WEBVTT - Kathryn Berkett: Every child studies differently 0:00:05.761 --> 0:00:09.441 You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks. 0:00:09.641 --> 0:00:46.521 Be good friends, and welcome back. This is the Weekend Collective. 0:00:46.521 --> 0:00:48.601 If you just joined us, you're a couple of hours late. 0:00:48.641 --> 0:00:50.361 But if you hit our couple of hours late, you 0:00:50.361 --> 0:00:53.081 want to catch our earlier hours. The panel with Mark 0:00:53.121 --> 0:00:56.201 Krassel and Wilhelmine Shrimpton. Great fun, Wilhelm and is just 0:00:56.201 --> 0:00:59.281 Scott engaged. We had a bit of not fun at 0:00:59.281 --> 0:01:02.121 her expense. We celebrated that a little bit. And also 0:01:02.201 --> 0:01:05.001 the Wonderof Radio show with Debbie Roberts from Property of 0:01:05.441 --> 0:01:07.761 But right now the Parents Squad and my guest is 0:01:07.881 --> 0:01:13.241 Catherine Burkett. Good afternoon, Good afternoon. How are you doing 0:01:13.321 --> 0:01:16.401 all right? Keep me out of my good thank you? 0:01:16.601 --> 0:01:18.361 Well sort of, that's good. 0:01:18.361 --> 0:01:23.241 That's good, that's good. We want to talk about the 0:01:23.281 --> 0:01:26.961 whole kids study and homework thing. And I said tomorrow 0:01:27.001 --> 0:01:28.561 they go back to school, but of course it's Monday. 0:01:28.601 --> 0:01:32.481 I think I must be mentally on Sunday already. And 0:01:33.641 --> 0:01:36.721 just the best way to get your kids to study, 0:01:37.641 --> 0:01:40.121 let's just say successfully, let's not put too much on it. 0:01:40.161 --> 0:01:41.961 You want them to study what they need to study. 0:01:42.081 --> 0:01:43.841 You want them to do well, you're not reay to 0:01:43.921 --> 0:01:46.041 grind their gears too much. But then again, you want 0:01:46.041 --> 0:01:48.721 them to spend the time that they're spending effectively, so 0:01:49.401 --> 0:01:52.081 things like playing music and all that. What did I mean, 0:01:52.201 --> 0:01:55.841 what was your approach as a as a mum to 0:01:56.601 --> 0:01:59.761 kids homework and especially exam time, study time. 0:02:01.841 --> 0:02:04.561 Yeah, there's some brain science around it. I mean, the 0:02:04.561 --> 0:02:07.561 brain science says that we can't multitask and when we're 0:02:07.801 --> 0:02:10.921 doing multi things that our brain is trying to concentrate on, 0:02:11.201 --> 0:02:14.321 you know, opening up different areas of the brain. But 0:02:14.401 --> 0:02:18.161 in practical terms, certainly through lockdown when my kids were 0:02:18.161 --> 0:02:23.081 trying to do work, my daughter wants complete silence and 0:02:23.161 --> 0:02:25.281 so I couldn't even play any music when she was 0:02:25.641 --> 0:02:28.081 trying to study. But I remember one day my son 0:02:29.041 --> 0:02:30.841 actually wasn't during lockdown. He was a bit behind on 0:02:30.961 --> 0:02:35.281 work and he was in the lounge. He said he'd 0:02:35.321 --> 0:02:37.201 get his stuff finished because in the lounge he had 0:02:37.241 --> 0:02:39.281 the TV on, he had his phone next to him 0:02:40.041 --> 0:02:42.161 watching the basketball or something. And I went in he 0:02:42.201 --> 0:02:43.721 was working. I was like, nah, you need to turn 0:02:43.761 --> 0:02:45.441 all that off. And I said, just a minute, actually, 0:02:45.441 --> 0:02:47.001 I'll tell you what, show me what you're up to 0:02:47.201 --> 0:02:49.001 what you've done. I'm going to come back in an 0:02:49.041 --> 0:02:50.641 hour and I'm going to check in and how much 0:02:50.681 --> 0:02:53.281 you've done. And he had done a heap of work 0:02:53.721 --> 0:02:55.401 and he got it all done by the end of 0:02:55.441 --> 0:02:57.041 the day. And the teacher even wrote and said she 0:02:57.041 --> 0:03:00.241 couldn't believe how much work he had got completed. So 0:03:00.321 --> 0:03:01.121 there's science. 0:03:02.041 --> 0:03:04.201 And actually that's counterintuitive to me. 0:03:06.721 --> 0:03:11.601 Absolutely to me as well, Yeah, that's. 0:03:11.441 --> 0:03:16.401 Interesting because I would think, I think, okay, because I 0:03:16.401 --> 0:03:19.441 haven't thought about this too much, but I look back 0:03:19.481 --> 0:03:22.641 to when in terms of just being hassled to do homework. 0:03:22.681 --> 0:03:26.161 But I think it's probably about the environment. So if 0:03:26.201 --> 0:03:29.681 he's watching the basketball, I don't think he's working. But 0:03:29.761 --> 0:03:31.601 if he's got the basketball on because he loves the 0:03:31.681 --> 0:03:33.721 vibe of it and it's something when he sits back, 0:03:33.761 --> 0:03:35.561 he goes, oh, what's the score, I'll call on back 0:03:35.561 --> 0:03:38.801 into it. If the environment is conducive to him to study, 0:03:38.921 --> 0:03:43.321 I can see why that would work. But if it's 0:03:43.361 --> 0:03:44.721 if he's on his phone, well. 0:03:44.641 --> 0:03:47.201 We need it. Yeah, that's what we need to just 0:03:47.441 --> 0:03:49.721 And that's what I'm saying. It's totally opposite to what 0:03:49.841 --> 0:03:52.721 I would have I couldn't do it. But what we've 0:03:52.761 --> 0:03:54.841 got to do as parents is stop telling them to 0:03:54.841 --> 0:03:57.561 put a jersey on because we're cold. Right. So, so 0:03:57.721 --> 0:04:01.481 that's the way that my brain worked, So I'm assuming 0:04:01.521 --> 0:04:04.161 that's the way his brain works. And it's not like 0:04:04.241 --> 0:04:05.921 I like music. I like to go. I'm writing a 0:04:05.961 --> 0:04:07.281 book at the moment, and I have to go down 0:04:07.321 --> 0:04:10.041 to a cafe where it's noisy, where it's where it's 0:04:10.441 --> 0:04:12.441 really busy so that I can focus. If I sit 0:04:12.481 --> 0:04:13.881 at home, I can't do it. 0:04:13.921 --> 0:04:14.081 Now. 0:04:14.161 --> 0:04:16.281 Other people say they could never do that. What we've 0:04:16.281 --> 0:04:18.401 got to do is say to a young people, is 0:04:18.961 --> 0:04:22.001 you prove to me that you can get work done 0:04:22.041 --> 0:04:24.641 in this space. I'll check in on you. And if 0:04:24.681 --> 0:04:28.841 they are, then how are we to say, would you 0:04:28.841 --> 0:04:29.481 put a jewzy on? 0:04:30.841 --> 0:04:33.801 Actually, I do think that it's easy to confuse it. 0:04:34.361 --> 0:04:35.881 When you were talking about he had what did he 0:04:35.921 --> 0:04:39.121 have on? He had music and the basketball or what 0:04:39.241 --> 0:04:39.481 was it? 0:04:39.801 --> 0:04:41.841 Yeah, the basketball when he had his phone next to him, 0:04:41.841 --> 0:04:45.601 which to me is very distracting. But yeah, you. 0:04:45.801 --> 0:04:48.921 See, because I think that if he was actually watching 0:04:48.961 --> 0:04:51.601 the basketball actively, then he wouldn't have been getting the 0:04:51.601 --> 0:04:53.641 work done. But do you think it? You think what 0:04:53.641 --> 0:04:55.921 I said before is more closer to the point that 0:04:56.241 --> 0:04:59.441 he was. Simply, it's like his version of a busy cafe. 0:04:59.761 --> 0:05:01.841 Some people like a you know, sit there with a 0:05:01.881 --> 0:05:04.361 coffee or something. There are people coming in and going, 0:05:04.401 --> 0:05:06.881 but you focus on things and you like the atmosphere. 0:05:06.921 --> 0:05:10.321 You who run. Whereas if he was watching it, it 0:05:10.361 --> 0:05:14.001 would be okay, buddy, you've been watching that and cheering 0:05:14.641 --> 0:05:16.881 and what have you got done? Bugger all. 0:05:18.481 --> 0:05:20.241 Yeah, And that's exactly it. So I gave him a 0:05:20.481 --> 0:05:23.121 chance to show and then as a you know, I 0:05:23.121 --> 0:05:25.521 would keep checking in. If you were thinking, Okay, they've 0:05:25.521 --> 0:05:27.481 done the first hour and they've got it done. Next 0:05:27.481 --> 0:05:30.081 minute they think, oh cool, mum, that they're not watching 0:05:30.161 --> 0:05:32.361 me anymore, I'm off the hook, I would just say, 0:05:32.481 --> 0:05:35.241 if you want all this distraction around you, then you 0:05:35.321 --> 0:05:36.881 need to prove that you can still get it done. 0:05:36.921 --> 0:05:38.601 So I'm just going to check in every hour, every 0:05:38.601 --> 0:05:40.201 couple of hours, and I want to see that there's 0:05:40.241 --> 0:05:41.921 some more work done. And if they are doing it, 0:05:41.921 --> 0:05:45.641 then were we to judge what they're doing. But if 0:05:45.641 --> 0:05:47.921 they're not, then you have the right to say, no, 0:05:48.041 --> 0:05:50.401 that's distracting. You are watching it now, I can see 0:05:50.401 --> 0:05:54.961 that it's got down to the final whatever, and that's okay. 0:05:55.001 --> 0:05:57.601 But I think what we're doing is we're assuming that 0:05:57.601 --> 0:06:00.841 that's how I studied, that's how I learned, therefore that's 0:06:00.841 --> 0:06:04.121 how they should and that's not the right way of parenting. 0:06:04.321 --> 0:06:07.201 How do you, well, just from your own point of view, 0:06:07.241 --> 0:06:10.161 how do you best get stuff done? Do you need 0:06:10.361 --> 0:06:15.241 silence or do you need some other sort of vibe? 0:06:17.121 --> 0:06:18.521 Yeah, Like I said, I'm trying to write a book, 0:06:18.521 --> 0:06:21.201 and I don't like writing. I talk much better than 0:06:21.241 --> 0:06:23.281 I write, So I do go down to a cafe 0:06:23.321 --> 0:06:25.681 where there's lots of distraction and I have I feel 0:06:25.721 --> 0:06:29.521 like I have to hone in and concentrate, Whereas at 0:06:29.521 --> 0:06:30.801 home I'm sort of up and I'll go do the 0:06:30.881 --> 0:06:33.641 washing or do something else. You'll find something to distract me. 0:06:33.761 --> 0:06:37.001 So I prefer chaos around me. But I grew up 0:06:37.001 --> 0:06:41.121 with five siblings and a mad household, so potentially that's 0:06:41.321 --> 0:06:44.161 or maybe it's just genetics. I don't know what is it. 0:06:44.201 --> 0:06:48.601 I mean, your specialty is a neuroscience. What is what 0:06:48.641 --> 0:06:52.161 do we know about the way the brain works in 0:06:52.161 --> 0:06:57.561 this respect in terms of learning, focusing, studying. 0:06:59.881 --> 0:07:03.361 What we what we shouldn't be doing is multitasking. So 0:07:03.401 --> 0:07:06.001 when and we can't multitask, but that word is used 0:07:06.041 --> 0:07:07.761 to think that we do two things at once, but 0:07:07.801 --> 0:07:09.681 what we're actually doing is shutting down one part of 0:07:09.681 --> 0:07:12.081 our brain and opening up the other. So we can't 0:07:12.081 --> 0:07:14.201 do things like right and then check an email and 0:07:14.241 --> 0:07:17.761 then answer the phone call. That's multitasking. But if you've 0:07:17.761 --> 0:07:20.041 got something and you were describing the basketball as being 0:07:20.361 --> 0:07:24.361 a background thing, that's a really lower brain behavior. It's 0:07:24.521 --> 0:07:27.681 very procedural. We don't have to concentrate on it. That 0:07:27.801 --> 0:07:30.761 actually arms the brain. I was doing a presentation yesterday 0:07:30.761 --> 0:07:32.921 and there was a lady knitting up there and showed 0:07:32.961 --> 0:07:35.121 me all of the knittings she'd got done. And that's 0:07:35.161 --> 0:07:38.481 a very low lower brain procedural thing that helps the 0:07:38.561 --> 0:07:42.801 upper brain engage. But you can't do multiple upper brain 0:07:42.921 --> 0:07:46.081 things because we have to switch between them. That's not good. 0:07:46.201 --> 0:07:49.321 So you don't want them going on social media and 0:07:49.361 --> 0:07:51.041 then going back to their work and doing that. Do 0:07:51.041 --> 0:07:53.041 you see? You don't want them. And the reason I 0:07:53.041 --> 0:07:54.761 could leave my son with his phone is because he's 0:07:54.761 --> 0:07:57.201 not a social media person. If it was my daughter, 0:07:57.681 --> 0:07:59.841 I probably would have taken the phone off because she's 0:07:59.841 --> 0:08:01.961 a social media person and she might have been switching 0:08:02.001 --> 0:08:04.721 into that, But again that's up to you as a parent. 0:08:05.121 --> 0:08:11.081 Brain can't switch between cognitive tasks. Sorry, it switches between 0:08:11.081 --> 0:08:13.801 it and that uses energy. It can't do two cognitive 0:08:13.801 --> 0:08:14.481 tasks at once. 0:08:15.561 --> 0:08:17.881 Okay, this has made me rethink a couple of things 0:08:17.881 --> 0:08:20.881 with my own kids, because we're on a bit of 0:08:20.881 --> 0:08:24.441 a warpath about phones. Just you know, my kids are 0:08:24.481 --> 0:08:27.801 not that old either. They're twelve and thirteen, and we're 0:08:27.841 --> 0:08:30.681 sort of on the warpath because we want them to 0:08:31.001 --> 0:08:33.401 not rely on their phones. As every parent, you don't 0:08:33.401 --> 0:08:35.601 want them to be joined at the hippen. They can 0:08:35.641 --> 0:08:38.841 be addictive. But for instance, I think my daughter, one 0:08:38.841 --> 0:08:41.761 of my daughters, likes to have a bit of music 0:08:41.761 --> 0:08:43.961 on when she's doing her homework, and I think we 0:08:44.041 --> 0:08:45.921 might have rained on that, paraded a bit. But now 0:08:45.921 --> 0:08:48.721 I'm sort of thinking maybe so long as she's not 0:08:48.921 --> 0:08:52.761 checking her messages all the time, because I suspect that's 0:08:52.801 --> 0:08:55.721 the music is the pretext for being able to keep 0:08:55.721 --> 0:08:58.641 in touch on the messages. But if it was just 0:08:58.761 --> 0:09:01.321 music and that's what she wants to listen to she's 0:09:01.321 --> 0:09:04.081 got her headphones on, then I'm thinking I need to 0:09:04.161 --> 0:09:04.961 chill out on that a bit. 0:09:06.521 --> 0:09:08.281 Yeah, And in all honesty, what I'd do is, if 0:09:08.281 --> 0:09:10.441 it's only music that she wants, then she can put 0:09:10.441 --> 0:09:12.601 the music on, she can transfer it to her headphones, 0:09:12.641 --> 0:09:14.761 and the phone can stay next to you and she 0:09:14.881 --> 0:09:18.241 still gets her music. And you know she's not checking 0:09:18.281 --> 0:09:20.761 your messages, right, So if it is about the music, 0:09:20.761 --> 0:09:22.521 then she can agree to that and she can have 0:09:22.561 --> 0:09:23.001 the music. 0:09:23.241 --> 0:09:25.601 What's music? Because you talk about the upper brain up, 0:09:26.401 --> 0:09:28.961 what's the expression you used upper and lower one of 0:09:28.961 --> 0:09:31.121 them's in the background and the other ones. You know, 0:09:31.241 --> 0:09:32.561 that's multitasking level. 0:09:34.321 --> 0:09:36.361 Yeah, So I use the words red and green brain 0:09:36.401 --> 0:09:38.721 when I train, And the red brain is the lower brain. 0:09:38.761 --> 0:09:40.641 It's the two year old brain. It's what we can do. 0:09:41.121 --> 0:09:44.001 It's the stuff that we do without thinking, procedural stuff, 0:09:44.441 --> 0:09:47.441 automatic stuff. And then the green brain is the very cortical, 0:09:47.681 --> 0:09:51.681 executive functioning, thinking processing part of the brain. Really, so 0:09:51.721 --> 0:09:53.961 we can have something like music, or we could walk, 0:09:54.161 --> 0:09:56.761 or we could be sitting on a Swiss ball. You know, 0:09:56.841 --> 0:09:58.641 those sorts of things are really good for the lower 0:09:58.641 --> 0:10:01.001 part of the brain. The lady who was knitting was 0:10:01.081 --> 0:10:03.001 very clear to me that she didn't have a she 0:10:03.001 --> 0:10:04.721 didn't have a pattern. She was just doing it all 0:10:04.721 --> 0:10:07.521 from me. If she'd been looking at a pattern and 0:10:07.561 --> 0:10:10.001 having to learn a new way of knitting, that would 0:10:10.001 --> 0:10:13.441 have been upper brain, green brain. But she was very procedural. 0:10:13.481 --> 0:10:15.681 She knew how to do it without even thinking. So 0:10:15.761 --> 0:10:18.441 that's the difference. You can do a lower brain in 0:10:18.441 --> 0:10:20.921 an upper brain task at the same time, but two 0:10:21.001 --> 0:10:24.601 upper brain tasks require switching between an energy transfer. 0:10:25.961 --> 0:10:27.481 Okay, by the way, you want your calls on this 0:10:27.521 --> 0:10:28.961 O eight hundred and eighty ten and eight. How do 0:10:29.001 --> 0:10:31.921 you approach getting your kids? Oh, I want to find 0:10:31.961 --> 0:10:33.761 a nice way of asking this question. Sorry, I guess 0:10:33.801 --> 0:10:35.801 opposed to getting your kids to do this? How do 0:10:35.921 --> 0:10:41.001 you support support that? Thank you, thank you, Catherine. How 0:10:41.041 --> 0:10:44.161 do you support your kids to get their homework done 0:10:44.881 --> 0:10:47.961 or their exam study done to a level where they 0:10:48.001 --> 0:10:52.161 are going to do their best and give themselves a 0:10:52.161 --> 0:10:55.561 good chance at success? And I didn't say maximize because 0:10:55.601 --> 0:10:57.681 I think that just implies all this pressure and everything 0:10:57.681 --> 0:10:59.721 that you're going to do. You're going to nail everything. 0:10:59.721 --> 0:11:02.561 But so your kids are establishing themselves with good habits, 0:11:02.841 --> 0:11:04.401 so when they turn up for the exam, they've done 0:11:04.441 --> 0:11:05.921 the work they need to do to give them a 0:11:05.921 --> 0:11:09.161 good shot at really doing well, and do you actually 0:11:09.641 --> 0:11:11.921 ride them on it? Because I always had to think 0:11:11.921 --> 0:11:14.321 of my own childhood because my kids aren't at exam 0:11:14.361 --> 0:11:17.241 age yet. And I don't know if my mum ever 0:11:17.321 --> 0:11:21.921 told me to go and study Catherine. I think she 0:11:22.121 --> 0:11:24.081 might have, but I might have ignored her, and I 0:11:24.201 --> 0:11:26.201 just I was a last minute sort of guy anyway, 0:11:26.601 --> 0:11:28.361 And I think I've got the exam tomorrow, I better 0:11:28.441 --> 0:11:31.521 do some work on it, which was probably not ideal. 0:11:32.001 --> 0:11:34.201 But then again, I think if Mama just nagged me 0:11:34.241 --> 0:11:36.001 into doing it when she thought I should do it, 0:11:36.281 --> 0:11:39.081 I'm not sure that what that would have achieved. Maybe 0:11:39.161 --> 0:11:43.601 a plus, who knows. 0:11:43.881 --> 0:11:46.281 I mean, come on, life is we're successful in life 0:11:46.321 --> 0:11:48.961 because we make our own track. So if you're going 0:11:49.001 --> 0:11:50.961 to have to nag and nag and nag, then seriously, 0:11:51.001 --> 0:11:53.881 what's that meaning for your child's future? And also there's 0:11:53.921 --> 0:11:57.441 so much genetics. I never really pushed my kids in 0:11:57.481 --> 0:11:59.521 a big way to study, and my daughter was just 0:11:59.561 --> 0:12:01.801 a massive studyer, that's just what she did. My son 0:12:01.881 --> 0:12:04.041 not so much. I actually had to ask my daughter 0:12:04.121 --> 0:12:07.041 to stop studying sometimes and chill out. But you know, 0:12:07.361 --> 0:12:10.401 completely the opposite for my son, so there was the difference. 0:12:10.441 --> 0:12:12.881 But you're definitely if you're going to nag, that's not 0:12:12.921 --> 0:12:17.601 going to work. Also, the brain can't continue to concentrate 0:12:17.641 --> 0:12:19.841 in the green brain for long periods of time, so 0:12:19.881 --> 0:12:21.801 we do need to let them have brakes, go for 0:12:21.841 --> 0:12:24.921 a walk, have something to eat, you know, stop and 0:12:24.961 --> 0:12:29.641 do something that's not cognitive brain. So you know, laugh 0:12:29.681 --> 0:12:30.041 with you. 0:12:30.801 --> 0:12:37.641 Yeah, I'm hilarious. It's easy. He actually just on that. 0:12:37.801 --> 0:12:39.441 I've got lots of questions. I've got a few texts 0:12:39.481 --> 0:12:43.201 on this stuff as well. Let's just go as somebody's 0:12:43.281 --> 0:12:46.321 texting me saying I'm thinking about ADD as I'm listening 0:12:46.321 --> 0:12:51.321 to you, Attention deficit disorder. And of course there's all 0:12:51.321 --> 0:12:53.801 the different acronyms or whatever. I can't keep up with them. 0:12:54.321 --> 0:12:58.921 But are there certain brains that either need not distraction 0:12:59.041 --> 0:13:01.921 but need other stuff going on, like you like the 0:13:02.081 --> 0:13:04.561 noisy cafe and things. But in a way, that's your 0:13:04.601 --> 0:13:07.241 silence from what you described to me, because otherwise you're thinking, 0:13:07.241 --> 0:13:08.641 I've got to go do the washing and do this 0:13:08.681 --> 0:13:12.361 at home, so you remove yourself from distractions. But are 0:13:12.401 --> 0:13:22.041 there certain brains that need stimulation outside music, noise, chaos, 0:13:22.361 --> 0:13:25.361 and what makes the difference between those who need Look 0:13:25.401 --> 0:13:27.641 if I hear a pin drop, I'm distracted. 0:13:29.441 --> 0:13:34.241 And again that's genetics, that is neurodiversity. Absolutely, there's some brains, 0:13:34.441 --> 0:13:38.121 but not every ADHD or add any person works in 0:13:38.161 --> 0:13:43.401 the same way. So there's more difference within neurodiversity categories 0:13:43.441 --> 0:13:45.961 than between. And why I'm saying that is because again, 0:13:46.121 --> 0:13:48.441 just check in with your kid and just say, how 0:13:48.441 --> 0:13:50.641 do you work best? What can I create for you? 0:13:50.721 --> 0:13:53.481 What situation can I create? Again, during lockdown, my daughter 0:13:53.521 --> 0:13:55.321 had to go away and aid to be really careful 0:13:55.321 --> 0:13:58.641 about not playing my music when I was working because 0:13:58.681 --> 0:14:01.601 she found that really difficult and really distracting. So I 0:14:01.641 --> 0:14:05.841 respected her space. So let's check in and yes, this 0:14:06.041 --> 0:14:09.401 diagnosis can help, but actually just ask a young person 0:14:10.041 --> 0:14:13.001 and the diagnoses don't define us. They give us a 0:14:13.041 --> 0:14:13.881 little bit of guidance. 0:14:14.121 --> 0:14:16.001 Yeah, we want to have for you, Oh eight hundred 0:14:16.041 --> 0:14:17.881 eighty ten and eighty what how do you support your 0:14:17.961 --> 0:14:22.281 kids when it comes to studying for exams and homework? 0:14:22.401 --> 0:14:25.201 And is it okay to study with distractions? Because I 0:14:25.201 --> 0:14:28.721 think the point that Catherine Burkert our guest has made 0:14:29.681 --> 0:14:32.161 is that just because your cold, don't make your kids 0:14:32.201 --> 0:14:34.321 stick on a jersey, they might be fine. It's a 0:14:34.321 --> 0:14:36.321 little bit of an approach probably every parents should take 0:14:36.321 --> 0:14:39.121 just about on every issue. I think we'll think of 0:14:39.161 --> 0:14:41.081 some exceptions to that they won't be Catherine in the 0:14:41.081 --> 0:14:44.481 break it is twenty one minutes past five News Talks. 0:14:44.481 --> 0:14:47.321 You'd be helping your kids to study, and also should 0:14:47.361 --> 0:14:50.521 you just let them? Should you push them? Or do 0:14:50.601 --> 0:14:53.721 you need Is there a point where you're like, okay, me, 0:14:53.881 --> 0:14:55.961 Naggin's not going to do it. Maybe you have to 0:14:56.001 --> 0:14:58.201 learn this lesson the hard way. Eight hundred eighty ten 0:14:58.241 --> 0:15:17.121 and eighty twenty one past five. No Crystal Long Sancho 0:15:17.281 --> 0:15:22.201 that she's bad blood paper, Captain Sancho, and welcome back. 0:15:22.281 --> 0:15:24.961 This is the weekend Collective untim Beverage, and this is 0:15:25.001 --> 0:15:28.161 the parents Squad. My guest is she is an educational 0:15:28.161 --> 0:15:33.121 psychologist with her Actually, how do we you've got it? Do? 0:15:33.201 --> 0:15:35.321 I say? With a bent on neuroscience? So how do 0:15:35.361 --> 0:15:37.881 we put it? Catherine Burkeert, you're Acien. 0:15:37.881 --> 0:15:40.881 I'm actually not an I'm not an education with a psychologist. 0:15:41.041 --> 0:15:43.601 I haven't done my registration, but I do have my 0:15:43.721 --> 0:15:46.961 masters of educational psychology, just to clarify, but that's okay. 0:15:47.801 --> 0:15:49.361 I call myself a neuroscience trainer. 0:15:49.961 --> 0:15:54.081 Okay, so you've done a master's in educational psychology and 0:15:54.321 --> 0:15:57.761 you're a neuroscientist. Whether okay, there we go, well, we'll we'll, 0:15:57.881 --> 0:15:59.321 we'll tighten that one. 0:15:59.161 --> 0:16:02.481 Up something like that. And I'm applying for my doctorate. 0:16:02.561 --> 0:16:04.561 So and in six years you'll be able to introduce 0:16:04.601 --> 0:16:07.121 me as a doctor. Fantastic sex years. 0:16:07.641 --> 0:16:09.641 I was actually just chatting with my producer that you 0:16:09.681 --> 0:16:11.961 look very relaxed and bright eyed and bushy tail today 0:16:12.041 --> 0:16:14.761 or something. We're thinking, wonderful, wonder if you wonder what 0:16:14.801 --> 0:16:17.361 you've been what's been keeping you busy or not. 0:16:18.001 --> 0:16:22.881 Been knowing the lawns today? So maybe it's beautiful sunny day. 0:16:22.721 --> 0:16:27.001 Virtuous glow, that's what it is. There we go. You know, 0:16:27.041 --> 0:16:29.361 we're talking, let's take some calls. We're talking about how 0:16:29.361 --> 0:16:31.321 to get your kids to support your kids to study 0:16:31.641 --> 0:16:33.841 and how much you should push them to actually do 0:16:33.961 --> 0:16:37.281 some homework because there will be the procrastinators and the 0:16:37.281 --> 0:16:40.881 prevaricadas and all that. Let's go to a call here, Jan. 0:16:40.801 --> 0:16:47.121 Hello, Hikin and Ti Hi, I have a couple of ideas, 0:16:47.241 --> 0:16:51.361 and I'd like to ask you about Catherine. When I 0:16:51.401 --> 0:16:56.481 was doing my nursing training, I found reading the notes 0:16:56.721 --> 0:17:00.201 onto a tape and then playing the tape while it 0:17:00.321 --> 0:17:04.681 was sleeping at night helped me to retain a lot 0:17:04.721 --> 0:17:08.761 of them information. Quite surprisingly it worked. 0:17:08.801 --> 0:17:11.601 Well, Okay, that's one, we'll love that one away. What 0:17:11.721 --> 0:17:12.481 was the second question? 0:17:13.681 --> 0:17:19.881 And the other one is with communicating with anybody, children especially, 0:17:20.521 --> 0:17:24.481 You can make a mood barometer. It's a bit like 0:17:24.601 --> 0:17:29.161 a clock, and you have on one side all the 0:17:29.241 --> 0:17:35.041 happy adjectives and on the other side all the sad adjectives, 0:17:35.761 --> 0:17:38.321 and you have the big hand in the little hand, 0:17:39.081 --> 0:17:42.761 your little hand. The child can move it to how 0:17:42.801 --> 0:17:48.281 they're feeling their mood and because often they have trouble 0:17:48.321 --> 0:17:53.761 expressing how they're feeling or what they want to communicate, 0:17:54.561 --> 0:18:00.721 and it gives a doorway into the communication between adult 0:18:00.801 --> 0:18:04.881 and child, and the adult can move the large hand 0:18:05.761 --> 0:18:10.561 to indicate how to read in the child. 0:18:10.761 --> 0:18:13.721 What age is the child at this stage when you're doing. 0:18:13.521 --> 0:18:19.761 This, anyone, okay, couple you know, and you can hang 0:18:19.801 --> 0:18:23.841 it on the wall. So it seems you can buy 0:18:23.881 --> 0:18:29.361 a little clip thing literally pushed through the whole to 0:18:29.561 --> 0:18:32.001 join the hands and together. 0:18:32.241 --> 0:18:34.841 That's an interesting one. Does sound like something you could 0:18:34.841 --> 0:18:38.121 also move quite passively aggressively on moving the little hand 0:18:38.161 --> 0:18:40.881 to angry right now. But actually that first to comment 0:18:40.921 --> 0:18:44.001 from jan there on the studying. I have heard about 0:18:44.041 --> 0:18:47.321 people the subliminal stuff when you're sleeping. I must say 0:18:47.361 --> 0:18:49.481 that sounds like the short path to hell for me. 0:18:49.641 --> 0:18:52.161 But is there anything in that you know, her having 0:18:52.241 --> 0:18:54.161 dictated her notes and then playing them back at night 0:18:54.241 --> 0:18:56.521 as she's falling asleep or asleep. 0:18:58.161 --> 0:19:00.481 I can't talk to the sleeping stuff could be. I 0:19:00.841 --> 0:19:03.241 can't say yes or no. But what I definitely know 0:19:03.441 --> 0:19:07.121 is that the more the more ways we put it 0:19:07.121 --> 0:19:08.961 into our brain, if we have to use different parts 0:19:08.961 --> 0:19:12.241 of our cortex to process that information, it actually the 0:19:12.241 --> 0:19:15.681 process of learning is myelination. We connect the cells through myelination. 0:19:16.401 --> 0:19:21.601 That is increased if we're listening and talking, and you 0:19:21.641 --> 0:19:23.801 know that sort of thing. So I always if I 0:19:23.841 --> 0:19:26.081 found something quite difficult, I'd read it out loud to 0:19:26.081 --> 0:19:28.801 myself when I did, because I knew that now I'm 0:19:28.961 --> 0:19:32.481 speaking it and hearing it and reading it all those 0:19:32.481 --> 0:19:35.681 parts of my brain at the same time, increased the 0:19:35.761 --> 0:19:39.361 myelination and increase the likelihood that the brain will remember that. 0:19:39.441 --> 0:19:45.681 So absolutely, the using different modes of sensory does definitely help. 0:19:45.761 --> 0:19:46.921 It's excellent information. 0:19:47.281 --> 0:19:51.881 Yeah. Actually, what's the thing with concentration as well, my 0:19:52.361 --> 0:19:56.401 memory is that when it comes to really learning and 0:19:56.441 --> 0:20:01.161 absorbing information effectively, twenty twenty five minutes at a time 0:20:01.241 --> 0:20:03.161 is pretty much the max you can do when you're 0:20:03.161 --> 0:20:05.721 in that green zone, I guess, Or is it longer 0:20:05.721 --> 0:20:06.601 than that? What do we know? 0:20:08.121 --> 0:20:10.601 Gain genetics, Some people can do it for amazing amounts 0:20:10.601 --> 0:20:12.401 of time, and we've got to be careful about things 0:20:12.441 --> 0:20:14.921 like that. Theoretically, you can't train for more than a 0:20:14.961 --> 0:20:17.001 certain amount of time, but I have for twenty years 0:20:17.041 --> 0:20:19.561 and it's still been you know, people taken info. So 0:20:19.681 --> 0:20:22.921 it also depends on how you do it. To really 0:20:22.961 --> 0:20:25.041 focus is hard. But I can focus. If I get 0:20:25.041 --> 0:20:27.201 into focus, I can do it for an hour and 0:20:27.241 --> 0:20:30.081 I haven't faulted in my focus. If I'm writing, if 0:20:30.121 --> 0:20:33.081 I can get really into that zone, but then other 0:20:33.161 --> 0:20:34.881 days I can't. So I think we need to be 0:20:34.881 --> 0:20:38.641 really careful with words and numbers like that. But you 0:20:38.721 --> 0:20:40.681 can't do it for a long, long period of time 0:20:40.721 --> 0:20:43.321 because it takes a massive amount of energy. So it's 0:20:43.361 --> 0:20:46.561 actually the energy that's being used to activate those parts 0:20:46.601 --> 0:20:49.281 of the brain. You need to go and move and 0:20:49.321 --> 0:20:52.161 walk around and you know, have a dance or something. 0:20:54.041 --> 0:20:56.761 Texas says. My seventeen year old son gets great results 0:20:56.881 --> 0:21:01.001 at school. He has the Big Bang theory on continuously 0:21:01.481 --> 0:21:04.401 while doing his study at home. It drives me nuts 0:21:04.641 --> 0:21:07.001