Coaching the Cognitive Assets Suggestions for helping your child succeed at home, in school, and in life What are cognitive assets?

The Research Data is Clear… You make a positive impact on the lives of your children.

Fact One Up to age 18, students spend 87 percent of waking hours outside school in the care of the parents or guardians. Parents do make a difference.

Fact Two The support that parents give to their children is at least twice as important as socio-economic factors in terms of determining the lifelong success of children.

Fact Three In national surveys, children rate parents as being their greatest heroes, well ahead of rock stars and sports personalities.

Fact Four The learning strategies that children learn from parents can be critical to academic success.

Fact Five Optimism, a learned way of thinking about the world, is the key to lifelong health, happiness, and academic success.

“Parents are the most powerful force for creating the opportunities for ordinary children to build extraordinary lives.” Marcus Conyers

To Coach is the Approach To promote maximum learning, the learning coach model has been used in homes across the country and the world. A learning coach is a parent who wants to assist a child in becoming a more effective learner. Three types of involvement- authoritarian (tell), laidback or laissez faire (discovery),and coaching. Any can be a coach.

Parent coaches are just like athletic coaches. Coach to play their best game Positive role models Create teamwork Willing to change strategies Encourage, support, and praise

Principles of Coaching for Learning Home environment has maximum engagement between parents and children Engagement among other children at home Engagement between children and learning materials such as books, craft supplies,tools, backyard nature Almost anything can serve as a learning tool.

Principles of Coaching for Learning Parents work on and engage in their own problems Parents are aware of the trials and tribulations of problem-solving and share them. Parents model practical optimism when solving problems.

Principles of Coaching for Learning Create habits for thinking and learning. Good learning and thinking habits promote an easier time at school and more joyful learning experiences (Conyers & Wilson, 2006).

What do learning coaches do to guide learning? Three phases of learning have to occur: The five senses gather information (Input). The brain thinks about the information. (Processing). The child communicates in some way what has been learned (Output).

Suggestions for Coaching Be aware of your own cognitive assets. Children model what they see. Expect that your child can and will become a successful learner. Ask questions instead of telling. Celebrate any and all improvement in student learning and achievement. You are your own child’s first teacher. Use praise and more

The Three Phases of Genius Together, three parts, input, processing, and output comprise The Three Phases of Genius.

Within Three Phases of Genius lie 25 Cognitive Assets Input Phase - Practical Optimism Processing Phase - Making Meaning Output Phase - Learning from Experience I’ve picked one cognitive asset from each phase of genius.

Guiding Questions to ask at the Input Phase Have I focused on the information? Have I avoided paying attention to extraneous information? Learning coaches would pose these questions to children.

Input Phase - Practical Optimism An approach to life that focuses on taking practical positive action to increase the probability of successful outcomes (Wilson & Conyers, 2006) Definition

A Lesson for Practical Optimism The next time your child is disappointed about something… Ask your child why s/he feels the event happened. Ask how s/he feels about the situation. Discuss how s/he can possibly influence the situation favorably. Discuss how the next time (TNT) the situation could have a favorable outcome. Examples - bad grade, class loses a competition, doesn’t win a particular award on awards day, best friend is mad at you. Anger, sadness

Guiding questions to ask during the Processing Phase Why is this important to learn? How is this information important to me? How can I use this information? How does this new information relate to other information I already know? How can I summarize what I’ve learned?

Processing Phase - Making Meaning The ability to access past experiences, connect with new information and experiences, and know that effort is needed to learn these important experiences (Wilson & Conyers, 2006). Definition

A Lesson for Making Meaning Know what your child’s goals are. The next time you and your child are in a learning situation (homework, cultural event, etc.) ask what the learning means to him/her. Have your child predict what s/he will learn. Have your child make a graphic organizer (picture, chart, diagram) of the learning. Ask your child to look over the organizer and tell you or another family member what the meaningful parts are. Encourage your child to make a connection about the new learning to something s/he already knows from books, TV, or his/her life.

Guiding questions to ask during the Output Phase With whom am I sharing this information? How can I best communicate this information - visually, auditorily, or tactilely/kinesthetically? What will I be able to learn from this that will help me in my journey of being a lifelong learner?

Output Phase - Learning from Experience Being able to reflect on an experience and appropriately choose what to do the same or differently the next time (Wilson & Conyers, 2006) Definition

A Lesson for Learning from Experience Ask your child to think of a mistake that s/he often makes. Ask how often this mistake occurs. Help your child make a plan for avoiding making the same mistake in the future. Have your child practice the plan in his/her mind. Ask your child to tell you the next time the mistake almost occurs and s/he avoids it. Celebrate the new pattern. Good to use if children don’t seem to learn from their mistakes.

Family Project Using poster board and art materials, create a slogan or commercial about one of the three cognitive assets you learned. Draw a picture or representation of yourself successfully mastering an asset. Bring it to school and share with the class.

The First Steps Possession of cognitive assets is not a talent one is born with. Cognitive assets can and should be taught. Anyone at any age can be made more metacognitive with practice. Practice these lessons along with your child. Share your own personal joys and difficulties. Theory of neurocognitive plasticity

Keep in Touch Let me know how these strategies are working for you and your family. Contact me at (678) 676-5644. christine_m_butz@firstclass.dekalb.k12.ga.us

References Conyers, M. (2002). BrainSMART in the house: Why parents make the difference [Online article]. Retrieved from http://www.brainsmart.com/house.pdf Conyers, M & Wilson, D (2006). BrainSMART in the house. Orlando, FL: BrainSMART. Epstein, J. (2009). (3rd ed.) School, family, and community partnerships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN 0-7619-7665-5 (c) ISBN 0-7619-7666-3 (p).