I love to learn new things! The beginner's mind is so precious, yet as we grow, we become so much more caught up in how learning something will reward us - the end result. Many a times we skip the joys of learning itself.
As a brain scientist, especially someone who has spent many years studying how we pay attention and learn to focus and get better at accomplishing tasks, I love to have conversations with people about how they learn. I wrote The Little Brain book when my first child was a toddler. I loved to see the world through his new eyes - truly a beginners mind!
The Little Brain book was published this summer - hurray! Last week I did my first reading at my daughter's preschool. She's my second child and wasn't even born when I first wrote the book. Time flies, and it takes a long time to publish a book - especially a children's illustrated book. I am so fortunate to have the very talented Grace Wiguna to illustrate the book so beautifully. Her art is honestly what inspired me to have it published.
As I read the book to the 4-5 year olds, we discussed all the secrets of learning I reveal in the book. I loved how each child in the classroom had their own story to tell about how they learn. One said how she practices blowing bubbles in the pool. Another said how he focuses on the soccer ball to kick it hard. We talked about focus, and what it means to challenge yourself. To my surprise, the kids also understood instinctively what "grit" is.
Towards the end I was so engaged in their stories, that I wondered out loud, "Hey kids, do you think you wrote this book?"
Some little minds innocently said yes - we get it - we may have actually written this book 😀😀😀 I felt so proud of them!
The joy of learning was so mutual in this reading - hope to repeat it again and again and each time return to the beginner's mind!
