Heart-based right brain enrichment programs and early learning centers

Right Brain Education is a learning program that teaches children and adults in a whole new way. It incorporates techniques that speak to the right hemisphere of the brain and how it seems to learn: intuitively, effortlessly, through images, relaxation, music and love.

Although it is called "Right Brain Education," our method encourages whole brain development by linking all right brain technologies -- speed learning, photographic memory, intuitive math and language, and three-dimensional imagination -- with the logical, methodical left brain.

Please refer to our article entitled Left brain, right brain... where did it begin?

Right Brain Education was developed in an eclectic community Montessori school -- where learning was passionate, teachers and parents were dedicated and children (ages 0-12) were recipients of a blend of many, many early educational methods.

One of the methods that had developed in this educational hothouse during the 80's and 90's, we called Right Brain Education, based loosely on the work of Betty Edwards, Barbara Meister Vitale, Colin Rose, Glenn Doman, Makoto Shichida, and others.

This program was nurtured by Pamela Hickein and a small team of parents and teachers -- and the results of using this method were simply stunning. Children were able to learn large amounts of information in a small amount of time -- effortlessly, joyfully. They could spend a majority of their time in play.

We had found a balance between left brain early education, and creative right brain opportunities.

Children who are taught Right Brain Education from the earliest moments of life gain an incredible library of information that they will use throughout life. The presence of information allows more connections to develop within the brain, increasing intelligence and creative thinking power.

And perhaps most importantly, because we teach parents right along with the children, the foundation of this program -- unconditional love -- creates a profound bond that accelerates a child's sense of wellbeing, pure joy and passion for life.

Children (and teens and adults) who join our program later in life (after the early six years, after the "flashcard stage") learn how to embrace a right brain learning state -- one where information can enter the memory system instantly. They learn how to speed read and speed scan information, understanding and retaining key concepts quickly and effortlessly.

The awakened right brain pathway allows a student to relax when learning, allowing all images to enter the memory and, later, to flow back to conscious awareness at appropriate times, without stress.

Parents do not need to learn Right Brain Education first, but it is highly recommended and your child's success will be enhanced if you learn with him.

For parents of children zero to six: You can teach a child vast amounts of information by using our DVD learning system. If you would like to add exercises and other learning techniques to help your child anchor the information learned through the flashcards on the DVDs, then we encourage you to learn.

For parents of children four and above: There are seven steps to learning Right Brain Education...

1. Alpha Relaxation
2. Eye Exercises
3. PhotoEyeplay
4. Mental Imaging
5. Memory Linking
6. Observation Training
7. Speed Reading Photographic Memory

You can teach lesson from each area without having these skills yourself by using the Wink products. However, we always encourage parents and teachers to learn these activities as you present them. This will heighten your own abilities, allowing you to be creative when using the activities.

Ten minutes a day.

For children zero to six, you can give one TweedleWink lesson -- a DVD lesson is about 8 minutes overall -- adding positive messages and hugs. As you learn the program, you can also add infant exercises, classical music, foreign language tapes and more, but that is your choice, and as you feel comfortable.

Ten minutes a day for older children includes learning how to relax into the receptive alpha-wave brain state (Alpha Relaxation), a minute or two of Eye Exercises, and then one game from the Wink program (Steps 3 - 8).

Generally speaking, children under age six have a very active right brain.

The left brain is considered "the language brain." As a child's language abilities develop, right brain absorbency begins to close down in order to become more conscious with their use of information, putting it into context and expressing it verbally.

If your child is able to speak and voice questions and is reasoning quite well verbally, then we know that his left brain pathway is strong, and this is when we begin to play Right Brain Education games to encourage the continued access to the right hemisphere.

At that point we can assess how active a child's right brain pathway is by recording results from the PhotoEyeplay after-imaging games. (It is important to do the same with parents and teachers.) If an after-image can be seen, then the pathway is open. The longer the after-image can be retained, the stronger the pathway. If the student can flip the after-image into its positive form, then we know that they have an advanced form of photographic memory.

No. Right Brain Education is for children zero to 100!

While our early education program called TweedleWink is for children ages zero to six, our main program called Wink can be used to accelerate children of all ages.

Many parents ask us what to do for children who begin TweedleWink after age 3. Like you, they wonder, “Is it too late?”

For children zero to six, you can give one TweedleWink lesson -- a DVD lesson is about 8 minutes overall -- adding positive messages and hugs. As you learn the program, you can also add infant exercises, classical music, foreign language tapes and more, but that is your choice, and as you feel comfortable.

The truth is, it's never too late to begin. And if you have surrounded your child with love during these years, then bless this as the best foundation for life. That sense of love ensures that the right brain will continue to grow and flourish. The right brain opens and responds to love.

At age 4 and above, the right brain is still as absorbent, and rapid brain building can still occur, as long as you know how to:

1. gently turn off the left brain
2. input information directly into the absorbent right brain

In TweedleWink, we do not look at a child's age, but their "stage" of development. (Please see the Characteristics column on the TweedleWink Overview Chart on our web site.) This is because after age 3 some children are still in the absorbent right brain state. Albert Einstein himself did not switch over to left-brain cognitive thought until age 9. And studies show that boys, especially, stay in right-brain thought much longer than girls. When the right brain is open, you can input information just as you would at age 2 or 3.

How to give flashcards with older children

The right brain learns through flashes of information, quickly and gently. Also through lots and lots of play. If you have flashcards, then take a moment to relax and play with your child and then flash the cards quickly. If you've got foreign language, classical music, science, or other types of educational CDs or DVDs, then you can teach a tremendous amount of information simply by playing them in the background while your child is playing.

If your child has begun to read, then the left brain is strong. This is when we graduate him/her to the WINK program. Our WINK program teaches you how to re-activate the right brain, linking it with the left, for whole brain utilization. Step 1 of WINK is Alpha-Wave Relaxation. This step is especially important because if a child can be in that semi-meditative state, then the absorptive mind becomes like an infant’s once again. It is really amazing. It also encourages a more calming behavior and overall loving state. Once they are in this mode, flashcards can be shown, and images retained for later use.

TweedleWink DVDs for children over age 6

TweedleWink is perfect for older children who did not have a solid early learning program. These 8-minute flashcard lessons contain basic information in so many topics ranging from Art, Science, Music, Poetry, World Cultures, Speed Reading Readiness, Math, Phonics and Vocabulary Building.

The key to presenting it with success is movement. In class, we provide rebounders for children to jump on while viewing the material playfully. At home, you can use jump ropes, Brain Gym® movements, yoga ball bouncing, and more.

You can begin as early as pregnancy by exposing your child to classical music and world languages, or in early infancy as your baby grows and develops.

Right Brain Education has been used with children at every stage of development. Begin at the beginning, or start wherever your child is right now -- it's never too early, and it's never too late!

Yes.

Although Right Brain Education developed within that type of environment, our products can easily be used in any school or home.

We approach all children in the same exact way -- whether they considered, "gifted," "normal" or "developmentally delayed." This is because such terms are based upon intelligence measurements, which are not applicable in Right Brain Education. All students enter the classroom on equal terms.

Photographic memory and speed reading are abilities that rely upon whether or not the student feels loved, happy and accepted at a deep level. Results from these activities come from a deeply relaxed state, so we often will see results from children and adults who have been deemed "brain injured" -- who have less conscious fears and inhibitions.

So for gifted children, when they can go through the seven steps of the Wink program, they can balance their strong intelligence with intuition and creativity. This is what fuels invention and innovation -- an edge that will bring them much success in life, possibly lifting and accelerating mankind.

This is not a focus for our program.

The goal is to help a child connect with their inner passion to learn. If language becomes a passion for them, they will become curious and hungry to learn and excel. That will naturally bring them into accelerated or gifted programs if regular classes are not adequate.

If math or science is a passion for them, then the same would apply.

When the right brain is used in any educational program -- gifted or not -- a student has more tools to use when learning. They are able to use their whole brain to embrace and process new information, combining creativity and logic to apply and effectively realize what they've learned.

There is a profiling method that we use in the Wink: RIght Brain Education teacher training course that helps us know a child's dominance pattern. But, generally speaking, we do not look for dominances until a child has entered the elementary grade levels and we need to know which hemisphere to strengthen in order to encourage whole brain development.

These activities are outlined in the Wink manual.

In general, creative right-brain Wink games and other activities (such as imagination, art and music) are perfect for children who are overly logical and serious (left brain dominant). Logical left brain activities (such as puzzles, critical thinking games and observation training) help focus a right-brain creative learner.

All students benefit from exercises that use both sides of the body, uniting the hemispheres, encouraging them to work together.

Certain learning programs -- such as the Montessori method -- encourage the development of both sides of the brain.

Yes.

Although Right Brain Education developed within that type of environment, our products can easily be used in any school or home.

For children ages zero to six, you can use our early Right Brain Education program called TweedleWink as a complete curriculum until your child is ready to enter the elementary grade level work.

The benefits of teaching your child TweedleWink during their early years includes a comprehensive knowledge base in math reading (phonics, word decoding, and whole words), cultures, art, music, science, speed-learning, poetry, vocabulary-building... and more!

For children in elementary grade levels, playing Right Brain Education games before working with a standardized or handpicked curriculum will increase their ability to memorize and utilize what they learn.

If you are currently a preschool teacher, Right Brain Education can broaden and accelerate your learning program with very little effort. Flashcards and games can be presented at morning or afternoon "circle time."

If you are currently an elementary or high school teacher, Right Brain Education will help maximize your program. You can make the most of your students' capacity to learn and then be relaxed enough to mentally remember the material for success in taking tests. Ten minutes is all you need to help your students maximize instruction.