Did you see our article last year that said:

“Just today we found out that Sharp sums in the head aim to blunt impact of TV, on a topic we have been discussing for a few weeks with several of our scientific advisors. We quote:

* “Gilles de Robien, the Education Minister (in France), has ordered children to carry out between 15 and 20 minutes of calcul mental (mental arithmetics) every day from the age of 5.
* Mr de Robien moved after a report from the French Science Academy said that children who practiced sums in their heads had better memories and quicker brains.
* Questions for the final year of French primary school
* Calculate in your head
1. Half of 48, 72, 414, 826 and 1,040
2. Three times 41, 52, 109, 212 and 503
3. A third of 12, 66, 93, 309, 636 and 3,024
4. 76-9, 987-9, 456-19, 497-19 and 564-29
5. 15×4, 25×4, 30×4, 35×4, 40×4 and 45×4″

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2007/01/25/lifelong-learning-literally-neuroplasticity-for-students-boomers-seniors/

Charter schools would probably be more likely to “take the leap” into a holistic brain focused learning approach. I think a reasonable way to start is to introduce working memory exercises as part of the weekly classroom schedule — I suspect a side benefit will be improved impulse control, as there is evidence that improved working memory enhances impulse control in children (and probably adults too!)

Perhaps the obvious short-term opportunity is for some charter-schools to include and research in practice a more holistic brain-focused approached?

There was a discussion of ‘learning phenotypes’ that can lead to clinically validated individual learning plans in the future. However, school administrators and teachers also mentioned that institutional barriers to change are quite high — plus social barriers like parents who prefer their children learn their ‘ABCs’ they same way they did 20 years ago.

http://thesciencenetwork.org/programs/brainsrus2008/