in the earlier years.
--Betsy