Are You Teaching Your Kids About Mindmaps?

A couple of months ago, I wrote an article for a magazine about mind mapping with your kids. I was amazed about the number of people who asked me questions about this topic. It seemed to be a really hot topic. That is why I want to dedicate a special article again on this topic right now for you.

I know you are using mindmaps. Some of you are using them a lot, others perhaps once a month. The point is, the moment you need the mindmap, you know you can use it.

When I was still in school, I didn’t know about mindmaps. I sure would have been happy if someone would have told me about them back then. Unfortunately it took some time before I learned about them (about 2 years after I did my MBA…). Boy, would things have been different had I known about mindmaps…

Fortunately, you are in the wonderful position that you know about mindmaps. Perhaps you have one or more children, a nephew, or a friend who is still in school.

If so, I want to ask you to do something for them. Introduce them to the wonderful world of mind mapping. They will benefit from this powerful technique… a lot!

The best way to do this is not by calling it mind mapping. Don’t even sit down and inform them about the rules and guidelines of a proper mindmap! The best way, in my honest opinion, is to simply ask them to write or draw a picture of the information. This picture helps them already to memorize the information and to increase their understanding.

When they start to write a piece about it with sentences and many difficult words, ask them to identify the most important words in their story. What summarizes the information best?

What you can do is ask them what is easier to remember, the piece of information they created when writing long sentences, or the few keywords. You can then move towards creating relationship lines between the words. You can create a center (probably the topic) and then move outward using key words.

I did this exercise with many children. The moment you allow them to experience and discover the mindmap method themselves, they will be much more eager to use it. And this is what we want.

The biggest pitfall you can walk into is to explain mindmaps and how they should (or must) use them. This is too much pressure and it is something new they feel they must do. Don’t push! Assist and help them grow. When you create this environment, they will start to use mindmaps.

Right now, I have a question for you.

What are your experiences with learning children to mindmap?

Send me your thoughts via email or simply by leaving your comments, thoughts and ideas below.

Remember, when we teach our children to become smart information users and organizers, we help them to succeed more in life!

Tags: children, everyday life, question, visual map