Author Eric collaborates heavily in his thinking with Howard Gardner and emphasizes how we as educators must understand how the brain works in order to teach our students most effectively.
Eric addresses the topic of how proper brain nutrition plays a role in peak brain performance. He stresses that schools educate parents on proper nutrition, and claims that the brain expends 20% of its energy while doing work that involves a mental task like math, reading, or even playing video games. Therefore, a child should always eat nutritious food and drink plenty of water, as the brain is made up of 78% water. In fact, he affirms that a child must eat to learn and not to satisfy the hungry and in the same way must drink water to learn. Parents and teachers should educate their children to drink water as a thirst quencher and not replace it with soft drinks.
It also stresses that all schools should give primary importance to music, art, crafts and physical games as this alone helps brain thinking, memory retention and greatly supports to perform well in the academic.
Point out how Mozart’s music helps students think well and perform better and exercise the mind, thus preparing them to learn.
He points out how the motivation and rewards given by most schools don’t work well for all children, although it might be effective with some children as long as different strategies are used differently.
Another noteworthy point that he makes is how the emotions and feelings induced during learning help the child in the learning process. When a student is emotionally touched during the teaching process, that is when the students can imprint the concept clearly.
Overall the book is excellent and a must read if you are an educator or teacher. Also, if you like Howard Gardner’s books, I’m sure you’ll find Eric Jensen’s equally interesting and enlightening, although the topic they both cover is totally unique and well worth reading. To all teachers out there, if you truly care about students from the bottom of your heart, then this book by Eric should be a must read on your list. On a scale of 5, I would give this book a 4. So don’t miss this as it will help you a lot in your teaching process and improve the quality of your life as a passionate, effective and excellent teacher.
