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Every child is born with unlimited potential and a life full of possibility. With the right environment,
nutrition and support, you can help your children unlock their learning potential and nurture the
exceptional in them.
When we talk about learning abilities in children, it is important to understand how children learn. There
is a crucial set of mental skills which the brain uses to think, read, learn, remember and reason.
These essential skills are called executive function skills, and these enable children to pay attention,
remember and analyse information, plan and prioritise tasks, and regulate their emotions. All of these
abilities are needed for effective and exceptional learning, now and in the future.
These executive function skills are classified into three broad areas:
● Working memory
Working memory enables children to process, use, and remember information on a daily basis. In simple
terms, it is the ability to retain the information children need to complete a task.
Think of working memory as a temporary workbench in your child's brain, where thoughts, ideas, and all
the information needed to complete a related task, are placed.
Research by Psychologist Susan Gathercole
indicates that children with poor working memory
are more likely to struggle with subjects like mathematics and reading.
● Cognitive flexibility
Cognitive flexibility (or flexible thinking) is all about how adaptive your child’s brain is to the changes that
are going on around him/her. It involves the use of skills such as
changing perspective and being able to
see multiple sides of a situation. It allows shifting focus from one event or task to another and thinking
about multiple concepts, simultaneously.
Cognitive flexibility
is a skill that is used throughout everyday life and is therefore very important to be
honed in children early. Children with under-developed cognitive flexibility skills may face difficulties as
they grow as they tend to get “stuck” in one way of perceiving things. Lack of cognitive flexibility will also
result in them tending to be rigid, fearful of change and easily frustrated when faced with challenges as
adults.
● Self-control
Self-control is the ability to manage emotions and behaviour in accordance with the demands of the
situation. Children with self-control are able to calm themselves down when they get upset, adjust to a
change in the situation, as well as handle frustration without an outburst.
Impulse control, emotional control and movement control are all key components of self-control.
Research shows that children with strong self-control skills have higher academic achievement, and are
less likely to act in impulsive or aggressive ways. They are also less likely to withdraw when they are
overwhelmed. Meanwhile, they are also more likely to get along well
with others and have strong social
skills.
Each of these cognitive skills plays an important part in processing new information. So when one of these
skills is weak in your child, his/her ability to properly understand, retain and use new information may
be compromised.
For example, if your child wants to complete a puzzle, he/she will have to use self-control skills to stay
focussed, cognitive flexibility to analyse and think of different ways to solve the puzzle, and working
memory to hold the information in his/her head until the goal is achieved.
Parents have a big role to play to ensure the proper development of these skills in their children so that
learning is effective and becomes a way of life, and children grow up to be exceptional. One way
of doing
this is by nourishing their children’s cognitive abilities with good nutrition. |
