Success With Languages» information

Love Of Order: Twofold Senses For Growth

Hanifa K. Cook — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:00:52 +0000

To tell you the truth, it took hours to write this post. I finally dug into my essays and started to find some perspective to get writing.

The child learns by using information that he absorbs from his environment. This is a process called absorption of images and impressions. This absorption of information makes up the data of information about his world.

He learns to understand relationships. He learns words give meaning to relationships, objects, emotions, people and places. He also learns about the use of his body. That if he places one foot in front of another, he can walk away from a standing position to another point.

As he works to grow, he follows his own natural laws of development. He is not hurried and does not like being hurried. What is the inner voice that teaches to the child to make sense of how to grow and learn? And how does he come to know how to use all the images and impressions about his world?

Internal Order

A child is given two mugs, one filled with sweet lemonade and the other plain water. The child is asked to take a drink from both mugs. The child learns by drinking the water, he discovers that objects which look the same have different information stored in them. He learns about contrast.

When the child understands the difference in this contrast, he also learns to use the knowledge to make a choice between having a drink of lemonade or plain water the next time he is offered both. The proces of deciding which mug to drink from prepares him for growth and development from within. There are other situations which require him to make a choice. He might choose to crawl and not to walk; he may choose to be carried and sleep on mum’s shoulder rather than his bed.

His response is spontaneous, intuitive and highly accurate. He creates an internal order based on contrast, content of the information and experience. A child have yet to understand contrast: good versus bad, love versus hate, life versus death so they have no need to analyse anymore than the information that comes to them. Simple isn’t it? They abide by the natural laws of development. No more no less, just what is needed for them to grow. This what is known as the internal sense of order. It gives him self-awareness of his body parts and relative positions, called inner orientations.

External sense of order

The child also has an external sense of order which which pertains to his perception of his relationship with is environment. Montessori saw that children were capable of following the examples demonstrated by their teachers when putting toys back to the shelves after playing. Familiarity to the routine set by the teacher – distributing materials at the beginning and collecting materials at the end of the lessons – stimulated their intelligence on how to execute the same pattern i.e. they themsleves wanted to put the materials back to the shelves.

Back at home before a child even goes to school, he is able to internalise information so well that when he utters his first words “Mummy”, the whole family claps. He knows that the word mummy is related to the one lady who has been nursing him day and night. He is empowered to speak without attending school.

What separates the child’s way of learning from that of the adult is that he has “need of precise and determined guide and not simple vague construction formulae” because his intelligence progresses with the incarnations of his impressions. To us it might mean something like, “seeing is believing”. Kids do not have to see to believe; their natural love for order will send them seeking the right ways of doing and learning new skills.

Resources: The Absorbent Mind / The Secret Of Childhood

Developing Good Listening Habits Part 2

Hanifa K. Cook — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:45:23 +0000

Here are some basic ways you can achieve good listening habits:

Shut down outside stimuli by taking down notes even if you do not have to.

Look at the speaker even if you are ready to respond.

Even if you have downloaded 6 free lessons, John Reese’s or Frank Kern’s traffic videos, pen to paper, take notes.

The hands are the intelligence of the mind. (Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind.)

Play games with the words the speaker uses. Don’t we play word games with kids too?
Practise delivery of content not style. Sometimes we say someone speaks really funny, but when you start focusing on the content, you will start respecting the information contained in his speech. Accent does not make a good speaker.
Accept new information and knowledge with an open mind, as this will leverage on listening skills which you have already developed as a child or youth.

This Article is written in support of Online deaf web community

Developing Good Listening Habit Part 1

Hanifa K. Cook — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:45:01 +0000

Tinker Bell Now On DVD

Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the following questions

Have you attended a court hearing, listened to a proceeding and disagreed with the verdict?

Have you been served the wrong menu at a restaurant, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut or even taken to wrong destination on a London cab?

Have you become so furious with people who don’t seem to be listening to what you have to say?

Have you wanted to become a better listener so you can learn to speak with better diction and pronunciation?

Have you been wrongly accused?

Have you felt your subordinates or colleagues have misinterpreted your message?

Do you get distracted easily?

Do you have difficulty focusing on content rather than delivery? (content anlaysis)

Do you interrupt smartly? (in conversations)

Do you have an open mind when you first hear or listen to new information? (do not argue)

Do you have to explain yourself when you answer these questions?

If the answer to this is yes, you are NOT becoming a better listener.

So AMP Up Your Listening Ear

The ear is not developed until it is used. Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind.

Young children and teenagers do not get distracted easily, serious. They take no heed to switch from one task to another, especially whe the tasks are unrelated in terms of content. They will not read a book at the park, playground or beach.

They will not finish dinner promptly, wash the dishes and clean the table after. When eating is done, the job is done. Cleaning or washing up is not part of the process of eating.

They will use their bed as a trampoline during the day; they will USE the bed to sleep when their body is tired. (We want our beds to be made when we are not sleeping on it; our retreat.)

They will use the wall as paper for grafitti because it is afterall a flat surface, plain and ready to be worked on. They can hold a conversation smartly with an open mind, listen and process new information without ever feeling threatened or inhibited.

They have good listening skills; with immense capability to listen really well.

Tinker Bell bestseller now on DVD

Discover Your Learning Styles

Hanifa K. Cook — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:43:33 +0000

We basically receive information in 3 different ways:

Visually (impressions from the environment – pictures, actions, images from the living and non-living things)

Auditory (also impressions from the environment but without images)

Kinesthetic (movement of things in the environment)

A. Visual Learner:

You like movies, comics, theatres, diagrams and maps more than lectures and explanations. You love: flowcharts and bullet points for your reports. Animation and graphics grab you faster than lengthy documents that need reading. You respond to colour and pictures better than sounds and speech.

B. Auditory Learners

You enjoy music and talking. You are probably good listeners and able to retain verbal information easier; you like lectures and have longer attention span during operas and speeches. You love the radio and can’t do without sounds ringing in your ears. You respond well to verbal instructions because you are able to retain sound information better than visual information. You do not enjoy working with geometry, flow charts or diagrams （computer programming, architecture, designing not your cup of tea）.

C. Kinesthetic Learners

You love to move and experience. You love to travel and move about; not able to sit still for more than your patience can handle (field managers, construction workers, pre-school teachers, athletes, ballet dancers.) You like drama, acting, repeat an action to reinforce your concept or point of view.

For example, when a new word is introduced to you, the word registers better in your head if you watch the word come alive through acting or demonstration. You need someone to demonstrate to you rather than being told.

To identify your learning styles, you can try to list down things that interest you most and then work backwards. You may then identify the kind of language course or method which suits you the best.

What do you do next?

If you are visual:

- you can get the experience from interaction with the environment; visualize what the foreign words represent in real life – use language charts, drama, watch movies with foreign subtitles, go to concerts of non-native singers, watch non-native movies with native subtitles

If you are auditory:

- you will no problem to find the resources as all you need is for the sound to come to you in the form of radio, music, speeches, books, narrations, songs and stories.

If you are kinesthetic:

- find a partner to work with, travel to places where you can find locals speaking the non-native tongue you are learning, use the internet to surf for foreign speakers and start networking, exchange pictures of your travel, use picture cards, play monopoly games from different countries and languages.

Success With Languages» information

Love Of Order: Twofold Senses For Growth

Internal Order

External sense of order

Developing Good Listening Habits Part 2

Here are some basic ways you can achieve good listening habits:

Shut down outside stimuli by taking down notes even if you do not have to.

Look at the speaker even if you are ready to respond.

Even if you have downloaded 6 free lessons, John Reese’s or Frank Kern’s traffic videos, pen to paper, take notes.

Play games with the words the speaker uses. Don’t we play word games with kids too?

Practise delivery of content not style. Sometimes we say someone speaks really funny, but when you start focusing on the content, you will start respecting the information contained in his speech. Accent does not make a good speaker.