"Strewing Our World With Rich Materials . . . Weaving Them Into Our Thoughts"

Section of world's largest dual-sided puzzle cube mosaic

I'm at an age where I'm the target for ads for products designed to keep my mind sharp. For instance, there are those "games" that purport to exercise the mind. The promise is that if played regularly, these games will help me maintain my quick wits, but the research I've seen suggests that they do little beyond improving one's ability to play those games. 

I can attest that this is true when it comes to crosswords. A couple years ago, I started tackling the New York Times puzzles every day. Up until recently, I'd never completed an entire Sunday puzzle without cheating. Now, with regular "training," I'm successful more often than not. But I wouldn't say that my mind is overall sharper now than it was when I was younger, just more experienced with a specific type of challenge.

This is how most testing works in school, of course. Doing well on tests is a skill one can improve with training. I've written before about how I was one of those rare birds who loved test day in school. In college, I once managed an 87 (a high B) on a biochem midterm for a class in which I wasn't even enrolled. It was a multiple choice exam and those can generally be played as process-of-elimination games. With essay tests, I played a more psychological game, doodling little outlines in the margins to convince the test-graders (usually overworked teaching assistants) that they were reading a well-organized work. If I sprinkled in the right buzz words, more often than not, my tests were returned to me with "Well organized" written across the top and an inflated score. And then there is the strategy of cramming: the practice of lodging trivia in short-term memory, then letting it go the moment the pencils are put down.

I figured out quite early that tests had little to do with demonstrating my learning and everything to do with my ability to play a test like a game.

I've never tested children. I've observed them. I've made educated guesses about what they might be thinking and then taken action that I hoped would support them in their endeavors to figure something or other out. Since it's impossible to ever know what's really going on the mind of another person, I have no idea if I've ever been correct in my guesses, but to my credit, I've mostly tried to not intrude to the point that I've derailed or detoured them from their own course. I mean, of course, I have done that in the clod-footed, ham-fisted way adults have when we're arrogantly certain, but at least I've trained myself to be conscious of this potential and, most of the time, stay out of their way.

I'm a fan of games and puzzles. I enjoy them and I take great satisfaction in the rare opportunity to actually see evidence that I'm improving. But I don't kid myself. Completing the Sunday crossword is evidence of nothing other than that I have practiced, that I have experience in, working crosswords. And so, ta-da, now I'm better at working crosswords than someone who never tackles them. Same goes for passing tests. 

In her book, The Extended Mind, science writer, Annie Murphy Paul writes, "We extend beyond our limits not by revving our brains like a machine or bulking them up like a muscle -- but by strewing our world with rich materials, and by weaving them into our thoughts." Those of us familiar with the Theory of Loose Parts will see that the cutting edge of neuroscience is just catching up with us.

As a preschool teacher, I've always said that my main goal is to provide a beautiful and varied environment, then get out of the way. 

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Early childhood educators, directors, homeschoolers, and parens of young children . . . please join me for this affirmative and informative live workshop. In the spirit of inclusiveness, I've kept the price as low as possible, so share far and wide. This is a great way to get the whole team on the same page for the New Year. Certificates are available. For more information and to register, click here: Making 2026 Our Year of Play

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