Tere: I am very excited to be here today. We are going to go over some types of movement that can be utilized throughout a normal school day. This can be you pulling a child out on a scooter board to work with them in a gymnasium, a hallway, or wherever. It could also be how to integrate movement into a classroom on a regular basis, even if you are not there. We will also look at how to look at a classroom schedule and identify when a teacher might need some kind of movement that will help the kids be able to attend, be alert enough to take in the academic information, and have the stamina to continue throughout whatever the teacher is challenging them with. Then, we are going to look at basic yoga poses, using creative movement, and a variety of brain breaks. There are some handouts that I will refer to that you can use as resources for teachers/parents. One of them is about talking about how you can change postures in a classroom. Another lists a variety of books that I have run across that I really like in terms of not just doing movement, but also related to today's 21st century child.
Analyzing a Typical Day
In order to integrate more movement into the day, I often say to the teacher, "Let's look at a typical day." Where are you noticing kids getting restless? Are they fidgeting? Do they seem less attentive? Are they blurting more? Is there a specific time when you notice that the total productivity goes down? The answer is not always movement. It might be the child did not eat breakfast or get enough sleep. We may have the teacher make a schedule of a typical day for a week, and have him/her compare and contrast to see if there is any pattern. Is he/she noticing any differences after recess or outdoor play? Some say they are more attentive, but I have had other teachers say that after recess, they still cannot settle down. We may have to give the teacher some ideas for exercises that will allow the child to pull back in and have their brain ready to work. We will talk a little bit about that.
How Can You Model?
Your perspective to solve these issues can be quite unique, but one idea is modeling. By observation, you have to see how the classroom works, as every classroom is different. With the teacher's permission, you can work with the student to observe how they are doing with the curriculum. When you consider the least restrictive environment, how about modeling a movement break for the entire classroom? This way the teacher can see how you deal with a child that might be overexcited or have self-regulation issues. They may be satisfied with a few repititions, or you can add more to them to help them get to a level of calm and self-regulation.
If the teacher is already using movement, you could talk to him/her about educating their students how their body needs movement. You can use activities like Drive-Thru Menus, or GoNoodle with a classroom. Many teachers are already using GoNoodle, but what I am noticing is they do not use this cognitive overlay. Prior to the activity you can say, "We are going to do a movement break (or a brain break or whatever you want to call it), and we are going to get our bodies ready to do our schoolwork." After the activity, you say to the students, "All right, now your bodies are ready to sit long and strong to do our math work."
I often suggest using a Time Timer® or another focus for the child/classroom to realize that this math time is not going to last forever. If they have a Time Timer®, then they can see that red starting to go away, and know the torture will be over soon. If you have a good relationship with the teacher, you can have a side chat with the teacher and suggest giving the child something to do. Your can then problem solve together. "Oh, notice how Billy did not seem to do any of the exercises, and he still is having a hard time initiating." Or, "Look at Sarah. "She was quite wiggly, and now she is sitting and really focusing."
Student Schedule
In addition to using the typical day schedule with the teacher, you can also use this type of schedule with a student. I can do this from about third grade all the way up to high school. "What is the toughest time during the day?" I might also say, "You seem tired by circle time already? Did you eat breakfast? What time did you roll out of bed?" If a child says they have trouble reading/literacy first thing in the morning, one of the things that I have read recently in the research is that children's eyes actually tire from watching/playing too many video games prior to school. The child may not need a movement break, but need a different routine prior to coming to school. Additionally, as you look at a typical day, the teacher may do a movement break, but it does not last long enough. Perhaps they need another movement break built in to that 40 minutes. It may be something as simple as a child or student needing to get up and stretching without being told to sit back down. I encourage you to talk to teachers. Each teacher has their classroom set up in different ways. Many want you to help, but they do not quite know how to figure out the neurological part. They do not really understand how much sensory input to give, notice when it does and does not work, and what are the extenuating circumstances that might cause it not to work. These things are important to think about in your unique role.
Skills
Developmental
I find that many of our kids are lacking fine motor and gross motor skills. Often, I will pose these questions to the teacher:
- Do you have concerns about these skills?
- Do you have to open every package?
- Do you have to tell them to keep their thumbs up for cutting even in second, third, fourth grade?
- Are you still correcting pencil grips?
- Do you find they do not have good posture during writing, drawing, reading, or artwork?
When a teacher answers yes to any of these, this may be your conduit towards working smarter not harder. Often, they are not quite sure how to integrate movement or what kinds of things might help. We all know that a child might not need a vigorous movement activity to be alert. In one of my K-1 classrooms, the teacher has an area where kids can go and work on an activity that I bring in every week that is fine motor related. It might be a puzzle, a constructive task, like K'NEX, or a memory matching game. All could be done within a five-minute span. She uses this when she sees a child that needs a break and cannot initiate. She says, "Why don't you go to the back table, work for five minutes? Set the Time Timer® and then come back when able to sit and work longer and stronger."
Other Things to Notice
Here are some more questions for that teacher. Are you noticing more clumsy children? These are kids that do not have stamina, seem very weak and/or have difficulty with their grasp patterns. When you get a yes to these questions, it is time to educate the teacher.
Behavioral Issues
Other things to notice are avoidance, emotional dysregulation, irritableness, defiance, and lack of concern for others.
Why Are Kids Weaker?
Have you seen this kid at circle time in Figure 1?
Figure 1. Boy on back during circle time.
We have all seen a child like this in our classrooms. Or we have seen the the middle schooler/teenager that cannot self-regulate, especially during those early morning 7:30 am classes, as in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Example of decreased alertness in a teenager.
Many teachers, especially the veterans that have been working for over 20 years, will say to me, "What's going on with these kids?" Figure 3 shows a picture of me and this child, whose mother said he hated tummy time.
Figure 3. Belly time with a client.
The mom in Figure 3 was wondering why her son did not like being on his belly. Part of this is back sleeping to prevent SIDS. The research is saying that this position is working to prevent Sudden Infant Death, but I am seeing more and more kids having difficulty with postural control, manipulative activities, and sensory issues due to the lack of tummy time and weight bearing. They are not being exposed to positions in space. This is crucial as they need to interact in space in relationship to their bodies and things around them. Often, you see these kids try to make it from their desk to the teacher's without touching everything or bumping into things. We can educate the teacher that it may very well have been lack of stimulation in that first year of life.
For example, when I had my kids years ago, you got them into the car seat, and then when you brought them to daycare, you got them out. When you got them out of the car seat, they had to adjust their body in space to your body. You had to have them grasp onto you, or you had them balanced on your hip to avoid hitting the edge of the car. They could smell you. They heard your voice talking about what was going to happen in the next few minutes. They could hang onto your body and feel your movement if you had to bend down and get diaper bag.
Now, what is happening is you click on that car seat, it turns into a bucket, that bucket gets carried into daycare, and often they are left in buckets in daycare until the aides and the teachers are able to get everybody out. Kids are spending more and more time without these developmental transfers. It sounds silly, but the average transfer for these kids at a young age is nine times a day. During a transfer, look at the amount of sensory stimulation, language, and position in space that goes on as outlined above. It is important to educate a teacher why kids are different today.
Ingredients Missing in the First Year of Life
Here are a few things that I have summarized:
- Lack of tummy time
- Over use of infant seat/car seat
- Sleeping on back
- Devices to prevent movement during sleep
- Over use of walker or other devices to contain babies movements
- Sensory issues due to lack of touch, exposure etc.
- We may be handicapping our own children with overuse of convenient items to raise babies…
Some teachers do not realize that there are ingredients missing: the lack of tummy time, the over use of an infant seat or car seat, their need for sleeping on the back, etc. Another issue is that many kids are not only sleeping on their backs, but they are being zipped into "SIDS sacks". These prevent the child from flipping. I have had a few parents talk to me about how they used the SIDS sack up until one year, and their children had motor delays and coordination issues. There can be overuse of a walker and other devices to contain babies. I am also noticing more and more kids with tiptoe walking. This can be from tight heel cords and hamstrings, not only sensory issues. The sensory issues also can be quite huge when we realize in the first year of life there could be over-swaddling going on. There could be lack of play in all-different planes and a lack of sensation.
If you want to see a wonderful movie, it is called Babies. It focuses on four babies in four different countries, and how their first year of life evolves. The child from Africa is so sensory integrated. He plays with sticks. He rolls in mud. The other babies do not have all those wonderful ways of relating to the earth, except the child from Mongolia, who learns how to crawl with goats. It is well worth seeing, as it makes you realize how we protect our children from a lot of sensation in that first year of life. We may be handicapping our own kids due to the overuse of all these convenient items.
Teaching with the Brain in Mind
This is a wonderful book by Eric Jensen. I use it when educate teachers about why movement needs to be integrated into the classroom. Eric Jenson says, "The sensory motor systems, visual, motor, and auditory, develop through the exploration in the first year of life." And, "Many scientists now are linking the lack of vestibular stimulation with learning problems." There are a lot of different reasons why, but this may very well be one of them. In 1960, the average two-year-old spent 200 hours in a car since birth. In 1960, there were no car seats and in many cars there were often no seat belts. Now, today's two-year-old spends over 500 hours in a car seat. Today's children are deprived of precious motor developmental hours according to Jenson, and I see it in my practice every day.
I also like to talk about the overuse of gadgets (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Examples of gadgets.
These gadgets all have a place. I do understand why we need to use them, but again, overuse is what may be causing some difficulty in many of our kids not knowing their own body and having the lack of motor coordination to perform tasks. They show up in kindergarten or preschool, and they cannot sit upright in circle. Once you educate the teacher and share this knowledge, they may be more apt to look at the child's issue from that perspective. Once you are able to get that teacher onboard, you may be able to "haunt" the classroom when you are not there.
Let me go over an example. In 1994, after traveling all over as my husband was in the Air Force, we had finally settled down. I started a new job at an inclusive school. I met this teacher, and she said, "Explain why you would be concerned with movement, and what is going on with fine motor and gross motor? I have worked with OTs, but they always pull them out." I said, "Well, if the school is inclusive, why don't I come into your class and I will show you some of the things I'm concerned about." We worked together, and she was very open-minded, and loved her first graders. She also loved going to New York and taking in all the shows, particularly Hello, Dolly!
