WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, IT DISAPPEARS
By JW Northrup and Victoria Falslev
In Beedeep’s World there is a point where understanding seems to disappear. This is conceptual understanding and as far as I have observed, it has never been taught in school – although students who achieve this “despite” being taught, naturally do it.
For example, you have learned to drive a car. You’ve been driving for 10 years.
One day you are driving down the street and a child runs in front of you. Your foot hits the brake almost instantaneously.
In that brief instant, you have:
• Determined that your rate of forward progress was sufficient to close the distance from you to the child before the child’s rate of forward progress would propel him beyond the path of the car. i.e. at present speed you would hit the child.
• By applying pressure of your right foot to the brake, it will arrest the cars forward progress sufficiently to avoid a collision.
• The exact amount of pressure on the brake should be about 20-40 foot/pounds (you know from experience how hard to push the brake to get the proper results NOT the mechanical formula).
All of these points – all this data – occurs instantaneously. You do not “think” any thought. You just know. If you must “think” i.e. call up mental image pictures, look at THEM rather than the kid in front of you, your reaction would be too late, and the child would be struck. If you suddenly think about a friend who lost their child when he ran out in front of a car, your “reaction time” is not sufficient to miss the child.
That won’t happen because in sudden, stressful, dangerous situations, your attention is on the environment, not you.
I recall when I was a ski racer, my best runs occurred when I wasn’t thinking, I was just observing. In fact, when I finished the run, I could scarcely really remember it. I just knew that I did it.
So, what does this have to do with Beedeep’s World?
This is the point.
In Beedeep’s world, reading becomes understanding. You read the word and you understand it. You do not memorize it. If you must “remember” what the words mean, you haven’t gotten to the point where you “understand” it.
How is this achieved in Beedeep’s World?
1. By an author who writes using words that the child already understands (basic words).
2. Having the child draw pictures of the new words so he sees them, creates them and thus understands them.
I always know when I understand something – because it “disappears.” I don’t have to think about it anymore – and furthermore I retain it. It’s like riding a bike…
When I type an email, I do not think where the “a” is on the keyboard, I don’t even picture it. I just know.
When you know a word, it is yours – not something you, “remember.” When you know a subject, it is yours. YOU create it. If you really knew math, you would use it without even having to “remember” it.
Knowledge is power. But only if it is yours – not from a memory you wrote down in response to a question. That takes time, it is overcomplicated and “heavy.”
Your child will learn to take knowledge (communicated in words) and use it and create with it.
A child IS basically good, and if knowledge is HIS/HERS, it will be used for good. We don’t, or shouldn’t ever want to force ideas on a child. You can help them learn and encourage, but let them keep their illusions and imagination from what they have actually learned and know. We are here to guide and help children be independent and know what they know and use it so they can flourish and prosper!
Start them learning by creating and know rather than reading and memorizing.
Start with Beedeeps World – a world of learning to understand.
www.Beedeepsworld.com
A lot of times, reading becomes the unpleasant task of sounding out words that have no meaning. “Learning” becomes the practice of repeating what is said from others without the opportunity to evaluate it for yourself.
It isn’t something we want our children to grow up doing; is it?
Self-thinkers are self-determined, creative and future citizens that will use their knowledge that have the opportunity to gain power (knowledge is power) and influence to make the world a better place!
IMAGINE READING BECOMING AN ACTIVITY OF UNDERSTANDING AND PARTICIPATION!
Knowing how to study, should be the FIRST lesson a child learning to read should understand.
“Beepdeep’s World” is a fun, interactive books for children. These books will engage your child in a way that makes reading fun, creative and important.
Download your free booklet, “Barriers to Study” at Appliedscholastics.org