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3 Gett<strong>in</strong>g<br />
17<br />
Students<br />
Ready to Learn<br />
Educators cont<strong>in</strong>ually compla<strong>in</strong> that students<br />
are not ready to learn. They show up<br />
for school underfed or malnourished,<br />
angry or apa<strong>the</strong>tic, stressed, threatened, and sleepy.<br />
If <strong>the</strong>y have been assigned homework, it’s often<br />
not done. Naturally, this makes <strong>the</strong> roles of both<br />
teacher and learner much more difficult. It seems<br />
that schools must make a choice: leave it up to students<br />
to be ready to learn when <strong>the</strong>y walk <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
door, or become a “surrogate family,” help<strong>in</strong>g children<br />
to prepare to learn each day. This chapter<br />
considers how educators and parents can and<br />
might better manage <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>fluences that prepare<br />
children’s m<strong>in</strong>ds and bra<strong>in</strong>s for school.<br />
Are Kids Really Different Now?<br />
It’s common to hear experienced teachers talk<br />
about “how kids used to be.” But are children’s<br />
bra<strong>in</strong>s really any different today than <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
30 or 40 years ago? We don’t know for sure. No<br />
one has saved a variety of bra<strong>in</strong>s to compare, and<br />
today’s technology was unavailable back <strong>the</strong>n (see<br />
fig. 3.1).<br />
KEY CONCEPTS<br />
◗ The develop<strong>in</strong>g bra<strong>in</strong><br />
◗ Gett<strong>in</strong>g students ready<br />
for school<br />
◗ Emotional read<strong>in</strong>ess<br />
◗ Motor skill read<strong>in</strong>ess<br />
◗ The role of threat, sleep,<br />
and nutrition<br />
◗ How we can <strong>in</strong>fluence<br />
parents
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