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50 STYLE | education<br />
available brain research. He thinks no child<br />
should start school before six years old<br />
because brain research shows most are not<br />
ready to learn before then. He often cites<br />
the world-class Finnish education system,<br />
which starts children at school at aged six,<br />
gets them emotionally ready for a year,<br />
then begins intensive teaching from seven.<br />
That, he believes, is bang on. He believes<br />
the single most important thing for a young<br />
school child is their disposition to learning,<br />
that is, the way he or she feels about<br />
themselves. This is far more important than<br />
how adept they are at reading or writing or<br />
reciting the theory of evolution. He says if<br />
a five-year-old (who’s not ready to learn)<br />
finds themselves struggling with reading<br />
and writing, it can make them think they’re<br />
“stupid” and that is something they carry<br />
right through schooling. It is very important,<br />
he says, to encourage them away from<br />
this notion.<br />
Nathan Wallis has a lot to say on the<br />
teenage brain, too. He says it’s good for<br />
parents and teachers to remember they’re<br />
not dealing with a rational logical teenager<br />
working in their frontal cortex. No,<br />
teenagers spend most of their time working<br />
in the limbic system – the emotional<br />
and sexual part of the brain. And to deal<br />
with them on any topic, whether it be<br />
educational or emotional stuff, you have to<br />
talk to that part of the brain.<br />
As a mother of three children under<br />
seven, I found his talks insightful and helpful.<br />
We parents are always wondering if we are<br />
doing things correctly and half the time we<br />
don’t know if we are or not. Sometimes<br />
we do, sometimes we don’t, but Nathan<br />
Wallis’s findings and teachings are a good<br />
reminder to remember we are not dealing<br />
with like-minded humans. We are dealing<br />
with toddler and then teenage brains that<br />
work very differently to our own. The<br />
more we connect with that notion, the<br />
easier it is to communicate with our<br />
children, then the better behaved they are<br />
and the happier and more well-adjusted<br />
adults they become.<br />
The sweaty, uncomfortable parents filed<br />
out of the school hall after each talk about<br />
9pm. But they were buzzing. Armed with<br />
new tactics and information to help them<br />
become the thing they most want to be<br />
good at: being mums and dads and having<br />
great relationships with their kids.<br />
He often cites<br />
the world-class<br />
Finnish education<br />
system, which starts<br />
children at school<br />
at aged six, gets<br />
them emotionally<br />
ready for a year,<br />
then begins intensive<br />
teaching from seven.<br />
That, he believes, is<br />
bang on.<br />
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