TIPS MENJAGA OTAK SELAMA MASA LIBURAN

13 Jun 2018 | Atensi, Hiperaktivitas, Learning, Orangtua

Liburan sekolah merupakan masa-masa yang paling dinantikan oleh anak-anak, terutama setelah melewati ujian kenaikan kelas. Biasanya liburan sekolah menandakan anak-anak boleh berekreasi, bermain games, nonton sepuasnya tanpa ada kewajiban untuk mengerjakan tugas sekolah. Karena ketika liburan kenaikan kelas, sekolah tidak memberikan PR yang perlu dikerjakan saat siswa masuk sekolah.
Ketika masa-masa seperti ini tiba, sebenarnya waktu anak tidak hanya bisa dimanfaatkan untuk beristirahat dari aktivitas sekolah. Melainkan liburan ini merupakan waktu yang tepat untuk mengisi ulang ‘tenaga’ anak agar kemampuannya menjadi lebih optimal ketika kembali ke sekolah. Liburan panjang dapat menyebabkan anak masih terbawa suasana libur saat kembali ke kelas. Lalu bagaimana caranya kita sebagai orangtua menjaga agar otak anak tetap produktif dan siap kembali ke sekolah setelah liburan berakhir? Di masa-masa seperti ini ada 4 tips utama untuk menjaga produktivitas otak selama liburan panjang.

1. Olahraga Fisik.

Otak adalah bagian tubuh yang penting. Ketika anak melatih tubuhnya, maka secara bersamaan juga berfungsi untuk melatih otak. Olahraga fisik tidak hanya membantu meningkatkan aliran darah sehingga meningkatkan persediaan energi ke neuron, namun juga meningkatkan dan memengaruhi perkembangan neuron baru di otak. Dengan berolahraga, anak dapat menstimulasi produksi protein yang disebut “growth factors” yang dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan sel-sel otak. Tetapi seiring perkembangan teknologi, anak-anak lebih menyukai permainan yang mengandalkan kekuatan jari seperti playstation dan bukan fisik seperti bermain bulutangkis. Bahkan tingkat obesitas semakin dini dialami. Jadi ingatlah untuk membuatkan jadwal rutin untuk berolahraga.

2. Nutrisi Sehat.

Makanan yang sehat untuk tubuh, juga sehat untuk otak. Penting untuk memberikan asupan diet yang bernutrisi kepada anak, dibandingkan hanya memberikan vitamin. Penting bagi anak untuk mengonsumsi sayur, gandum, buah, susu dan protein. Begitu pula Omega-3 yang ditemukan pada ikan seperti mackerel, herring, tuna, dan salmon – yang terbukti bermanfaat bagi anak. Kurangi makanan yang dibuat dengan banyak bumbu. Jangan lupa berikan makanan yang mengandung anti-oxidant agar semakin menjaga produktivitas otak anak.

3. Istirahat Cukup Dan Manejemen Stres.

Fakta yang sering tidak diperhatikan orangtua padahal ini merupakan hal yang penting, yaitu tidur. Aktivitas ini bukanlah tidak berguna, tetapi merupakan salah satu faktor penting untuk belajar serta menjaga otak tetap produktif. Anak yang tidak tidur dengan cukup akan sulit memiliki daya ingat yang baik. Dan jika anak anda tidak tidur dengan cukup, maka otomatis belajar pun menjadi terhambat. Sepanjang hari, anak akan mendapatkan informasi dan pengetahuan, serta mempelajari kemampuan baru, dan sebagainya. Hal yang baru dipelajarinya ini akan disimpan di memori jangka pendek. Kemudian ketika anak tidur, terutama ketika fase Rapid Eye Movement (REM) yang diasosiasikan dengan bermimpi, informasi yang ada dalam memori jangka pendek akan masuk ke memori jangka panjang. Apabila anak sering tidur terlambat, maka ketika liburan biasakanlah untuk memperbaiki kebiasan tidurnya yang buruk. Selain itu kebiasaan pernafasan yang benar ketika beristirahat juga menjadi faktor dalam membantu anak belajar dan menjaga kesehatan otak. Hasil penelitian merekomendasi untuk melakukan pernafasan diafragma yaitu dengan bernafas melalui bagian abdominal (perut) antara 5 dan 7 nafas per menit selama 10-20 menit per hari untuk membantu anak lebih mampu dalam mengelolah stress secara efektif serta meningkatkan kemampuan proses kognitif. Di Amerika Serikat ditemukan bahwa rata-rata anak bernafas sebanyak 24 nafas per menit. Meskipun di Indonesia tidak ada data yang menunjukkan rata-rata pernafasan anak per menit, namun di Indonesia anak pun menghadapi kondisi yang kompetitif sehingga tidak heran jika hasilnya pun menunjukkan hal yang sama seperti di Amerika. Ada banyak aplikasi smartphone yang didesain untuk membantu mergulasi pernafasan yang dapat anda unduh. Liburan ini manfaatkanlah dengan meluangkan 10-15 menit sehari untuk melatih cara pernafasan dengan abdominal, perbaiki kemampuan bernafas dengan tepat untuk menciptakan situasi belajar kondusif.
Tidur yang cukup supaya memiliki daya ingat yang baik

4. Melatih Otak & Stimulasi Mental Berkelanjutan.

Seperti telah disampaikan sebelumnya bahwa olahraga fisik membantu terbentuknya neuron baru di otak, dan olahraga mental akan menentukan bagaimana neuron itu digunakan dan berapa lama neuron itu dapat bertahan. Olahraga otak yang dimaksud memiliki manfaat jangka pendek dan panjang. Dalam jangka pendek, olahraga otak dapat meningkatkan fokus, memori, menjaga pikiran tetap jernih di bawah tekanan, meningkatnya toleransi terhadap stres, bahkan meningkatnya kreativitas. Dalam jangka panjang, stimulasi mental membantu membangun “brain reserve” yang bertugas membantu meminimalkan potensi penyakit degeneratif seperti Alzheimer. Akan tetapi bila olahraga otak seperti catur dan sudoku menjadi hal lazim dan rutin, manfaatnya akan berkurang karena adanya pembiasaaan. Otak haruslah mempelajari hal baru dengan mampu beradaptasi terhadap aktivitas maupun tantangan baru. Beberapa tahun ini, neuropsikologis telah merekomendasikan program pelatihan otak berbasis-komputer. Program pelatihan ini dapat disesuaikan dengan kemampuan anak sehingga membuatnya terus-menerus tertantang. Orangtua harus mencari program komputer yang didasarakan pada sifat otak yang plastis. Program ini memang bertujuan membantu otak untuk membentuk jaringan neuron sehingga meningkatkan kemampuan memori, atensi, auditori, logika, konsentrasi, serta kemampuan visual-spasial.
Pelatihan berbasis neuroplastisitas – otak bisa berubah – secara positif.
Saat ini pelatihan seperti di atas yang juga berfungsi untuk meningkatkan kemampuan kognitif dan sosial-emosi anak atau yang disebut dengan Neurofeedback telah hadir di Indonesia. Selagi masa liburan, berpartisipasilah mengikuti keempat tips di atas bersama anak anda untuk mempersiapkan anak anda kembali ke bangku sekolah setelah liburan berakhir.
Jangan lewatkan penawaran liburan sekolah terbatas kami. Dapatkan ebook gratis tentang cara mengubah otak anak Anda untuk membuka potensinya dengan menggunakan teknologi otak-komputer canggih dan dapatkan Cash Voucher senilai Rp.1 juta untuk asesmen otak, langkah pertama Anda yang kritis untuk membantu anak Anda unggul secara akademis.
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4 Essential Tips to Staying Brain Fit During the Holiday Season

13 Jun 2018 | Attention, Learning, Parents

 

 

The end of school year holiday is an exciting time for children of all ages. And now that this long-awaited and much-anticipated holiday period is finally here, your child has a load of free time for leisure activities.

If your child has been yearning for a break from the stress and routine of the hectic academic school term – the holiday season is an ideal time for your child to rest and recharge. Not only that, he or she now has a “neuro-scientific” excuse for it.  That’s because neuroscientists have established that two sure-fire “brain-drainers” – i.e., things that exhaust the brain of its resources are:

1. A repetitive, routine-driven life. Daily routines that lack in novelty and stimulation, and

2. A high level of anxiety or stress that saps mental energy and reduces the rate of creation of new neurons.

On a cautionary note, unsupervised, the risk that a child may indulge or worse, over-indulge in activities that are counter-productive to learning can be a real threat to his overall wellness and cognitive performance. How do we, as parents, ensure that our children’s brain stays healthy throughout this academic “lull” period? What essential ‘rules of thumb’ are there to keep his/ her brain fit for the challenges of the new academic term ahead and prevent it from turning into the mental equivalent of a “fat gut”?

There are four essential brain health rules you would do well to keep in mind this holiday season.

1. Physical Exercise.

The brain is an integral part of the body.  When your child exercises his body, he is correspondingly sharpening his brain.  Physical exercise not only helps increase blood flow which improves the availability of energy to neurons, it actually enhances and influences the rate of creation of new neurons as well.

Exercise stimulates the production of proteins called “growth factors”, which promote the formation and growth of brain cells and synapses. With the prevalence of mobile phone-held computer games, the tendency for kids to lead a more sedentary lifestyle and the threat of obesity have become more real than ever.  Make it a point to schedule physical exercise into your child’s daily routine.  Make it an activity he/ she would enjoy.

2. Good Nutrition.

What’s good for your child’s body is also good for his/ her mind.  Keeping to a balanced, nutritious diet is more practical than taking a range of ultra sophisticated health supplements.  The rule of thumb here is to plan your child’s meal around vegetables then add grains, fruits, dairy and protein. Add Omega-3 fatty acid found in cold water fish such as herring, tuna, and salmon – which has been evidenced to be beneficial. Cut down on foods that are processed and with a lot of added ingredients. In addition, the more colourful your child’s diet is, the more anti-oxidant he gets. Antioxidants have a way of working synergistically as a team to boost each other’s effects.

3. Proper Rest & Management of Stress.

An often overlooked fact is that sleep is the number 1 and possibly the most critical factor to learning and maintaining brain fitness.  A child that isn’t sleeping right and/or sufficiently, is not able to form memories that are long-lasting.  If your child isn’t sleeping well, effectively, learning becomes impaired.  Throughout the day, a child is taking in information, learning new skills and acquiring new knowledge.  Those experiences and information that he picked up throughout the day are stored temporarily in his/ her short-term memory.  When he/ she enters into sleep, that information stored in his short-term memory becomes etched into his long-term memory.  If your child has developed the negative habit of sleeping late, the holidays could be the best time to reorganize his/ her sleeping habit.

Adopting the proper breathing habit and respiration rate at rest is another important factor in learning and brain health.  Research suggests that practicing diaphragmatic breathing, i.e., from the abdominal region of between 5 and 7 breaths per minute for about ten to twenty minutes a day, confers a host of benefits that include helping a child to be resilient and to be able to manage stress more effectively, in addition to improving cognitive processing.  It has been found in the United States that a high percentage of children have respiration rates of as much as twenty-four breaths per minute at rest, which is unfavourable to learning and abating stress build-up.  Although statistics are not available for Indonesia, in the increasingly hectic and competitive world that our children live in, it would not be surprising to expect a similar pattern here. There are numerous smartphone-based applications designed to help regulate breathing that are readily available for download.

This holiday season, make it a point to set aside at least 10 to 15 minutes a day with your child to just breathe deeply, recharge and bring their breathing under control for conducive learning!

Good sleep hygiene improves daytime alertness and consolidates learning.

4. Brain Exercise/Continuous Mental Stimulation.

Whereas physical exercise influences the rate of new neuron creation, mental exercise determines how the new neurons are used and how long they survive.  Brain exercise has both short and long-term benefits.  Short-term benefits include improved focus, alertness, and memorymental clarity under stressful situations, improved resilience to stress, increased creativity, among other things.  Over the long term, mental stimulation assists in the build up of a “brain reserve” that helps prevent potential degenerative problems such as Alzheimer’s.

It’s important to keep in mind that brain exercise isn’t one thing or one specific activity.  The brain is made up of different areas with each area being responsible for specific functions.  When your child plays chess or does sudoku initially, it is beneficial in that it forces him to learn.  However, if playing chess or sudoku becomes a routine, the marginal benefit decreases substantially. The point of having a brain is precisely to learn and just as importantly – to adapt to new activities and challenges.  Hence, the rules of thumb for effective brain exercises are the key elements of novelty, variety, and challenge – much like a cross-training approach that athletes adopt to improve their overall physical performance.

These days, neuropsychologists recommend computer-based brain exercise programs over paper-based ones because computer-based programs are able to offer a greater variety of as well as new and novel activities that in addition, are customizable in terms of a proper increasing level of challenge.  When shopping for computer-based programs, look for (neuro) plasticity-based ones that help the brain to form new neural pathways and work on the key areas of memory, attention, and reasoning improvements, and that helps increase processing speed and visual-spatial skills.  More tailored, clinician- or coach-supported programs that train specific areas of a child’s cognitive and/or socio-emotional functions such as Neurofeedback are now available in Indonesia.

Speak to your child’s school psychologist or pediatrician for information and referrals on such programs.

Neuroplasticity-based exercises that utilize a brain-computer interface to improve brain performance confer a wide range of benefits.
Last but not least, take advantage of this holiday season to bond with your child.   Participate and engage in some of these physical and mental exercises with him/her.  The best way for your child to learn is to watch and model his/her parent’s habits and behaviour.

So practice and internalize these 4 essential rules of brain fitness yourself!

Have great school holiday filled with novelty, variety and challenge!

Get a free ebook on how to transform your child’s brain to unlock his potential – using a state-of-the-art brain-computer technology and receive a

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