Emotions Affect Learning

Do you realize a person’s emotions affect learning? Stay tuned to this special episode with Jessica Parnell, CEO of Bridgeway Academy.

Emotions Affect Learning – Episode 355

Today we will focus on home emotions affect learning. Do you realize that negative emotions can impair the ability of your child to learn? Today, our expert guest, Jessica Parnell – CEO Bridgeway Academy joins Felice Gerwitz. Jessica explains what this means and how you can use this knowledge to teach your children effectively.

Are you looking for help for the upcoming school year with a curriculum that will be a great fit for your children? Custom curriculum designs and online classes. Thanks to our sponsor! Bridgeway Academy

Here is the first podcast – Tap Into Your Learning Potential with Jessica Parnell – a lot of great explanation about terminology.

Some of the questions we discussed:

What part of the brain is affected by emotions?
Can a child who is frustrated or upset learn?
How do we help kids settle down when their emotions are high?
What are some ways we can help kids reappraise?

When we are upset our brains are set for fight or flight, Kids who are struggling are approaching learning with stress and it can compound when our emotions rise. We can’t think when we are angry, and often things are said in anger that would never be said when we are calm.

When you are emotional – you can not think.

What triggers emotion? We need to be aware of this because it is different for everyone. A difficult subject can trigger an emotional response. Driving in traffic is another trigger for an adult. Think about it and think about your children and when they get upset.

Emotions and Learning;

Threat to status
Uncertainty – lack of certainty can put kids on edge. Consistency is important. With certainty, the child has an understanding of what he/she is supposed to do, and children need certainty to feel secure. You are meeting a child where they are.
Autonomy – one of the greatest gift we can give to our children is ownership. Letting them step up to do things, this gives them a sense of autonomy and preparing them for life! It will short circuit an emotional trigger that may lead to a lack of self-control. Staying ahead can help them build the tools to keep them under self-control.

Calm Kids

One strategy is labeling. Speak what they are feeling, this engages the thinking part of their brain which dampens emotions. This also encourages self-control
Help kids refrain from what they are doing. Time for a break Refrain from the emotional outburst. Sometimes we battle to get a lesson completed.
Stop and come back to it later

Emotions Effect Learning And Battles Don’t Help!

When we battle it doesn’t help kids to stay calm, or have self-control
Don’t push it – but do come back to it.
When emotions are high kids can’t comprehend.
When emotions are high parents and kids become tense and affect the household

What works:

Sometimes changing the schedule really helps.
Do come back to it after the kids have moved around, this helps their learning

Remember:

Our kids have been designed for a purpose.
Philippians 4:8 – One of Jessica’s favorite verse.
We can program ourselves to look at our kids in a negative way and instead of a positive way
We need to discipline those things that are not good, but we don’t want to use the negative to identify our children

Reappraisal Helps Our Kids Control Emotions

Strategy for helping our kids get under control, it is a cognitive change. When our kids do get under control they suppress emotions (emotion is still there and there is pressure) instead of reappraising.
Change through a cognitive change – what will we do to shift that emotion to something else. Allows thinking clearly.
When frustrated make a cognitive change that can be taking a break. Let’s talk about it and talk about approaching it first. It helps us when we are under stress.
Reappraisal dampens our emotions. We don’t need to be upset.

If you have trouble getting emotions under control

The number way to regulate emotions is to control yourself.
Use these tools
Talk to someone
Get a support network
When the home is calm it makes all the difference in your homeschool efforts.

More about Bridgeway Academy:

Bridgeway was founded in 1989 in response to the need for more freedom in education and the protection that accreditation offers for homeschooling families. Since then, more than 30,000 K-12 students and many charter and brick-and-mortar schools have made Bridgeway their trusted education partner. We are passionate about providing individualized educational solutions.

With an accredited homeschool program, we ensure that our students’ hard work is recognized, that they have access to coveted scholarships and that their future is wide open. Bridgeway is committed to the highest level of service, support, and academics, which is why we have worked hard to obtain accreditation through AdvancEd, NCA CASI, and The National Association of Private Schools.

Bridgeway’s programs are designed to empower students to learn how and when is best for them. We weave flexibility into every area of our programs, including scheduling, teaching, learning, and course selection. So, whether families are seeking an alternative to public schools, have a child with special needs who needs more, or are nurturing an elite athlete with a highly-demanding schedule, Bridgeway has designed flexible, customized homeschool programs that put families’ needs first.

We offer a-la-carte course and kits including all-inclusive curriculum kits, Live Online Classes and self-paced courses.

We also offer a wide variety of our “Total Care” packages through our academy. Each Total Care Package is tailored to how a child learns best and includes everything the family needs for their best year. All curriculum, all grades and records, with the support of an academic advisor each step of the way.

Special Thanks to Our Network Sponsor -Bridgeway Academy!

Bridgeway Academy was founded in 1989 in response to the need for more freedom in education as well as the protection that accreditation offers for homeschooling families. Since then, more than 30,000 K–12 students, and many charter and brick-and-mortar schools, have made Bridgeway Academy their trusted education partner.

As part of our commitment to personalized homeschooling, we are proud to offer both secular and Christian options for homeschool families, charter schools, state organizations, co-ops, athletic organizations, arts schools, and others who seek flexible education options for their families.