Montessori and flashcard (right brain)

[tina]

Hi all moms,
My friend who is in HK and she told me that the principle of one Montessori school told her not to show flash cards (i.e.quick flash) to her baby.  The reason is that it will make them not concentrate/focus on other stuffs because we flash the card too fast and they will get used to this fast motion, and thus, they can't concentrate and will have short attention span.  I would like to know if any of you have heard of it!!  It's really my first time hearing it and I wonder!!   My baby is now 28-month old and I will send her to a Montessori preschool this September and I wonder if it will do anything harmful since she has been watching Tweedlewink, YBCR, Wink to chinese and signing time.

Thanks

[Maddy]

Mmm, good question Tina!

This is just like the warning that rapidly shifting images on television are bad for children - also having a negative impact on attention span. It's something mentioned on page two of our article Television - Good or Bad?
http://www.brillbaby.com/early-learning/watching-television/bad-content-unsupervised.php

YBCR and Signing Time don't actually have any rapidly shifting images. And with Little Reader, you would probably spend the majority of your time going at a slower paced, using the multisensory method.

I do both types of teaching with Little Reader; I also use Little Math, which involves flashing. But the amount of time I spend flashing lessons to Naimah is under 10 minutes per day. I just can't believe that would affect her attention span.

I think the difference is when your child is mesmerized by something on TV like a movie trailer she shouldn't be watching, you will see her face freeze and she'll go into almost a trance. It's so terrible, I will sometimes turn off the TV during adverts! (I've been letting Nim watch American Idol with me. She will dance along while they are singing, although she gets pretty bored during the talking. )

But if Nim is watching the "wawais" (butterflies) on Little Math, she will look like she is concentrating and focused, not like she is mesmerized. She has also started asking to see them several times a day.

I think the Montessori argument would hold water though if you took flash lessons to an extreme, doing several hours of them a day. Hopefully no one would do that.

[trinity papa]

So tina ... tempted to ask where your from too ..... I'm livingin HK, we trying to find classes or school for my 16m+ girl .... and other than right mind school (which is growing and becoming a trend in HK), i was hoping to do what other babies do everyday like singing, dancing story telling stuff and .... its interesting what this other schools have to say about right mind education and its flashing. ...... It reminds me about livelihood and practitionals .....

The left would say the right is not appropriate, and the right would say the middle is not advance enough and the middle says they are just right. No one endorses the other ... but will be glad to paint the cons of others, and sing the praises of their stand .... afterall its business.

So while we do do flash cards, we also do the main stream stuff ..... but i worry too much mainstream stuff may result the child wanting to play more than she wants to read .... which again is mainstream ...... they wait till they are in primary school to learn reading .......

[nhockaday]

I think the best approach is a balanced one. You want to focus on the big picture. Flash fast, but also take a multi-sensory approach. Do Montessori activities too. They are great for teaching fine motor and life skills. The goal is to get the whole brain working together harmoniously.

[trinity papa]

well said niki ..... a balanced approach would be best .... we can't flash every single hour on and on with them .... i saw a child of one thise leading school practitioner ... the child's eyes .... looks abit ..... well i think the flahs card was shown too close .... and probably did too many times and been indoor too often .... hence we take the time to bring her out for walks, swimming now, cycling etc .... to see further .... every single approach we can think off .... every pros and cons we read and asked ourselves how to prevent it when doing it .....

Its kind of like .... every woman likes to put on make-up, woman can't do without it nor with it.... afterall too much make up or putting on make up for too long a time .... will ..... well make-ups are still chemicals .... if used appropriately it can enhance .....  if misused .... , and sometimes that's why a good fresh feeling is great .... anyway you get the point ...

[purplefungi]

I agree with the importance of maintaining balance. Too much flashing would probably not be good. Hours of flashing would be extreme. The reality is that we only flash just minutes a day. Flashing cards will not teach children fine and gross motor skills nor teach a child how to act socially. Futhermore, additional methods of learning help cement subjects taught. That is why we do Doman, Montessori activities, regular preschool-like activities, and regular old play time.

[jaluitgirl]

I absolutely agree with the balanced-approach.

Having said that, I have had a few concerns about this.
When I was taking my SPED course a few years ago, they talked about how Sesame Street in it's early days was somehow linked with ADHD.  That the original Sesame Street (30+ years ago) did a lot of rapid flashing type activities and that they found those children who grew up watching it later had problems concentrating at school.  I guess Sesame Street has since then changed their format.  But - I didn't put a lot of stock into that research (again educational research is rarely scientific and hard to put a lot of trust in when the sample size is so small).

 Anyhow, I was a child when Sesame Street first came out but you know my generation was all TV anyhow - so could you really atribute it to rapid flashing on Sesame Street or just TV watching in general? 

There have since been studies that say that children who watch TV have a different "brain wiring" than those who do not.  But the study just says "different" and makes no judgement as to whether that is bad or not.  Living in a digital age - not sure that's bad - obviously our children are going to grow up using all sorts of technology and learning to use it at an early age.  Our children have to be a part of society and so if the brain makes adaptations to adjust to changes in the environment - I don't think that is bad but is what our bodies are supposed to do. (adaptation I mean) Maybe it just means that education has to adjust to the times too and perhaps teachers need to move through materials quicker. 

Which brings me to my last thoughts.....  I read that very intelligent children (ie early readers, etc) are often mis-labelled at school as ADHD - when in fact they are not but they catch on to material very quickly and are easily bored. 

So is the flashcard method or any other method that helps bring out our child's full potential flawed?  Or perhaps organized education, teachers, and care givers need to adjust to the upcoming generation who is "wired" to accept information at a high rate and store a large capacity in their mind for future reference?   How much of our brain does scientists say we use?  Not even 1/2.   Maybe we are adapting to use more and more of it.  Do we really want to hold back children who are able to use and think in different ways?

 IT's an interesting thought.  I hope I explained me thoughts well enough....

[tina]

Thanks all moms!!
I don't flash too much for my baby too, each time it takes less than a minute and I think I flash 3 to 5 times a day!  But for my elder daughter (28-month), I did play Tweedlewink daily and each session is about 7 minutes and the Wink to Chinese is about the same duration.   And true that YBCR and signing time are not really flashing, so it's ok.    And I totally agree that we should use a balanced approach!  Will see how she does at school.  But I wonder if we use LR/LM, the duration may be longer?  I meant we will try to show it more often since it's so convenient.

trinity papa,
I am originally from HK but I have moved to Canada (Vancouver) when I was teenager!  I guess play based is still needed for baby to develop their social skills. I bring my baby to music class too and it's a great way for them to interact with others.

jaluitgirl,
Your thought is actually what I was thinking before too!  Especially our brain is still a mystery of how much we can use!  I honestly don't expect my baby to be a genius or what, but I just want to provide them with an opportunity which we didn't get a chance to explore when we were small.

[MonkeynoseMomma]

jaluitgirl,
Hmmm, very interesting....
You know, a lot of the kids I have known who were labeled ADHD happened to be super intelligent. Hmm...

[Frukc]

Thank you for this very informative discussion!

I think, there are two types of flashing. TV is entertaining much faster than the real world can do. Everything is moving very fast. Also on news there are one-minute stories instead of longer ones.
With flashcards, every card is one bit of information. Every bit is different and it can be compared with the real world, for example, travelling. Children learn at a lightning speed and we should support it. I have seen that the same information is much easier to memorise if shown faster.
With learning, children don't go to another world like it is with TV entertainment.

It is also well studied that TV watching is switching off the thinking and the imagination. TV and reading are opposites. For example, TV can accelerate age dementia but reading can prevent it. I think, card flashing is more similar to reading

Also with traditional reading, we receive information much faster than in the real world; we can read faster than we speak; we can go to another world. But it is considered as a benefit

[kish]

Hey everyone,

very, very interesting commentary. I too believe that a balanced programme is most effective in helping our children to become well rounded and efficient people. I am kind of new to the forum and I see some things I dont know about or am not familiar with in the discussions. What is Wink to Chinese and YBCR?

I will be giving birth in June and I am trying to complile teaching/learning material. I have gathered quite a few from other's sharing..but are there any specific ones anyone can recommend, maybe songs etc. for new borns?

Thanks,
Kish   

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