Brainstorming for Children Article Featured in KidsDadsMoms Magazine

Did anyone ever teach you 'HOW' to learn rather than 'WHAT' to learn? What about your children in school? Are they being given tools to help them learn, understand, remember, and do better on tests?

Most of the school curriculum is filled with what we are all supposed to learn not how to learn efficiently. There are tools you can use to help your children learn easier and better, and as a result get better grades on tests.

I'd like to show you one of these tools: mind maps.

Mind Mapping is a drawing or diagram organizing the key ideas of a subject. The key words or ideas are connected in the diagram just the way our brain needs to store them. When a child draws a diagram of the ideas they need to learn, they are helping their brain to sort out and associate the most important parts of the subject.

As an example: Here is a topic that could have come from a 7th or 8th grade text book, but the method applies to any subject and grade once the child is able to read and write. This example came from Wikipedia but would apply to any text book or anything else a student might have to read, remember and pass a test.

"Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947) was the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. He was a prolific inventor and was awarded 161 U.S. patents. As owner of the Ford Motor Company he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with "Fordism", that is, the mass production of large numbers of inexpensive automobiles using the assembly line, coupled with high wages for his workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace. Ford did not believe in accountants; he amassed one of the world's largest fortunes without ever having his company audited under his administration. Henry Ford's intense commitment to lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put a dealership in every city in North America, and in major cities on six continents. Ford left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation but arranged for his family to control the company permanently."

Brainstorming for children and drawing mind maps at the level your children will understand can be part of any homework project.

If your child reads the paragraph, decides what are the important keywords or phrases, draws pictures and organizes the words in a mind map diagram, he or she will remember them better than using any other study method. Reading the same paragraph over and over is not as good. Hearing someone else read it isnʼt as good.

The supplies needed are only unlined paper and colored markers, pens, or pencils. It is good to use as many colors as possible because colors help the brain visualize. Turn the paper horizontally. Write the topic at the center. Use quick drawings or cut out pictures or just the key words. It must be the child who does the diagram; if you do it for them it doesnʼt have the same effect. It is the process of choosing what single words or very short phrases tell the story and the physical element of drawing it, that helps the child internalize and remember.

Our brain has to find a way to associate each new piece of information to something it has already stored. Our brain also uses the associations to recall what information it saved. The mind map drawing organizes the subject and uses only the most essential information in order to help the brain do its job.

The next day when your child has to take a test or respond in class, he or she will be able to picture the mind map they drew and more easily answer the questions.

Our contributing author, Hazel Wagner, is a PhD, MBA, CMC, Speaker, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Brain Facilitator and author of Author of Power Brainstorming: Great Ideas at Lightning Speed.

Starting from a strong academic background with a PhD, MA and BA in Mathematics, Hazel has spent 15 years in the computer industry, broadened her experience through over 14 years as a consultant in management and marketing to companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies.

She is qualified with an MBA in International Marketing and Finance, and has taught in MBA programs for the Kellogg Graduation School of Management, DePaul Graduate Shool of Business, and Cardean.

As a public speaker, she has accrediations from the American Management Association, the National Speaker Association, and American Marketing Association, and she has been a keynote speaker for various sales meetings, workshops and seminars for worldwide companies.

In Power Brainstorming, Hazel brings her considerable background and experience to the table to demystify the brainstorming process by showing how it works with the results of her own research and with support from some of the best minds on the subject.