Mind Magic: One Trick for Boosting Brain Power

Have you ever wondered if there is an easy way to boost your child’s brainpower and make him or her smarter? Luckily, the research shows that one simple, practically free, activity can help your child use his or her brain more effectively. 

Most parents know that reading to children can have an important affect on how early kiddos learn to read independently and how well they perform in school. Reading to children from birth onwards has always been linked to better learning outcomes. However, current research shows how reading stimulates the brain and creates this change. MRI studies confirm that reading stimulates the brain to improve the way it creates meaning from language. Even more interesting is that these brain changes, from being read to, leads to improved reading skills and advanced language development. 

Transcript

Hello and welcome to another episode of Proactive Parenting. Remember, this is a judgement-free space to learn how to raise value-driven kids in a way that is right for your family, using the most current scientific research out there. 

I’m your host, Dr. Deanna Marie Mason. I’m a certified pediatric nurse practitioner, published author, and a professional who has devoted my career to studying and using child development to help parents manage childhood issues. 

So, grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle in to learn something new about your child because when we know better, we do better. 

Have you ever wondered if there is an easy way to boost your child’s brainpower and make him or her smarter? Luckily, the research shows that one simple, practically free, activity can help your child use his or her brain more effectively. 

Most parents know that reading to children can have an important affect on how early kiddos learn to read independently and how well they perform in school. Reading to children from birth onwards has always been linked to better learning outcomes. However, current research shows how reading stimulates the brain and creates this change. MRI studies confirm that reading stimulates the brain to improve the way it creates meaning from language. Even more interesting is that these brain changes, from being read to, leads to improved reading skills and advanced language development. 

Like most parents, you probably read picture books to infants and small children to help your child understand the progression of the story as well as improve vocabulary by linking the written word with a visual image. However, some parents don’t know that as their child matures, they can start to read chapter books with fewer, if no, illustrations. Moving from picture books to text-dominant books encourages your child’s brain to extract meaning from the words to support a mental imagery that allows the child to “see” the story in their head. Any child who had the pleasure of reading the Harry Potter series before seeing the movies will often comment on how Hermione has way less bushy hair and better teeth in the movies than was described in the books. These differences occur because the reader of text-based books makes a mental image of what they were reading. These mental pictures stay with the reader as they progress through the book and adds to their understanding and enjoyment of the text. 

Why? Because the words on the page are transformed in the mind to construct an image of the characters, the landscape, the buildings, the sounds, and everything else that is the backdrop for the actual story to occur. This mental work demands creativity to take the text description written on the book page and develop a three-dimensional set and characters in the mind’s-eye. Our minds are asked to do this over and over as new characters are introduced, new settings are described, and new events unfold. The text leaps off the page and transfigures into our own understanding as we read text-based stories. 

The interesting part of our understanding on how text based stories influences development is that reading exposure during the critical stage of development, prior to age 5, appears to show a meaningful, measurable impact on how a child’s brain processes and may help predict reading success. This means that parents who read to children from birth through, and beyond, age 5 may have a positive impact that carries on as the child continues to develop reading skills and learns to understand narratives. 

So how can you use this information to help your child? 

Well, this information can help you know more about how your parenting activities affect your child’s development. You now know that if you take time, most days of the week, to read to your child, you may directly influence your child’s brain development to improve reading skills and understand narratives. 

Your child will benefit from these efforts because he or she will enter school with this part of his or her brain stimulated and developed which means he or she will be able to focus his or her attention on other important topics. And, the brain development that he or she already has related to reading skills and understanding narratives will cross over onto many other topics to help him or her understand more about what he or she is learning, such as maths and sciences. 

Finally, reading together with your child can become a family activity. This means that you are modeling a healthy behavior, a love of reading and learning, and are creating lasting memories for your child. You can use this time to share your favorite books from childhood with your child, discover new classics together, or explore books to foster positive life skills such as sharing, tolerance, friendship, love, or adventure. 

The caveat here is that we now know from the research that electronic stimulation with video images, such as iPads, iPhones, computers, and TV, does not offer the same benefits to brain development as reading. And having applications “read” books to kids with videos does not stimulate the brain in the same way because the screen is offering images for the child to view rather than allowing the child’s mind to create an image from the words being spoken or read. Therefore, it’s still a good idea to limit screen time in lieu of reading time. 

Reading to your child from birth through school entrance, as well as advancing from picture books to books with more and more text, will help your child’s brain develop the important skill of creating meaning from language. The ability to “see” things in the mind through literary descriptions is a key ability that will crossover onto other learning. Helping your child develop this skill early in their life may impact his or her overall academic achievement. 

Topics like this are my favorite part of reading research - learning a simple thing, that’s virtually free, can help our children succeed. I hope you found this as interesting as I did and learned something new to help you guide your children with success. As always, I welcome your comments or questions about this episode. Please don’t hesitate to connect with me at deanna@proactiveparenting.com. And if you want to find out more about who I am and what I do, please take a look at my webpage, www.proactiveparenting.com. 

You can also go to Facebook and Instagram to connect with other parents just like you. Find me by searching for my name - Deanna Marie Mason. Finally, if you would like to purchase any of my books, online courses, such as Newborn Care or Breastfeeding Bootcamp, or audio courses, you can find all those resources on my webpage, again that is www.proactiveparenting.com 

Thanks so much for listening, I hope you found this episode useful and interesting. If you did, please leave a comment and tell a friend so they can become a Proactive Parent too! 

Well, that’s all from me for right now. This is Dr. Deanna Marie Mason signing off. I look forward to connecting with you again soon. Until then, take care and be well. Bye!