Surviving and Thriving at Work Home and School

Thriving is a little more complicated than surviving isn't it? Knowing what makes the difference so you can get the best results via the shortest route can really make a difference especially when life is busy and the demands of a household with the added intensity of giftedness is added on top.

While I was sorting out my books for the Book Sale recently I found one I had forgotten about. It is a great book with lots of information about making the most of what we have got, called Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work School and Home by John Medina.

His short list of the 12 Rules he believes we all should know are

EXERCISE Rule #1 – Exercise boosts brain power

SURVIVAL Rule #2 – The human brain evolved, too.

WIRING Rule #3 – Every brain is wired differently

ATTENTION Rule #4 – We don’t pay attention to boring things

SHORT TERM MEMORY Rule #5 – Repeat to remember

LONG TERM MEMORY Rule #6 – Remember to repeat

SLEEP Rule #7 – sleep well, think well

STRESS Rule #8 – Stressed brains don’t learn the same way

SENSORY INTEGRATION Rule #9 - Stimulate more of the senses

VISION Rule #10 – Vision trumps all other senses

GENDER Rule #11 – Male and female brains are different

EXPLORATION Rule #12 - We are powerful and natural explorers

A nice easy list to remember, perhaps not so easy to put all of them into practice at once, but it is worth aiming for. Helping our kids to remember them too might mean more thriving rather than simply surviving for them too.

(If you are interested in reading more, this book will be available in round 2 of the book sale next week. It is a hard cover book and comes with a DVD)