Brainology

Teach kids how the brain works and learns? What an idea! When I had my 13-year-old read Talent Code, he changed the way he practiced drums, and his teacher was impressed. I have thought since that if kids knew about how deep practice works, how the brain processes and remembers facts and skills, they'd function much better in school. If they weren't learning something, they could figure out why. If they really, really wanted to learn or master something, they could figure out how.

So I just found out about Brainology, a program available to schools by subscription that teaches just that. It was developed by Carol Dweck, an author whose name often comes up when looking into new brain research and pursuit of achievement, along with Daniel Coyle (Talent Code), Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers) and Geoff Colvin (Talent Is Overrated).

I just viewed the sample section and found it cartooney and annoying...but then again, I'm an adult, so what do I know? If it effectively teaches and follows up on kids' application of the lessons, I will discount the annoyance factor.

I think it's a great idea. How can having a greater knowledge fail?