[Book Sip] Children Who Excel Academically... "They Read Aloud"

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with readers and create a point of connection with the book. Here, we introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from books.

Is academic aptitude inherited? Ryuta Kawashima, a world-renowned neuroscientist, argues that this is merely a prejudice. After decades of research, his conclusion is that "academic aptitude is not innate but is developed through daily life." According to overseas studies, the proportion of intelligence that affects academic performance is only about 5 to 15 percent. The author analyzed the daily life and learning data, as well as brain scans, of 40,000 students to find commonalities. What he found was 'the proper study habits learned in childhood.' The author emphasizes the importance of appropriately stimulating brain regions that develop with age, consistently repeating brain-stimulating exercises such as reading and numerical calculations, and creating an environment conducive to concentration in order to enhance intellectual potential.

If you consistently practice solving calculations using single-digit numbers, memorizing simple symbols, or reading aloud, a remarkable phenomenon occurs: not only do your calculation and memory skills improve, but also your creativity, logical thinking, attention, and emotional regulation abilities. The prefrontal cortex of the brain governs a wide range of advanced human abilities, including information processing. Training to increase information processing speed surprisingly enhances various abilities that are not directly related to calculation or memory. This is called the 'transfer effect.' If the performance of the prefrontal cortex itself is improved, other abilities managed by this brain region can also be developed. <pp. 47-48>

Children who have a reading habit begin to read in meaningful units from the middle grades of elementary school. This means they read efficiently and quickly by grasping meaning units rather than reading each character individually. Children who reach this stage do not find reading difficult. As a result, they naturally read books on their own and create an 'ideal virtuous cycle' of accumulating more diverse knowledge. This is how literacy, which is said to be lacking among children these days, is strengthened. There are some children who were not academically strong but saw their grades soar after they made up their minds and started trying. This is an example of building a solid foundation for academic aptitude by consistently developing a reading habit. <p. 66>

According to my research, children who have had something they definitely want to do when they grow up, or something they want to achieve someday, have better academic abilities. Future aspirations can be described as a sense of purpose. The clearer the sense of purpose, the more it helps improve learning abilities. Unfortunately, as students move up in grade, fewer of them study with their own dreams as their goal. Is there a way for children to keep their dreams alive? A three-year follow-up study of about 30,000 students found that 90 percent of children who said they discussed the future with their parents at home continued to maintain their goals. <pp. 98-102>

It has become clear that prolonged smartphone use negatively affects academic abilities. Even if students spend the same amount of time studying and sleeping, those who use smartphones longer have poorer grades. The conclusion is that children who use smartphones for more than one hour must spend more than twice as much time studying compared to those who use them for less than one hour, or they will fall behind. It is important to consider whether your child plays with their smartphone after studying for long hours at home. Even with a large amount of study and sufficient sleep, prolonged smartphone use can render all efforts futile. <p. 118>

The habit of eating breakfast has been shown to affect academic performance. In a nationwide academic and learning situation survey conducted by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology targeting the highest grades of elementary and middle schools (6th grade elementary, 3rd grade middle), results showed that children who skipped breakfast had lower academic abilities. In a three-year follow-up study of about 20,000 students from 5th grade elementary to 1st grade middle school, those who ate breakfast every day maintained a high standard score of 50 to 51 over the three years. In contrast, students who gradually stopped eating breakfast saw their standard scores, which had been above 50, drop to 44 to 46. <p. 150> |

Brain Science of Academic Aptitude | Written by Ryuta Kawashima | Translated by Lee Hyojin | Booki | 236 pages | 17,800 KRW