Mistacres Blog

Online education has become a strong alternative to as well as for public schools.  It used to be a way for college students to get courses that didn’t otherwise fit into their schedule or to help them graduate sooner. Then high schools began to use online learning as a way for credit recovery, allowing students to retake courses that they did not pass the first time. Now, however, online learning is being used by families choosing to homeschool or who are on the move and look for a consistent learning environment and by schools looking for a more cost-effective way to supplement education to students having a difficult time in learning the traditional way.

Friday’s Quotes

I want to share with you some quotes from inspired people in history. These quotes have always made me happy and given me something to think about. They have led me to decide to provide online education to children.

“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child.” 
–George Bernard Shaw

“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” 
– Jim Rohn

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” 
– Socrates

As educators, we need to foster children to become Life-Long Learners!

Feeding your Brain for Better Individualized Learning

Part 4

Can changing our eating habits really help our child’s learning?  It can if we turn our backs on the American food culture and go back to the natural diet of our ancestors.   We can help restore their memories and ability to concentrate.  In short, as parents in control of our child’s diet we can help lead them to a more successful and happy academic experience.

Note:  This winter found me in Sanibel, Florida caring for my parents. While there, I renewed my acquaintance with Carol and since have become a patient as well as a friend.

Carol Simontacchi is a nationally recognized author, nutritionist and educator.  Her book, “The Crazy Makers- How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Brains and Harming our Children”, discusses the negative effects our current diet has on the learning process for children.   Carol is also the host of “Your Personal Health,” a nationally syndicated radio show that airs on over two hundred stations.  My special thanks to her for all she has done for me and for taking the time to write this article for my site.

Feeding your Brain for Better Individualized Learning

Part 3

The American diet is seriously deficient in essential fats, a deficiency that seriously (and rapidly) erodes mental health.   One peer-reviewed journal noted that low serum fats were associated with “malicious attitude toward others” in women, and a “domineering, aggressive attitude toward others” in men.   Low fat diets are linked with depression, memory loss, and other cognitive and behavioral disorders.   If it cant have those effects on adults, just think what it can do to our children.  Children should never be put on a low-fat diet!

3.   Avoid chemicals that poison our foods.    Food chemicals  can inflict real damage to the brain.  Common food additives are MSG and aspartame, or flavor enhancers like sodium lactate. Unfortunately, only a handful of the thousands of additives routinely added to processed foods have been tested for influences on the brain so we really do not know what effects they may have.

Feeding your Brain for Better Individualized Learning

Part 2

Just as pseudo-foods negatively influence the brain, nutritious foods  can  heal the brain and allow optimal learning.  How do we do this?

1.  Abandon the American food culture and adopt a more natural way of eating.  Natural food is minimally processed such as fresh fruits and vegetables,  ocean-raised fish, lean organic, range-fed poultry, beef and other meats, raw nuts and seeds, and limited amounts of whole non-hybridized grains.

2.  Provide specific nutrients that support the brain.  This step is more complex and requires more insight into the biochemistry of the brain but is not difficult.  Given the fact that most of us have a sub-optimal diet, we need to compensate for chronic malnutrition.

Certain nutrients are particularly important to the brain function, like magnesium, zinc, B complex, and chromium.  Over 76% of Americans are deficient in magnesium.  While the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)  for zinc is about 15 mg for adults, the average adult only takes in about 5 mg per day. Zinc deficiency has a powerful negative impact on the brain. How much does your child need? You may wish to consult with a nutritionist who can assess your child’s diet and needs.

Feeding your Brain for Better Individualized Learning

Part 1

by Carol Simontacchi

Food used to be grown on the land.  It used to swim in the rivers and oceans or walk through the forests.  It was rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fats, and natural sugars, and these natural constituents of food fed our brains.

Pseudo-foods deprive the brain of the building blocks to keep it healthy; they contain materials that are toxic to the brain.  Pseudo-foods can include  infant formulas, canned baby foods, packaged lunch entrees for kids, canned soups, most breakfast cereals, pasteurized homogenized milk products, packaged breads and pasta, soft drinks, fruit juices, all packaged snack items, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables, boxes of entrée mixes (like Hamburger Helper, for example), dessert items (cookies, cakes, candies, ice cream, etc), and the list goes on.  (I know – you are asking yourself “What’s left?!’ )

Can these foods inhibit our ability to learn?  How do they affect how our children  focus and achieve in schools?  These pseudo-foods can create feelings of  depression, ADHD, hyperactivity, or anger for no reason.  Do you have a child who has difficulties in school?  Maybe one thing you should look at is the school menu or perhaps, if they take lunches to school, what is packed in those lunches.

I want to share with you some quotes from inspired people in history. These quotes have always made me happy and given me something to think about. They have led me to decide to provide online education to children.

“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” Will Durant

You only stop learning when you dies…and then, maybe not.

“Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don’t know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it.” 
– Sir William Haley

The teacher’s goal should be to create Life Long Learners.

“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. 
”- Will Durant

The more you know, the more you want to learn.