Back to school stress can be divided into two parts. The one is very much on a conscious level: the financial part. The second one is hidden ourselves. This is the worry about how our children will cope with the following year’s academic challenges, especially after a school holiday of about 6 to 7 weeks.
The advice about the first concern (financial) is this: If you get bonus in December, put the school fees for 2015 away; buy your “Back-to-school-goodies” in December, look out for early bird specials, avoid the January rush as well as possibility of school uniforms being sold out.
Addressing the second stress is FREE: (A reminder that the moment we do ANYTHING practical about a concern, we feel more in control and less stressed) To prepare your children’s brains beforehand will alleviate stress in 2015.
The first part of learning is to get information into the brain. Our senses are responsible for this and therefore we should give attention to them. If you have any suspicion that your child’s eyes or ears (main information collectors) are not what it is supposed to be, take them to an optometrist and audiologist to have it tested.
If the physiological part of the senses is intact, focus on stimulating the senses for optimal information collection. This can be done by slowly rubbing (massaging) both the ears from top to bottom. This helps because the ears act like antennas to our brain. The ear is covered with small hairs and when they stimulated it increases the sensitivity to information. This action must be done 3 times consecutively once a day for best results.
The eyes can also be stimulated. Let them put their thumb out in front of them at full forearm’s length. Now move the thumb in a big infinity symbol (see attached photo) and let the eyes move the path of the symbol WITHOUT moving the head. So only the eyes follow. Always start to go left top and end in the middle. This action also needs to be repeated three times consecutively once a day to have the expected results.
The next step in learning is to process and remember the collected information. Whole brain processing (using left and right brain) is the desired way. To enhance the brain for this we need to involve the whole right side of the body which is controlled by the left side of the brain as well as the whole left side of the body which is controlled by the right side of the brain. Play games with your kids like skipping and doing silly gymnastics which involve the whole body. Playing “conductor-conductor” where both arms conduct music is very good. Remember to include eye movements in these games.
The last step in learning is to act upon the processed information. Your hands (which include your speech ability) and your feet (which include your decision making ability) are the output factors. Massaging the hands and feet on a daily basis will benefit the learner in presenting the processed information in tests and exams. Prevention (preparation) is better than cure and in this regard will make your children’s return to school in 2015 something to look forward to.
