Baby Minds “Brain Building Games for Babies”?
I am writing to ask about a chapter in this book regarding teaching/playing “Problem Solving” games, that will help your baby (2-3 months old) once becoming an adult to be a better problem solver.
There was a test that was mentioned that by having simple pictures of checkerboards, dolls and animals flash across a computer screen flashing from different sides of the screen; which was a challenge for the babies to figure out where and when to look in anticipation of the next picture, to eventually predict where the pictures would be flashing out from and to have their eyes to shift to the anticipated location.
My question is how would that help a child to become a better “Problem Solver” as an adult.
I don’t think it will, honestly.
There is so much psycho-babble floating around the internet and even in lectures at school. None of this really matters. In the end, only three things will influence a child: His/her environment, their DNA, and their personal choices. People are born with either a dominant right brain, or dominant left. This determines if a person is more of a dreamer/artistic type, or a logical/reasoning type. As far as problem solving, it depends on the problem. If the problem is a spatial one, like…put the disassembled shape together in your mind and match it to the shape it most represents, that would involve the logical side of the brain.
My psychology teacher did an interesting experiment. She didn’t tell us what she was up to, but she did ask a bunch of questions like: How many clocks are in the room? Who’s pictured on the one dollar bill? Things like that. And she took note of where our eyes went. If we looked to our right, we are actually left brained. If we looked to our left, we’re actually right brained. The brain is wired in this way. That’s why if someone has a problem on the right side of the brain, the left side is affected.
Anyway, (sorry for all that), in the end, these tests don’t really help anything. Just like those Baby Einstein things are just money makers for a company willing to pounce on eager parents. The best ‘teacher’ a child can have is their parent. If their parent exposes their child to music, maybe the child can develop musical ability even if he/she’s left brained. A parent can teach morals, and help develop dexterity, and even a love for sports, or any athletics. These weird little flashing pictures you speak of are not of any help. They’re just part of the world of psycho-babble that people love to thrive on. But in the end, all a kid needs is love and understanding, patience, and a good-hearted teacher in their parent.
