20 May 2011

The Importance of Relationships to our Children


I was recently exposed to Gordon Neufeld, PhD, a developmental psychologist from the University of British Columbia.  I was watching his Relationships Matter DVD with a colleague.  I am just going to touch on one of the many points Neufeld touched on.

Neufeld brought up a study where kids, who were sitting on their moms lap, had “hot spots” in their brain while learning math.  However, when these kids were learning math and sitting a lab assistants lap, there were no “hot spots”.  It was determined that these kids developed their “hot spots”, a spike in the spot of the brain showing an interest in the subject of math, because they were sitting with their mom, someone they trusted.  Someone they had a relationship with.  The conclusion was made that kids learn better when they are learning from someone they trust.

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Read the rest of the post on Notes on Parenting.