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Inside the first grader's brain
What insights can neuroscience offer parents about the mind of a first grader?
By Hank Pellissier
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The sensory lobes that recognize and analyze challenges are maturing at a rapid rate in the six-year-old's brain. In other words, the first grade brain has stunning plastic capability that should never be underestimated. Your first-grader will do best with a sensitive, yet demanding teacher who insists on quality work. According to professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine Daniel Siegel, teachers’ expectations of students’ abilities have a huge effect on student learning. In one study, teachers were mistakenly told that some of their students who had been previously identified as learning disabled were in fact gifted. After the teachers raised expectations, the students performed up to expectations.
Photo credit: Neighborhood Centers
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