Variety

We can "learn"
by doing something again
and again
and again.

And is that "learning"
or training?

Sometimes,
maybe language drills,
when we are older,
and that over and over
especially if it's in a song,
or something,
maybe over and over
is necessary.

And hey,
even here:
make the words in a song,
make them combine with moving,
make them into a game,
make it the way
it was
when we learned
the first language
first time around:
make it interesting,
make it fun,
give some variety.

Hugely interesting study
in a book called Mindful Learning.
Kids who had the usual boring school,
were divided into three groups.
They were given a complicated mural to look at.
Group one: sat and looked.
Group two: sat and looked and shuffled feet.
Group three: walked at diagonals toward and away from the mural.

In this study, the group that shuffled did second best,
and the group that moved,
and had a variety of viewpoints did the best.

Here's the interesting take.
With a group of Montessori kids,
used to milling around,
the kids who sat and studied the mural
did better than the kids who milled around and studied.
So,
even though my bias
is toward always letting kids move,
this study shows:
even the milling around
can become one
more way to be a robot,
and if you break the milling around
habit
and give a new
choice:

better learning
takes
place.

So, now:
sitting at the computer.
What are our (say that aloud)
habits,
and how can we shift?

You experiment
and let me know.
I'll experiment
and write about it in a couple of
days when I rotate around back to this blog.

Keep enjoying the other two:
SlowSonoma.com
and
Tai Chi Yoga Health Weight Loss

and maybe even sneak a peek,
though the rest of the gang is
way slacking,
as ananda2007.blogspot.com"

ciao
chris