A Mind At A Time

I had a nice trip to Nashvegas last week. Recorded a new song, played a few shows, did a few interviews and had a chance to relax and visit friends. All these things are nice but not quite as enjoyable when you are missing your other half. So it was nice to get home to be with Sherri and play with my adorable little son.

While I was staying at my manager’s house I found an excellent book. His house is a great place for finding books, especially if you are a fan of G.K. Chesterton. I think he owns all of his books. I found a book titled A Mind At A Time written by Mel Levine. This book is written for educators and parents and deals with how the mind works and develops in children. Its focus is children but when I read it I can’t help but apply it to my own life. I’m learning a lot about how my brain operates from a scientific point of view.

I really appreciate how the author views people. He doesn’t view one person as slow or challenged and another as smart, he seems to see the whole picture of who that person is and who they could become. For instance, the way our current school system is set up works great for some kids and is disastrous for others. The kids who excel in that system come out with confidence and a great education. The kids who aren’t wired for the standard school system leave often feeling like a failure with little self-esteem and no real career skills. Since each person is so different we need to teach them according to how they learn best and help them improve the areas of their brain/learning they have difficulty with.

Some favorite quotes so far.

“… the very same kids who suffer lack of attention control are often remarkable people in their own right, displaying refreshingly unorthodox pathways of thought. … This is one reason I resist applying the stigmatizing letters ADD or ADHD. There’s more that’s right than wrong with most of these kids.”

“When they[kids] sense that we’re on their side and not accusing them of being bad or lazy, they often rise to the occasion and show steady improvement. Teachers, therefore, need to form strong alliances with these children rather than adversarial relationships. The same can be said for parents.”

Here’s Dr. Levine’s web site. http://www.allkindsofminds.org/index.aspx

I’m sure I’ll be back with more on this one seeing as I’m just one quarter through the book.

GL