The hardest part about metacognition – thinking about thinking – is learning to listen to your brain. Your brain is constantly telling you things and making you aware of what it is doing but most of what it is saying we leave in our subconscious minds. We don’t walk down the street and notice that our brain is telling us that every tree has green leaves or that the driveways in a neighborhood we regularly walk are all asphalt. Our brain notices but because this is information we don’t truly need – it doesn’t really inform our next move or decision – we tune it out. Now if we were to walk in that same neighborhood and the first tree of the fall season has turned a bright orange, we are likely to take notice of this thought. We may even spend time considering what that means for the weather or how beautiful the hue of the leaves is. It may even inspire us to take a photograph to commemorate the occasion and beauty.
While walking down the street and reading a story are not the same thing, the same thing happens as we are reading. Our brain is running through hundreds if not thousands of thoughts as we are reading and thinking about these things leads us to a much deeper understanding of what we are reading. When we roll information around in our brains and consider what it could possibly mean or how it connects to other things, the depth of our understanding and learning increases exponentially.
If this is all true – and it is – then we want our children to start listening to their brains as they are reading. So how can we encourage our children to begin listening to their brains? In our house we start this with a game. WAIT, what?!?!?!? Yes, a game – a simple free association game. And you can do the same. Here is how it works.
- Choose one person to go first – I usually have this be me the first time we play. This person will say one word. For example, this year I used the word “green.”
- Every other person then shares the first thing that pops into their head. This year the boys answered with grass, trees, puking (I mean we do say people look green) and Mommy’s cup.
- Go around and share a second thing that popped into everyone’s head. Round two brought answers like my favorite shirt, the pudding soccer ball, Robin Hood and GoGo Squeeze.
- Have someone else share a word.
Seem simple enough? I thought so. Can learning to listen to your brain really be that easy? It is. By allowing yourself to free associate with words you learn to pay attention to what is speeding through your brain. You put the brakes on allowing thoughts to fly and you begin to consider what is in your noggin. You begin to think about thinking. You begin to metacognate.
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