I recently attended a church council meeting and noticed that one of the members was "doodling".
Bored, I wondered?
Creating a visual illustration, maybe?
No, just doodling.
The conversation turned to doodlers and the comment was made that doodlers retain more information than nondoodlers.
I later Googled "doodlers" and found that indeed a study had been done and printed in TIME which showed exactly that.
In a delightful new study, which will be published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, psychologist Jackie Andrade of the University of Plymouth in southern England showed that doodlers actually remember more than nondoodlers when asked to retain tediously delivered information, like, say, during a boring meeting or a lecture.
Read more: Time.com
The pages in my mind turned to our daily "table time".
Every morning we gather together at the table for a review of the days' schedule, Bible, read-alouds, and spelling.
It has been my practice to expect the boys to sit quietly, eyes on me.
Five boys.
One hour.
Yeah, right!!
It has no doubt caused some frustration and impatience on my part and theirs.
Until. . . I was at this meeting and heard about doodlers.
The light bulb went off and I made an announcement the following morning. . .
"You may each draw in your notebook during table time."
Wooo Hooo! The boys were excited and they've been doodling ever since!
And there has definitely been less distraction and goofing off.
The doodling has turned into drawing throughout the day.
We've had the Draw.Write.NOW. set of books for many years.
The boys still pull them out every year mainly during the winter months.
It's always interesting to see what they create.
So here's to doodling and drawing during roundtable meetings or mom's table time!
Happy Wednesday,
Heather
Hey, those books looks familiar! Our kids go through seasons of drawing where they get all the books spread out on the kitchen table. I always love listening to them when they are all busy with their sketches.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, and now I'm curious to find out who the church doodler is.....
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
Ha Ha. . I am curious too :) I will be trying this. . . so you think they really were more attentive and not distracted?
ReplyDeleteIt took me a few months of homeschooling to figure out that my son with ADD learns better when he's doodling. It gives his hands something to do so that his brain can concentrate on what's being taught. Oddly enough, he does so much better on his oral spelling tests when he's hanging upside down in his chair like the monkey he is! I think we should all remember that God created us to be unique individuals - each with different talents, gifts, advantages and disadvantages. Why then, should we expect that everyone have the same learning needs?
ReplyDelete