Right brain: how does it affect your life

Last week we talked about LEFT BRAINS, this week we focus on the right brains.

Right brainers are the brainstormers, the idea guys of the world. They are creative, but you knew that already, and they think outside of the box. They don't let rules get in their way of being creative.

They love challenges. They want to be challenged and use those creative juices to come up with a plan. But they bore easily. As soon as something becomes predictable or if they've mastered something, they lose interest when the challenge has been conquered.
This make them prone to having many unfinished projects, even those they like and enjoy. They will start out with gusto and steamroller into a new project or idea, but they start losing interest along the way and sometimes never finish.

Right brain children need a lot of encouragement to finish what they started. Read through the whole book, finish the project, finish assignments soon (discourage procrastination...), and finish an activity. It happens very easily for them to start with tennis and two weeks later refuse to go to lessons. The have to finish the year or season with sports and arts that they started to understand what it means to push through to the finish, even when it's not fun.

Right brain children don't enjoy school. School is full of structure and routine and they hate that. They want freedom, friends and challenges. They like school for their friends, sports and activities, not the learning. They do like subjects like art and music where they can put that right brain to good use and they will enjoy certain subjects that interest them, where they can learn something exciting.
But for the most part they are not excited about school

When right brainers stress, their left brains are compromised, which explains why they can perform up to 25% under their true potential due to stress in exams. They frequently have "blanks" in exams, seeing the typography of exact page with the information they need (where the headers, content and pictures are), but unable to recall any words or actual information.

In an ideal world the right brainers would come up with exciting ideas and start off projects and then hand them over to the left brainers who are great at structuring things, making it work and finishing projects.

I remind you that this is just a taste of what a Genetic Brain Profile will tell you. Even if you know all of your dominant modalities, it's the interaction between them that makes things interesting. And don't think that an online left vs right brain test will be accurate - for some it is, others will get mixed results depending on the test they take.

I will gladly answer any questions you have and if you are curious about your Genetic Brain Profile, give me a shout out and I will happily assess yours (and/or your children's).

If you've missed my previous posts on the left handed and right handed traits, be sure to visit those posts for more insightful information!

Left brain: how does it affect your life?

The Genetic Brain Profile consists of testing a few dominant body parts or modalities, the centre of which is the brain hemisphere. We all know about left brain versus right brain, but the Genetic Brain Profile goes much deeper than that.
Any combination of dominant modalities are possible, so don't think if you are right handed your are necessarily right footed as well. And remember: you need both sides of your brain to function, you won't just use one side - one side is just more dominant than the other.

Let's look at the left brain today.

Left brainers are the organised, logical bunch in our society. They like structure and routine and they find comfort in knowing exactly what the day will bring. Actually when things are unpredictable or if they are uncertain of something, they feel insecure and stressed.

Left brain children are notorious for asking the same questions over and over.
"Mom, what time is dinner?"
"Mom, what are we having for dinner?"
"Mom, what time will you pick me up from school?"
"Dad, what time will you be home?"
"Who will be at the party?"
These can drive a parent nuts, especially when the same question is repeated multiple times. "I already told you!"
It's vital to understand that these kids don't ask just to bug you. They actually want to know that the status quo hasn't changed in the mean time. They don't want to be surprised, they want to be prepared.

This is true of adults as well, although they don't ask so many questions. They still want to know what will happen, where, when, how and who is involved. Knowing gives them a sense of security.

Left brainers are not keen on change. If the plans have changed and they weren't notified, they become upset and confused. They prefer to know about a change (meeting schedule, moving house, new school, etc.) in advance so they can prepare for that change and get used to the idea before it happens. The bigger the change, the more advance warning they need.

When left brainers stress their right brains aren't working so well, which explains why left brain kids have trouble with writing essays or answer essay questions, especially under pressure. They don't usually have trouble recalling information, but they may struggle to implement it creatively.

This is just a taste of what a Genetic Brain Profile will tell you. Even if you know all of your dominant modalities, it's the interaction between them that makes things interesting. And don't think that an online left vs right brain test will be accurate - for some it is, others will get mixed results depending on the test they take.

I will gladly answer any questions you have and if you are curious about your Genetic Brain Profile, give me a shout out and I will happily assess yours (and/or your children's).

If you've missed my previous posts on the left handed and right handed traits, be sure to visit those posts for more insightful information!
UPDATE: Here is the link to the RIGHT BRAIN as well.

What does being left handed say about you?

Missed my post on being right handed? Check it out!

Approximately 10% of people are left handed, which means that they prefer to do tasks with the left hand, like writing, drawing, eating, gesturing, etc. This dominance says more about you than just which hand you prefer to hold your pen.

Left handed people do tasks in a very unpredictable way. They don't stick to the norm. This is why we call the left hand the adaptable hand. The left hand is controlled by the right brain and is therefore creative in tasks.

It is not uncommon for left handed children to write in mirror when they first go to school. They might also start writing in the middle of the page and is often confused as to why they should start in the left hand corner.

Left handed people do things the way that feels right in the moment. They will probably do it differently next time.

They are also known as natural communicators - they talk before they think. The average left hander loves to talk and will talk about anything to anyone who's willing to listen.
Have you noticed how many left handed actors there are on television? They love to talk and now they're being paid to do just that!

Left handed people usually struggle with hand technique. They have trouble holding pens, scissors, tennis rackets, just about any tool. This doesn't mean that they can't do it, they just need a little more persistence until they get it.
Many people will argue that this is because tools are made for right handed people and that's a fair point. People don't generally think that it will be different for a left handed person to hold a pair of scissors, but scissors are really designed for a dominant hand. Thankfully many tools, especially school equipment, are now made for left handers as well, so don't let your child struggle with right handed scissors, go buy the leftie scissors and help them out!
Check out www.writeleft.co.za (This is not an affiliate link)

I trust that you know this, but just in case there's someone out there who doesn't, don't ever try to force your left handed child (or student) to be right handed. It's not fair and it will give the message that the child is not good enough just the way he/she is. Just because they are the minority doesn't make it wrong.

See you next week for the left brain! (It's much more interesting than the hands, so don't miss out!)

UPDATE: Here are the links to the LEFT BRAIN and the RIGHT BRAIN as well.

In the News: The Importance of Class Placement

This week I have been quoted in the Bloemfontein Courant about where children should sit in class. Since schools reopened yesterday for the new year, this is some food for thought for all our parents and teachers.

You can read the online version HERE on Bloemfontein Courant's Website.


Here is the translation:

Important where child sits in class

by Mark Steenbok

With the schools reopening on Wednesday it may be a good idea to review some factors that influence learning, like where your child sits in class.

This is according to Luise Spangenberg of Edu-Profile. She assesses children and adults through genetic brain profiling. Spangenberg says that where your child sits in class can play a big roll in their academic performance.
"I had a grade one student whose teacher was convinced he had ADD (attention deficit disorder) and needed medication. After the consultation I advised that he be moved to a different place in class, since there was no indications in his profile of ADD or ADHD. A week later the teacher apologised to the mother and reported that the child showed no symptoms of ADD anymore and was a bright student."

According to Luise children should sit with their dominant ear facing the teacher so that they can physically hear better and pay better attention. They should sit where there is fewest distractions.
She also says that children who move more by nature doesn't necessarily have ADHD and they should sit at the back of the class where they won't distract other students.

"It is also of value for these children to sit on a Pilates ball, rather than a chair. Parents can enforce this at home during homework and study times, since schools generally doesn't allow this. In class they can play with a stress ball or small item. This will help them pay better attention," says Spangenberg.

Don't let your child blindly choose a chair this year. Choose right and prepare for a good academic year.

The Importance of Class Placement

We all know that feeling: Standing in line of our classroom for the very first day, wondering where we’ll sit, if we’ll like the teacher and the subject. Either the teacher will let everyone choose their own seats or assign them based on some kind of order (alphabetically, academic performance) and of course move the kids that cause problems of some kind.

In a perfect world I would want to show each and every teacher where to place each child in their classrooms. Why? Because it has a greater impact on learning than you think.

Each person has a dominant ear and a dominant eye. This means that you see and hear better with a specific eye and ear and you process the information differently depending on the dominant side. As a general rule a child should sit with his dominant ear faced towards the teacher, therefore if your child is left ear dominant, he should sit on the right side of the classroom.

But why is this important? After all, you have been sitting in different places in classroom all your life and you’ve always been able to hear, right? Yes, you can hear no matter where you sit, but you will hear better when your dominant ear faces the speaker. You will also be less distracted because you won’t have to unconsciously turn your head to hear better.

As soon as a child has to turn his head to hear and process information better, he notices other things like classmates chit-chatting, someone’s hair that’s out of place, mismatched socks, and more. This can be so distracting that the child misses most of the lesson as he day dreams.

What’s more is that “problem children” are usually placed in front “where I can keep an eye on you”! These are usually children that need to move a lot in order to keep their brains from going into “sleep mode” (see my post on stress for more information on this). Now they have to sit in front where they will distract all the other kids when they move and what’s worse is that they are permanently in the spotlight: “Sit still! Be quiet! Leave him alone! Focus! Look at me! Stop that! What did I just say?”
This makes the child believe that he is naughty and therefore he will act naughty because it is expected of him.

A better way to manage this is to place the antsy children at the back of the class where they can move without disturbing the other kids. They only need some guidance as to how to move without disrupting the class (jumping up and running is out of the question, but squeezing a stress ball and/or sitting on a pilates ball is quiet, inconspicuous and keep that little brain alert).

Similarly children who are left eye dominant are prone to daydreaming and if they sit too far back, there is a whole host of things that could distract them. They should not sit farther back than the middle of the classroom.

So is this really an issue? Does it really make a noticeable difference?

Yes, it does!

I had a mother who brought her first grader to me because his teacher was insisting that he had ADD and needed medication. The mother was heartbroken and not wanting to just go to the doctor for a prescription, she came to me instead. Nothing in the child’s profile pointed to ADD, although he was left eye dominant and therefore prone to daydreaming.

I recommended he be moved to a different place in the classroom and the teacher refused as she had gone through a lot of trouble arranging her students. A month later the teacher gave in and moved the child. A week later the mother received a phone call from the teacher who apologised for jumping to conclusions - since he was moved to the correct spot in class he has been paying attention, completing tasks and the teacher could no longer see any symptoms of ADD.

It is amazing that something as small as where you sit in the classroom can make such a marked difference.

Do something different this year and have your child sit in the correct place in class and see for yourself if it makes a difference.
I will gladly assess your child and recommend the optimal position for him/her in a classroom.

Feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Changing Educational Paradigms

I've discovered this interesting video on changing education paradigms. It's a visualization by RSA Animate of a speech by Sir Ken Robinson. It is an eye opener on current school systems, ADHD and individual learners. It is definitely worth watching the full 12 min.

However, if you don't want to watch the whole video, I have also found a short clip from this video depicting ADHD. This is a must see. 

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!