Enrolling young children in a leadership program focused on development of key social and emotional skills is a way to build competencies that are valuable to the child right now – and in the future.
Research shows that the prime time to acquire new skills is under the age of 12.
One reason why it is advantageous for a child to learn skills at a young age has to do with natural learning ability, specifically the ability to learn implicitly. Implicit learning is an unconscious learning process, where you soak up learning without being aware of it. You retain the skill longer, and tend to learn it better, when you learn with an implicit approach. (In contrast, with explicit learning, you consciously learn and apply the knowledge through tactics like memorization).
In one recent study, researchers examined how age impacts implicit learning ability. In this study, 421 people between the ages of 4 and 85 were given an implicit learning task. The authors concluded “acquiring fundamentally new skills that cannot be derived from skills already possessed is the most effective before adolescence.” Furthermore, they stated the results were in “good agreement with everyday life experience” that indicates learning a new skill before age 12 “often leads to higher level of competence.” (Janacsek)
Storytelling is an implicit learning approach – and both children and adults love stories!
Storytelling uses implicit learning to spark embodied learning. You absorb the story (and lessons) without being fully aware of it. The approach we use at Rose and Lion Leadership uses story to introduce the foundational skill. The stories are spun around the daily lives of characters living in the fictional town of Redwood Creek. We share the story and then open up a conversation about how the characters are responding or behaving. The simple question “what are you noticing?” opens space for children to learn from one another, while reinforcing comprehension.
Storytelling appeals to all types of learners.
Auditory learners listen and take in the story. Kinesthetic learners embody the experiences with their emotional connection to the story. (Boris) Those who prefer reading are able to soak in the details. And, regardless of learning style, everyone gets to build their own story and put it into practice.
The *super effective!* approach of Rose and Lion Leadership
In the Rose and Lion Leadership program, we intentionally combine approaches to appeal to all types of learners. We use implicit and explicit learning approaches, while prioritizing implicit learning because it is simple for children to learn this way. We combine story with practice to offer each child options that appeal to their natural learning preferences. And we offer these experiences to children at the optimal learning age.
Janacsek, Karolina et al. “The best time to acquire new skills: age-related differences in implicit sequence learning across the human lifespan.” Developmental science vol. 15,4 (2012): 496-505. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2012.01150.x
Boris, Vanessa. “What Makes Storytelling So Effective for Learning?” Harvard Business Review, 20 December 2017. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/what-makes-storytelling-so-effective-for-learning/ Accessed May 28, 2022.
