Studio of Leah Brammer: 01/01/2012

Friday, January 6, 2012

Re-solutions

It's interesting in the "New Year" that most people decide to really do what they meant to do before. So, it is not really something "new", but rather a renewed effort to do what one already "knows" is the best thing to do.

Dr. Suzuki often talks about knowledge and action in his writings. He says:
           "Knowledge plus 10,000 times equals ability."

In this way, the action is the resolution:
         "The habit of action - this, I think is the most important thing we must acquire. Life's     success or failure actually depends on this one thing. So what should we do? We should get so that it is second nature to put our thoughts into action."

In Nurtured by Love he states his own resolution from around the end of World War II:
          "I shall acquire the habit of doing the things I have in mind to do."

All the best for the New Year!
Leah Brammer

Core Education Principles

1. Life Ability
Core Education develops life ability- the ability to live life optimally.

2. Natural Learning
Core Education utilizes and preserves natural learning, which is direct learning from the environment.

3. Whole Learning
Children learn through absorption of the total environment rather than part by part. This is sometimes called ”right-brain learning” Whole learning is a better way to describe this absorption as it involves both the right brain (learning through the senses/intuition and left brain (analytical) types of learning working together.

4. Ability Development
Pattern recognition and the forming of relationships between these patterns can be developed through repetition for optimum learning. This then includes physical ability, mental/memory, emotional balance and spiritual development as well. This is the balancing concept of whole learning and involves understanding of learning in relationship to sequencing and the development of ability through the acquisition of foundation skills

5. Integral Learning
Core learning involves recognition and support for the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of development in combination with mental/cognitive learning to form life abilities.

6. The core focus principle of nurturing:
This principle is that the most fundamental aspect in a child’s learning must always be addressed rather than focusing on the content of what is being learned. It is finding the core aspect of the process that will produce the easiest and quickest way to learn. It is closely connected to Ability Development.

7. Positive affirmation
Core education involves affirmation as a critical component of feedback for the child. Using verbal acknowledgment of that which is correct will accelerate learning. It is not a judgment such as good or bad, but is a positive statement of fact to the child about how they are learning.

Through understanding and applying these principles teachers and parents can recreate the concept of education from the learning of facts to the development of ability.