Any child can be in a
Freeze, Fight, Flight,
or
Fawn
reactive state. It is a fact of existence - these
Four F's
are part of our daily lives. Our brains are designed for a different era - a time long ago when
grass was tall and cats were big
. The trouble is that we do not live in that time. Any child's brain can
Anticipate, Ruminate
and
Perseverate
on issues that might (or might not) be real - there are no tigers in the house today. Sam's Dinosaur focuses on the brain's Amygdala.
We each have two amygdalae - one in each hemisphere - that regulate how we handle stressful situations.
The word
Amygdala
is simply
Latin
for
Almond
, because early neuroscientists realized that the anatomical likeness was to an almond nut.
The Amygdala is the center of emotional reaction like fear and frustration, anxiety and sadness.
When our emotional wellbeing feels overloaded we will sometimes react in a way that causes people to question our behavior.
Sometimes we react without thinking and are unaware at the time of the damage we are doing. We might say to ourselves afterwords:
What was I thinking?
How could I have said (or done) those terrible things to people I love?
In
Sam's Dinosaur Brain
, we describe the ancient remnant of an evolutionary brain that was designed to keep us safe from tigers in the wild, or unexpected attack. We bring the amygdala into today's social context in playground or classroom and show the reader that we can be in charge of our dinosaur brain; that we can regulate our emotional state with simple strategies. Strategies are built on:
Simple graphical representations of neuroscience knowledge about a child's brain.
Colorful stick figures that enable every child see themselves in the action.
Simple easy to understand choices that grow the reader's
mental model
concerning stress and remedies to overcoming stress.
For the adult, teacher, guardian, or parent the book summarizes the solution with a clear and vivid description of how and when to use this simple method to help children overcome the stressful situation.
The take away message is simple.
It is like riding a bike. The child wasn't born able to ride a bike. Yet, when we taught the child how to become proficient on a bike, we built and strengthened (over time) primary neural (white matter) structures that stay for the child's life.
Brain is malleable
. Every day it changes and rewires itself in response to practice that the child undertakes alone or with friends, parents, teachers, so that white matter structures are strong and long lasting.
By strengthening neuronal structures teachers contribute to life skills, which last throughout the child's life. First we co-regulate with the child in a safe psychological, co-created space and then we support the child's journey to self-regulation.
The design and production is simple, gentle, and intended to not overwhelm any child's working memory or sensitivity to too much stimulation. Enjoy!