Do you think of your brain as a part of yourself? As a tool that you can learn to use better? As an organ that keeps you alive, like your heart? The brain is all this and more. The mission of Get to Know Your Brain Days is to help school children flourish both in and out of the classroom by teaching them about their brains in a way that promotes ownership, growth, and self-reflection.
We ask kids in school to use their brains constantly – to learn, to use self-control, to socialize – but hardly ever teach them about the brain itself. Get to Know Your Brain Days is a collaborative project between the Affect and Cognition Lab at Cornell University and the Syracuse Academy of Sciences, a charter school that gives kids the chance to meet this fascinating part of the body and mind.
We believe that learning about how your own brain works, how it contributes to your identity and goals, and how the brain can be changed and strengthened empowers kids to achieve. And you don’t just have to take our word for it – being scientists, we are testing that idea! During its first year, Get to Know Your Brain Days is tracking almost 400 kids in Kindergarten through 4th grade to learn how well our program works. Working with school administrators, we are constantly striving to make the program better.
Get to Know Your Brain Days is just getting started, but already kids, teachers, and our undergraduate and high school team members are making strides. We are excited to see this program grow!
Brain Days at Society for Neuroscience
On October 20th the Brain Days team shared our project at the largest scientific conference in the world, the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting.
End-of-Year Newsletter
Each year we create a comic newsletter for children at the Syracuse Academy of Sciences, recapping what we taught them that.
GALLERY
