— Allow them to flourish!
by Win Wenger, Ph.D.
Winsights No. 20 (1 May 1998)
Whether a teacher, parent, grandparent, uncle/aunt, or older sibling, you must have felt some concern at what’s been happening to children in your experience and all over, including such child or children you happen to care most about. You may have felt helpless to do anything about what you saw happening. Or, your child or children may be in very good programs and you still would like to do something to help them along further. You do not need to feel helpless. We are providing you some tools with which you can make a major, meaningful, positive difference.
In the article before last, we gave you a way to teach children Image Streaming. –Even very young children, age 2 years or as early as they can talk. Image Streaming which even in adults has been measured in independently conducted state university studies as producing 40 points “I.Q.” and intelligence gain for only 50 hours of easy, entertaining practice. Image Streaming which, in young children, produces improvements in understanding, language, thoughtfulness and apparent intelligence even more immediately, rapidly, visibly and profoundly.
We then gave you a problem-solving tool which would allow those same children, between ages of 3-4 at least and 10 years, to draw more directly on their own natural resources to discover answers and solutions to their problems or difficulties, so they could realize some here-&-now practical benefits while cultivating these larger benefits for life. To the extent your children get to practice that procedure, they will be able to cope effectively with issues and problems facing them which most children years older are helpless before.
That was two times ago, and that was for children age 4-10 years for problem-solving; 2-11 years for brain-integrative Image Streaming. This week, we’re giving you a tool to help children who are somewhat older, a tool which will strongly enable your children to learn far more effectively and pleasantly, a tool which goes well beyond those general tools given you in Winsights # 8 some weeks ago. Now given freely into your hands, “The World Next Door” is an “experience recipe” or protocol. If you read the following step-by-step instructions to your child or children, and your child or children respond accordingly, some very, VERY good things will result! For the benefit of your child or children, this tool is now yours.
The World Next Door
(An Improved-Learning Experience Script for Age-range 7 to 12 Years Old)
The following has been prepared for a classroom of children, who have been arranged to sit and talk closely together in pairs. Print out this version. Then, if you want a version to use directly with your own individual child, or with that child and a tape recorder (it IS crucial that the child describe out loud to someone or to that recorder):
(A) – use search code to go through the following and find every reference to “partner,”
(B) substitute for that word “tell me” and, where appropriate, change a few words following each instance accordingly. The special instructions in brackets are not to be read aloud, they are only for guiding you as you read the text of steps to your child.
Arrange not to be interrupted for awhile – the whole process takes 20-35 minutes. Don’t rush it but don’t let it drag either. If you are leading a classroom through this, find a waterglass, cup or saucer which, when struck by a spoon will give an agreeable ‘ting’ or chime. If you are working with just one child, the chime isn’t needed but can be optional. Here, then, is the script of steps you can read to your child or children as, together, you create a nice little make-believe adventure into better learning.
- Imagine there’s a world next door that’s very like ours, but a little different. Imagine that if you look in a mirror just right, you can see into that world.
- Imagine that in that world next door lives someone that’s very like you – in a way he or she is you, the version of you that’s living in that world and is part of that world. Maybe that version of you is just a little older than you are. Also, that version of you is very good at something you aren’t yet very good at.
- Maybe we can find out all sorts of things from that world next door, the world that’s like ours but different, the world that is next door to us everywhere, but to see it you have to look in a mirror a special way. Maybe we can even find out from that version of you who lives over there, how that version of you got very good at something you aren’t yet good at but would like to be.
- This is a make-believe world, of course, but maybe we can still find out useful things from it, and from the version of yourself who lives over there. So what would you like to be good at, which you aren’t yet good at? Please tell your partner what you’d like to be good at and why, and also let your partner tell you what he or she would like to be good at, and why he or she would like to be good at it. Please tell each other now what you’d like to be good at, and why.
Buzz, 1-2 minutes. Ting a pleasant-sounding waterglass, saucer, cup or chime, one time and then, after a brief pause, three times gently. Then say:
- Now please imagine there is a big, full-length mirror in front of you and you are looking into it. Imagine that somehow you’ve hit upon just the right way of looking into that mirror and so you can see into that world next door. From here, at this moment at least, that world looks pretty much the same as ours does here, but maybe sooner or later you can spot a few differences. Also, there in the mirror is that other version of you, looking back at you. That version of you looks just like you do, only maybe just a little bit older, and maybe 1-2 things different you’ll notice sooner or later.
- Looking in the mirror at this version of yourself, please tell as well as you can, in every detail, what you see. –Use lots of adjectives which fit, which help relate what you are seeing. –And let your partner tell you what he or she sees when looking into his or her own mirror…
Buzz, 2-3 minutes. Sound the pleasant chime once gently, then three more times, then say:
- Now imagine or make-believe that the edges of the mirror are looking a little funny, almost as if they were softening or even melting a little. Imagine reaching a hand out to touch that mirror and your hand passes right through, it’s just a little tingly feeling in your hand instead of feeling hard glass.
- To go over there? Maybe. Look a question at the other version of yourself, maybe raise an eyebrow. Hold up all the fingers and thumb of one hand to signify would it be o.k. for you to visit over there for maybe 5 minutes? Maybe that other version of yourself nods back at you with a smile, that it’s o.k., you are welcome to visit.
- When you are ready, pass through the space where that mirror had been. Maybe just a bit of light tingly feeling as you go through that space into this world-next-door. When you’re over there, take a look around, maybe walk around a bit to see more of what’s over there. Maybe everything there is the same as back here, maybe some things are different. Because this is make-believe, you can be over there and back here with your partner at the same time, telling your partner what you’re seeing and your partner back here telling you what he or she is seeing. As you look around and walk around the nearby space in this world-next-door, please tell your partner every detail you can of what you’re seeing over there. Please describe some more of what you’re seeing now….
Buzz, 2-3 minutes. Sound the pleasant chime once gently, then three more times, then say:
- The other version of you, there with you in that world-next-door, would like you to see the thing which he or she is good at, really good at. He or she feels pretty good about it and would like you to see it. Go over with the other version of yourself to where that version can show you what it’s like to be so very, very good at this thing you’d like to be good at too. Watch as closely as you can this version of yourself performing at this thing. Tell every detail of what you’re seeing over there to your partner back here, while also letting your partner back here tell you his or her experience. Every detail you can see and tell, of what this version of yourself is doing, and doing so very well at it…
–If you can notice and tell enough details of what you’re seeing this other version do and how he or she is doing it, maybe you can get a little of the feel of how that works. The more you can notice and describe, the better the chances you can get some of the hang of this for yourself and be able to do it at least a little better yourself also. How is this other version of yourself doing this thing so very well?–please notice everything you can about that and describe it now…
Buzz, 2-3 minutes. Sound the pleasant chime once gently, then three more times, then say:
[Parent or teacher: See added steps A or B below, either of which can be inserted here when, on a later round, you decide to run a more powerful version.]
- When you look back at the space you came through to get to the world next door, you can see us back here. It’s time now, you don’t want to wear out your welcome with all the visits you might like to be making later, so step back through that space to rejoin us back here.
- Look back at that other world next door and maybe see the other version of you over there weaving good-bye for now. Then let this space turn back into being only a mirror again, and be looking at just your own mirror image. Now send away the mirror altogether for now, put away the make-believe for now and be fully here, in this room. Let’s find out what each other saw over there–
Depending upon how powerful you want to make this high-leveraged learning experience be, and if the first round or so of this experience goes well with the child or children in question, you might on a later round want to try one of the more powerful versions of this experience. Added step A is somewhat more powerful, added step B is even more so; either can be inserted in the sequence above where indicated.
- Added-Step A: Now you can also ask this other version of yourself questions about what you’ve been seeing and questions about other things. You can ask one, two or three questions: you get only three questions on this round. Ask your question softly out loud, in your mind loudly. Watch and listen intently to see what your answer might be. Maybe the picture will change in response to your question, and that somehow will be your answer. Or, the other version of yourself may point to something there in answer. Or, if you listen intently enough, you may hear what your other version answers to you and your question. Sometimes the answer might take a little figuring out, so report now what you observe whatever it is, and we might have to try to figure it out later but at least we’ll have it. Softly out loud, please make your first question now and observe as closely as possible what happens in answer, and describe what you observe happening….
Buzz, 2-5 minutes, then the light tinging to move on to the final two steps.
- Added Step B: Now please stand this other version of yourself at arms-length distance from you, with his or her back to you. Now in this make-believe adventure, just sort-of waft yourself forward, into this other version of yourself. Bring your eyes to where the eyes of this over you are, so that you are now looking through and with the eyes of this other version of yourself. Bring your ears to where the ears are of this other version of yourself, so that you are listening to the sounds of this world-next-door through and with the ears of your other version. Bring all of yourself, for just a minute or so, to be in effect this other version of you and, from there, as your other self, do some more of what this other version of you is good at doing. Study how it looks and feels being this other version of you doing this thing so well, and please report to your partner everything you observe of that, for just a minute or so starting now…..
Buzz 2-3 minutes, one ‘ting’ and then 3 light ‘tings,’ then say:
- Now please return the head of this other version of yourself to her or his own shoulders again. Maybe you can hardly wait to get back and try out this thing and see how much of the feel and pattern of what this other version was doing you can carry with you into doing that thing at least a little better. Project a warm feeling of thanks to the other version of yourself – maybe feel some warm tingly thanks coming back at you also, because this was such a neat way to share experience.
Continue on with the final two steps, above.
This scripted experience for improved learning was first of a series of new, children’s level, versions of many of the Project Renaissance procedures for improved learning, for creative solution-finding, and for building both understanding and intelligence.