Who of us wouldn't just love to learn a new language? In fact, every human being is driven to search for meaning. Passive observation is just not enough; it is the interactivity that is so essential. "Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. Let me do, and I understand," says the ancient Chinese proverb. It's one thing to show your child a picture of the ocean, and say "ocean," and quite another thing to let her splash in an ocean and say, "The ocean is water."

There are some principles that drive learning. We all try to create patterns from our environment, and we all learn to some extent through interaction with others. Because ours is a social brain, it's important to build authentic relationships in the classroom and beyond. Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. We want to deeply engage learners with their purposes, values and interests. Thinking and feeling are connected because our patterning is emotional. That means that we need to help learners create a felt meaning, a sense of relationship with a subject, in addition to an intellectual understanding. Once educators and parents grasp that complexity, they begin to function differently in their lives and in their classrooms.

I view teaching as analogous to cooking; excellent gourmet chefs describe the preparation of their favourite dishes with “a little bit of this and a little bit if that.” This approach is recommended for teaching youth development – one that is not set and rigid, but a flexible mixture of learning and teaching formats. “ A little bit of this and a little bit of that” refers to employing a variety of teaching techniques to promote active learning (i.e., student involvement through discussions, reading, and writing) by engaging the student through a conglomerate of activities from debates to visuals to role play to panel discussions. The literature describes this philosophy as an active learning approach.

Research in the area of memory and understanding indicate that persons on average retain long-term: 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say, and 90% of what they do and say (Magnesen, 1983).

Findings suggest that "the brain develops on a 'use it or lose it' principle." So, the best time to master a skill associated with a system is just when a new system is coming on line in your brain. Language is the perfect example. It's very easy for a 2 year old to learn any new language. So, What idiot decreed that foreign-language shouldn't begin until high school? You can continue this exercise in more sophisticated ways as your child grows. If your 8-year-old, for example, is enjoying a TV program about airplanes, why not take him to an airport and ask a pilot to show you a cockpit?

For years, many teachers have found that their "Holy Grail" has been attention. But evidence suggests that the brain's ability to stay attentive for extended periods of time is not only rare but difficult. The brain needs downtime! If you don't give it to them they'll just tune out anyway. So, Why don't students remember what they were taught? This usually occurs because the information served no useful purpose in their lives and their brains dropped it. Or probably because they didn't learn in the first place!