devin’s adventures

Debbie contacted me because she was concerned that her six-year-old son, Devin (not his real name), was different from his peers the same age. She defined differently as sitting on the sidelines during recess and not playing kickball or any other sports game with the other kids. Instead, she sat down alone because she didn’t like the games that were being played. Debbie talked to her son and asked her what she would rather she be doing. She said that she liked to invent adventures to continue. Debbie told her that she could do just that. So, Devin ran off and started a make-believe affair by himself and the joy on his face told Debbie that he was okay.

Debbie, worried about her advice, asked me if this was okay or if she should have told her son to run and play kickball. I told Debbie that she had made the perfect call for Devin and that she should get excited about her imagination because her educational future will benefit from the adventures she creates. What Debbie’s son is doing is improving his cognitive skills by leaps and bounds with his innate ability to create images, invent fictitious problems and generate real solutions with his games. He is, without a doubt, developing the intellectual capacity of him. Debbie and I had a written discussion about a couple of questions that she had. For example, does her son play with other children? He does, but he’d rather build a fort or battle station, create a place for superhero adventures, or break out the action figures and pretend to save the world with his friends. He plays baseball and soccer on the weekends in team sports and gets along with his teammates. He, however, enjoys the camaraderie more than winning. He plays fair and treats his friends with respect. He tends to favor the underdog and will stand up to others who bully weaker children. Debbie, quite frankly, is raising an amazing boy who will undoubtedly grow up to be an even more amazing man.

Debbie does not use computers, video games, or television as a babysitter. In fact, Devin does not own a video game system. She watches TV, but it’s not the focus of her day. She can use a computer for school and educational games, but surfing the Internet is prohibited, as she should be at such a young age. He doesn’t have a cell phone and she won’t give him one just because other kids have one. Debbie has learned to set limits and Devin is benefiting from his parenting style.

Let me take a moment to explain the brain in terms of what we know about the processes that regularly take place in learning. Seven processes or G’s have been identified in the study of psychometrics for learning. These G’s include how you reason, what you have learned, how quickly you process information, and how well you store and retrieve information. As this series progresses, you will learn about the seven general processes that have been identified. With that said, let’s start with Crystallized Intelligence or Gc.

Crystallized Intelligence is your prior or background knowledge. It is the knowledge of the school and all other acquired knowledge. When you’re watching Jeopardy and can easily answer some nonsensical question about a Shakespeare play or world history, you’re tapping into your reserves of general knowledge. So, your Gc played apart.

Crystallized intelligence involves expressive vocabulary, your ability to understand the relationship between word meanings, and the knowledge you have gained from your general experience within the dominant culture. Strength in this G means that learning vocabulary, answering factual questions, understanding written and spoken language, gaining general knowledge of a content area, and using your prior knowledge to understand new concepts all come easily to you. But let’s say you have a weakness in this area, what then?

If Crystallized Intelligence is a weakness, it means that the breadth of your general information stores is not fully developed. To increase your stores of knowledge, you must read more, talk more, and experience more. By reading more, you increase your vocabulary. A well-developed vocabulary helps you understand more. Let’s take a word that may or may not be part of your vocabulary and see how it works.

When you are presented with a situation in a book that involves a fight, your brain can tell you that a issue has emerged. Then her brain kicks into gear and provides words that mean trouble. The first thing that comes to mind is conflict. Now, after years of thinking, your brain provides the definition of a conflict and begins to sort through a series of options. Is the conflict between people? Is it between a person and a situation? Is it an internal battle? But in a nutshell, your brain provides what it needs from the knowledge you’ve gained over years to process information easily. Let’s say your vocabulary is better developed than some and your brain provides the word riddle. Big word, you say. But, the fact is that it means a problem or puzzle. Then, once again, the brain begins to process the information to come to a resolution. Having more than one word to activate the brain is the key to success in school. If a teacher uses words that a child does not have in his or her information store, then he or she is lost. As you can see, the beginning of success in the development of this G is the development of our acquired knowledge.

I listed three ways to start improving by reading more, talking more, and experiencing more. I attribute my current success to the fact that reading was my favorite hobby as a child. The books were real to me. The words created images in my mind that helped build my vocabulary beyond anyone’s imagination. Every standardized test I was given showed a child with a vocabulary that was beyond his age. Then my family was verbal beyond belief. From talks to storytelling to games, we were very verbal people. My knowledge base was well developed in many areas because we would sit down every night for dinner and talk. Sundays were spent at Abuelas where family dinners were steeped in history. My dad and uncle talked about their experiences in World War II and I asked a lot of questions. My parents took us to so many unusual places. We spent days exploring historical sites. We travel to national parks and sites. We went to museums. They provided us with experiences that helped increase our stores of general knowledge.

Crystallized Intelligence is the starting point. Take the time to read with your children. Make reading a family affair by setting aside time each night to read your favorite books. Learn to read in character. While this seems strange at first, I promise it gets easier over time. I have about five voices that I have created for characters of all ages for when I read aloud to a group of children or to my own grandchildren. Bring words to life with expression so your children experience the thrill of reading. Take the time to share your past with your children. Each of us has a wealth of experiences that are easily transformed into stories. Set aside dinnertime as a daily story time that draws from your own family. Try to find a way to share the world with your children. Visit a museum, drive to a historic site, or go to the library and do some research on another place or time. And finally, learn to write again. Have your children write letters to family or friends in another city or even down the street. Ask them to talk about a moment in time from their day; By concentrating on one moment, the words will be more expressive and help them develop a sense of continuity in their writing.