Brain training is no longer only assisting the baby boomers or the elderly in their battle against aging and memory loss. There is significant research showing that brain training and fitness have significant and positive effects on children. In fact, manufacturers are creating games for children aged four until seven years old.
Brain training has originally been used as cognitive therapy for adults and children who have dyslexia. There are also studies showing that brain training could help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, in terms of increasing focus and memory retention.
Children have demonstrated that they are quick learners. In Jean Piaget’s theory on children’s cognitive development, there are four stages of cognitive growth among children: the sensorimotor stage (during infancy), pre-operational stage (toddler and early childhood), concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence) and formal operational stage (adolescence until adulthood).
In these four stages, infants intellectually learn based on their physical development. Toddlers show maturation in using language and at the same time, in their memory. Although, it would mean that their way of thinking is done in a non-logical manner. While during the concrete operational stage, children would be manipulating symbols in logical thought. On their formal operational stage, intelligence is related to abstract concepts.
By understanding the stages of cognitive development on children, parents would be able to introduce children into exercises that will develop their cognitive skills. Brain training helps children in organizing logical thought, reasoning, and even executing functions.
According to psychologist Keith Gibson, Ph.D., helping children develop their cognitive skills even before going to school would help them achieve academic success. In fact, it is important to stimulate the brain since birth. According to Dr. Gibson, it is more essential to teach children processing skills like sound analysis to help them visualize and create auditory associations.
Brain training is significantly different from tutoring. Tutoring children would only help them in reaching specific targets in their academics, while cognitive skills are not fully maximized and developed. Luckily, there are a lot of brain training stimuli that are games, which children love to interact with.
Parents who have chosen brain training to complement their children’s education and develop their skills are getting positive feedback. Children experienced:
- Greater concentration
- Better skills in analyzing and solving problems
- Getting better grades
- Quicker response to different situations
- Improved self-confidence and self-esteem
Improved confidence and self-esteem could help children interact with their peers efficiently. Aside from that, they also proved to show better hand-and-eye coordination, which would help them increase their physical mobility whether in sports or other physical activities.
Brain training is a great family activity. Not only would it help the children, but it could also help the parents. Children could get positive reinforcement from their parents for successful training and its effects on their academics. Parents, meanwhile, could also maximize brain training to reduce aging effects, maximize its benefits and also improve their mental health.
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