Three Dimensions of Learning: A Blueprint for Learning from the Womb to the School

By Dr. Carolyn Nooks Teague

Three Dimensions of Learning: A Blueprint for Learning from the Womb to the School is an informative guidebook designed to help parents and educators become more aware of the ways in which they can stifle or empower the future of the child. It follows the development of the whole child from life inside the womb to life in the school. At every stage the importance of addressing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual states of the child is emphasized.
For the first two dimensions of learning, the womb and the home, parents are in charge. The author encourages parents to develop resiliency in their children to help prepare them for life outside of the home. Do you know how to develop resiliency in your child? Have you taught him or her how to deal with bullying? Parents are reminded of developmental milestones and how to use them. Home tests and activities are provided to help parents support normal development as well as recognize the symptoms of possible developmental delays or conditions.
The role of the teacher is highlighted during the third dimension of learning. Teachers are encouraged to connect to each child at an emotional level, to seek knowledge of the childs interests, talents and passions. Information that will increase the teachers awareness of hidden disabilities and how to recognize their symptoms is provided. For example, do you have a student that leans to one side when reading or complains about tags in clothing? The author shares science-informed teaching strategies that demonstrate how the brain learns and how being aware of this can change a childs life.
Dont miss this opportunity to bolster your understanding of how the mind works and become a better parent, educator and or administrator with Three Dimensions of Learning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781480852761

Dr. Carolyn Nooks Teague

Dr. Carolyn Nooks Teague, experienced teacher and parent passionate about helping children, identifies ways in which parents and teachers can empower or stifle a childs future success. She resides in Cincinnati, Ohio and is a practitioner of integrated vision therapy. She enjoys music, movies and dancing.

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Copyright © 2017 Dr. Carolyn Nooks Teague.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-5274-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-5275-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-5276-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017916295

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/28/2017

CONTENTS

Preface

INTRODUCTION   Perspectives of the Silent Majority: How Did We End Up Here?

PART I                        The First Dimension of Learning: The Journey Begins in the Womb with the Blueprint

CHAPTER 1              Learning and Development in the Womb: The Making of the Whole Child

CHAPTER 2              Taking a Closer Look at Brain Development: A Blueprint for Learning

CHAPTER 3              Senses: The Glue that Holds Us All Together

CHAPTER 4              Vision, the Amazing Sense

CHAPTER 5              Science Should Inform Parenting and Education

PART II                      The Second Dimension of Learning and Development: Learning in the Home, Where Parenting Makes the Difference

CHAPTER 6              Emotions and Sensory Experiences

CHAPTER 7              That Very Special Milestone

CHAPTER 8              The Role of Emotions and Social Interaction: Newborn to Age Three

PART III                     The Third Dimension of Learning: Addressing the Needs of the Whole Child in the School

CHAPTER 9              EQ vs. IQ

CHAPTER 10            Learning in the School Should Be Brain Compatible

CHAPTER 11            The Brain-Compatible Classroom: Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

CHAPTER 12            Hidden Disabilities: Vision Dysfunction

CHAPTER 13            Hidden Disabilities: Auditory Processing Disorder

CHAPTER 14            Hidden Disabilities: Sensory Processing Disorder

CHAPTER 15            Hidden Disabilities: Gender Confusion

CHAPTER 16            The Role of Diet and Water in Academics and Behavior

CHAPTER 17            Education Courses Need Tweaking

CHAPTER 18            The Big Ideas

Glossary Of Terms

References

About The Author

PREFACE

IT IS NOW THE WINTER OF 2015, AND I AM BEING guided by God to share what I have learned as a parent, teacher, doctor of education, and Christian about teaching and learning as it occurs in the womb, the home, and the school.

I represent the unheard voices of the silent majority who have a vested interest in the future of our children but little to no say about their education.

I dedicate this book to my mother, Gladys Pennie-Nooks Reed, my role model, who was an elementary teacher and taught me to be patient, compassionate, and resilient, my husband, Will Teague Jr., who supported me through all my endeavors and extra years of education, also to my children, Lauren Teague Payne and Will Ryan Teague, who taught me the true meaning of unconditional love and are the lights of my life, my sister, Angela Nooks Byrd, who was and still is always there for me, my niece and nephew, Ashara and Joe Brockhaus for technical support and last but not least, Salvatore Zabbatino, who was so instrumental in helping me with the technology involved in earning a doctoral degree in education.

My love and compassion for the whole child’s overall development is the catalyst that inspires this work. The resistance of college professors of education and scientists to be informed by one another is what saddens and frustrates me, and the dedication of our teachers, in spite of having to work in an atmosphere of political greed, ignorance, and misguided visions, is what drives me to write this book.

INTRODUCTION

Perspectives of the Silent Majority: How Did We End Up Here?

A S ADULTS, WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR futures, and developing the children that will become our leaders is part of that responsibility. As parents, our roles are crucial, for learning begins in the womb and continues in the home, so what we do as caregivers to prepare—or maybe not prepare—our children for life in general, and school in particular, determines the future of us all.

As teachers and educators, it is our responsibility to love children unconditionally, regardless of race, religion, or ethnography, and accept them where they are academically and help them grow. It is our responsibility to seek knowledge about the child’s physical, mental, and emotional development and how the many facets of each child are all interconnected. As university department heads, it is your responsibility to be objective as well as open to new research-based science that could possibly inform and even reform educational practices. It is your responsibility to be able to ensure future educators that what they are learning is cutting-edge information, which will impact the nature of education, even if only to a small degree. You must inform our future teachers about the importance of addressing the child’s brain-body-spirit-connection and the need to reach the child at an emotional level. Every teacher needs to understand how the brain learns, how the body and brain connect, and most important, how emotions control it all. Being aware of and addressing the connectedness of the dimensions of the child is crucial to all who interact with children throughout the dimensions of learning.

Education is incomplete when it only addresses the linguistic and mathematical intelligences of the child. It becomes complete when it validates the whole child by giving him the opportunity to express his passions, develop additional intelligences and interests, and be made to feel valuable within a community of learners.

The three dimensions of learning to which I am referring intrinsically involve the connectedness of the child’s brain, mind (spirit), and body development but specifically examine the development of the brain and how it impacts learning in the womb, the home, and the school. There is a fourth dimension, but that’s another book.

Some of you have read books and articles about the science behind learning, written by medical doctors, cognitive psychologists, and college professors, but have you read anything from the classroom teacher or parent’s perspective? Well, I am sharing information as a parent, a teacher, and a doctor of education with a strong interest in the science of learning. I am not a scientist; I’m just a parent and a teacher who is passionate about our children’s lives.

I decided to write this book for the silent majority, composed of parents, teachers, and last but not least, children. I call these groups of people the silent majority because we have neither voice nor input into educational practices and programs, even though we are the ones most affected by their implementation or lack thereof.

In today’s educational culture, all of the learning that takes place, from conception in the womb to graduation in the school, boils down to a child’s test scores, not his moral development, creative genius, or social aptitude. What did this child do to help our global educational rankings? is the question that drives educational policies.

In spite of what we have learned in the last two decades about the way the brain develops and functions, the way children learn, and what environmental conditions provide for optimal learning, we seem to be going in the wrong direction. Legislators who know little about proper educational practices, driven by global educational rankings and the promises and prerequisites of political gain, make decisions about what’s best for our children. The fear of not being first or at least in the top ten on academic success lists has landed us in the quagmire of testing frenzy. As a result, we teach to the test, not to the child.

You might be asking yourself, What the heck does this testing frenzy have to do with the dimensions of learning? What does it have to do with the dimensional connectedness of the whole child, the brain, mind (spirit), emotions, and body? It has everything to do with this connection and the role it plays in a supportive educational environment. It has everything to do with viewing the whole child instead of the part of that child that makes him or her a good candidate for test-taking. It has everything to do with how our curricula and educational programs should be designed and how our schools should reflect and be guided by acknowledging all dimensions of learning, as well as the dimensions of the child. Maybe educating the whole child could result in better test scores and higher rankings, since twenty years of what we have been doing, hasn’t seemed to work. (Just saying.)

When children enter school for the first time, teachers begin the year with testing to see where children are academically. You know what I mean—kindergarten teachers need to assess children according to whether they know their colors, recognize the letters of the alphabet, can count to ten, and so forth. Some of these children have emotional meltdowns and so begin their futures in school on a negative note.

How many teachers actually take the time to learn about a different dimension of the child, one that is crucial to his or her academic success? How many teachers actually have the kind of time it takes to get to investigate the physical, social, spiritual, and emotional states of the child’s being before the hardcore academics begin?

In their defense, teachers are underpaid and under pressure to follow strict guidelines. They are directed to do certain activities in the classroom that center on core curricula. These activities do not provide the teacher with opportunities to learn and know the child in more than one dimension. In some instances, they are actually instructed to follow a script. Teachers, against their better judgment, have been ordered to take play time out of the daily schedule. They’ve been directed to decrease time for recess, and in some districts, to omit recess to replace it with instructional activities. In some schools, physical education and art have been removed to make more time for test preparation and increased academics. The emotional state of the child is obviously not taken into consideration.

What happened to the truly educated leaders who recognized the importance of social play, physical activity, and the arts in the education of our children? What happened to the voices of the educators who realized that education involves addressing the learning dimensions of the whole child? How did we get to a place where our children are merely statistics, vessels to be filled with information that will be regurgitated on high-stakes tests?

How did education become so punitive in nature? The students are punished for not scoring well on a test that does not make allowances for their particular learning style or dominant intelligence. A child’s broken home life or undetected learning disability is never considered. The teachers are punished for the students’ poor performances, and the administrators have to deal with the brunt of it all.

Learned, passionate educators are still out there. However, their voices cannot be heard against the loud roar of political machines that began with global prowess and the institution of high-stakes testing in 1995. Unfortunately, this entity, with a life of its own, has mindlessly progressed to the present with common core teaching and testing, and when this phase ends, another will take its place.

While educators and parents agree that some form of standardized assessment is necessary to measure how well children are learning and diagnose what they need, they disagree with an assessment system that is punitive. They want to replace testing that ignores the different learning styles and the learning strengths