In this age when everything is ready-written on paper or a screen, are children being deprived of the possibility of learning the physical act of writing because they no longer get to see the teacher do it? You can learn much more easily how to shoot an arrow or skin a bear by watching your mum or dad do it, than by listening to them describe, says Ramachandram pg 171 “Mirror neutrons are parasitic with culture…Mirror neutrons set the stage for the horizontal transmission of culture.” I other words we learn by seeing the adults around us do stuff, and making increasingly accurate attempts to copy.
I know some teachers no longer teach how a pencil should be held, that some children use pens from the beginning of year 1, and that it no longer matters how a child forms his letters, as long as it looks right at the end. Writing is a motor process- not a visual outcome.

Penmanship is ulitimately more about the ability to externalise thoughts in a visual format than about the forming of letters. If we are going to make the movement of writing and pen-contact/release with paper a secondary engagement, it has to move from a consciously directed control to a place that is automatic.
If hand and finger differentiation has not yet happened there is a risk of establishing the movement papers wiht immature muscle grouping. The result is the number of odd grips now being evidenced in schools. These muscle groups are being wired to fire together in immature patterns- before they have separated, like cooking spagetti. If you don’t have a rolling boil and enough water, the pieces stick together. Introduce writing when it is developmentally appropriate and the noodles are just right. 

If your child cannot trace a Lazy 8 (moving left to right around the 8 ) practice will help but doing more gross and fine motor skills activities will help too. Some ideas include crafts (beading, clay, pottery, needlework) and activities that have hand movement, including but not limited to cutting, gluing, stickling, peeling, knotting, forming and shaping. Finger games and songs, marbles, board games, Lego and so on engage motor differentiation. In the process of establishing motor patterns, it should be noted that no movement ever has a beginning or end. There is always a movement that joins every other movement; there is always continuity of muscle contraction. One is never suddenly in a different place. One moved to get there, which required a new motor plan to be made or one to have been replaced.

Helping kids with poor writing skills is replacing a habit that is not serving them with another that better serves them.

Mastering the Brain Gym movement Lazy 8 is a great way to improve vision and hand eye coordinating which are critical for hand writing. It also helps with teaching the fluid hand movements that form letters. You can learn these movements by purchasing a membership from this website.

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Why w-sitting is not ok

Why is the W-sit not ok ?

Children who sit in W- Sit position frequently experience poor development of complex motor skills and cross lateral movement.

1. leads to undue stress on the hip 
2. muscles are distorted 
3. widens a child’s base support
4. lack of muscle stability

What is W-sitting?

W-sitting is a position is where you are sitting on your bottom, with knees bent, legs splayed out to each side, and inside of the foot pressing on the floor, in a “W” configuration. The tops of the knees are so medially rotated they are facing each other. This position is commonly used by children and is so common that most people don’t realise it can have negative ramifications on a child’s growth and development.

Why does this happen?

Frequently, this happens because they have not had enough tummy, rolling and horizontal play time before walking. Too much time with assisted sitting positions such as modern baby furniture, car seats and walkers, where the spine doesn’t have to be active can be a cause of this.

What are the ramifications and what are the effects:

1. It distorts the relationship between the hip, knee and ankle joints which can long term put wear and tear on joints
2. This balancing of the body from the tip of the feet rather than the tip of the spine leads to poor development of complex motor skills and cross lateral movement

This seated postition puts undue stress on the hip abductors, hamstrings, internal rotators and heel cords, leading to the possibility of orthopaedic problems in the future.

Muscles are distorted and begin to tighten and can lead to permanent shortening of muscle, which can affect coordination, balance, inability to kneel, weight back on feet which affects their ability to sit still, and development of motor skills.

This position widens a child’s base support, resulting in less need for weight shifting, postural control and stability when they are playing, moving and reaching.

With lack of muscle stability and tone in the abdomen there is also a lack of cross-body movement essential for crawling, and later walking. This can lead to an odd walking and running gate which makes it difficult to succeed at sport.

Bilateral movements are critical for brain development, and are needed for reaching more advanced developmental milestones like reading and writing.

How do you prevent W-sitting?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Don’t let it begin.
2. If it is already a habit- intervene now.
3. Remind child to change the leg position to a long leg sit, cross leg sit or side leg sit. You may need to support this with muscle lengthening activities. You may need to have them sit against a chair or couch to support their back to begin with.

A baby’s system of infant reflex and motor development is fully designed by nature to get a child upright in gravity and moving well. We don’t need to help it do that but we have to stop preventing it. Get them outside playing and restrict the hours in front of screens.

Kerri Bainbridge, Brain Gym® Consultant, BBS (HR), Grad Dip Tch & Ln (Primary)

Web: www.braingynelson.com / E: bainbridgeka@gmail.com/ M: 0210781336/ Mapua, Nelson, New Zealand

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According to Christakis and other researchers, early childhood is critical for children’s development. Children need more real time play and less fast-paced media. “If you change the beginning,” Christakis says, “you change the whole story!”

Watch the Video

In December of 2011, Dr. Dimitri Christakis presented a TEDxTalk on the impact of media on children. It’s a fascinating watch, guaranteed to change the television-watching habits of parents with young children! This is really worth a watch.

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Flip board- Rimu or Pine

Children struggling to read fluently benefit from activities that focus on hand eye coordination.

Purchase Flip Boards from my Shop -available in Rimu or Pine.

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The feeling of success these students have had in the last few weeks as they master both Brain Gym exercises  and the equipment is priceless. Just this last week they have been demonstrating what they have learnt to older students.
(Victoria, Nelson Central School, November 2016)

At Nelson Central School during term 3 and 4 I ran a Nurture Group every day. We have been using the following Brain Gym Nelson equipment in this class daily:

Lazy eight – the students have gone from whizzing the ball round the board so fast that it only ever completed a couple of rotations, to timing themselves to see how long they can keep their eye on the marble as it smoothly runs around the lazy eight.

Flip board – oh the fun we have had to start with bean bags flying all over the room to now celebrating every time we catch the been bag and counting how many times in a row we succeed.

Balance board – we have progressed from every  child needing a hand to balance to nearly all the children not only balancing but throwing and catching bean bags or balls.

At the end of the term this is what some of the kids said:

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Why Not Have Fun While Developing Coordination Skills And Alleviating Fears?

Many children with sensory processing challenges share the difficulty of not having good balancing skills and, sometimes, an intense fear of activities which put them in an “off-balance” position.

These difficulties and fears will translate into problems learning and performing multiple motor tasks, playing with their peers, and participating in physical education or organised sports. If you have, or were, one of these kids, you may know about, or fear, the labeling and horrible comments children will make if you are an uncoordinated child! Let me help protect your child from this.

Balancing boards is a fun therapeutic tools you can use at home or in the classroom. Using a balance board for therapeutic training and practice will help your child overcome fears and develop the necessary skills for normal childhood activities which require good balance and coordination.

With a combination of exercises, physical or occupational therapy, practice, and using equipment such as balance boards, your child may finally be running, jumping, climbing, walking across unsteady/uneven surfaces at the playground, playing sports, and riding bikes with their peers.

If you desire these skills for your child (or your child desires them) and you want to help them with their “therapy” right from the comfort of your own home, then a balance board is just what you need!

Your child will love it because it is fun to use AND because they will gain the balance and coordination skills necessary to keep up with their peers.

Buy one now in my online shop.

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• Attention and concentration
• Body Awareness
• Bilateral integration
• Crossing Mid-line:
• Hand eye coordination
• Hand Dominance
• Muscular strength:
• Muscular endurance
• Self regulation
• Postural Control
• Body Awareness (where am I in space)
• Sensory processing
• Isolated movement (moving body parts independently)

How can I tell if my child has problems with balance and coordination?

If a child has difficulties with balance and coordination they might:

• Fall easily, trip often or can’t ‘recover’ quickly from being off balance.
• Move stiffly and lack fluid body movement (e.g. run like a ‘robot’).
• Avoid physical activity (e.g. playground use, sports participation).
• Be late to reach developmental milestones (e.g. crawling and walking).
• Be slower than their peers to master physical skills (e.g. bike riding, swimming or tree climbing).
• Be less skillful than their peers in refined sports participation (e.g. team sports).
• Push harder, move faster or invade the personal space of others more than they intend to.
• Be fearful of new physical games (e.g. swings) or scared of heights that do not faze their peers.
• Have difficulty getting dressed standing up (e.g. they need to sit down to get put pants as as they lose their balance standing on one leg).
• Have trouble navigating some environments (e.g. steps, kerbs, uneven ground).
• Tire more quickly then their peers or need to take regular short rest periods during physical activity.

What other problems can occur when a child has balance and coordination difficulties?

When a child has balance and coordination difficulties, you may also see difficulties with:

• Motor (muscle) planning of how to perform a physical task (e.g. they may start at step three not one).
• ‘Floppy’ or ‘rigid’ muscle tone: Floppy muscles make the limbs looks limp or alternatively overly ‘tight’ muscles make the limbs look rigid.
• Spatial awareness of how they are using or placing their body (e.g. so that they unintentionally invade other peoples personal space without knowing it).
• Low Endurance for physical (fine and gross motor) tasks.
• Pre-writing skill development: sloppy or excessively heavy pencil strokes that comprise most letters, numbers and early drawing.
• Pencil grasp: The efficiency of, and the manner in which, the pencil is held in drawing and writing is often compromised (too loose or extremely tight and heavy in pressure).
• Pencil control: The accuracy with which the child moves the pencil for drawing and writing.
• Left right discrimination: Conceptualising directional difference so the child ‘knows’ the difference between left and right side of the body.
• Hand dominance: The consistent use of one (usually the same) hand for task performance which is necessary to allow refined skills to develop.
• Articulation: Clarify of speech sounds and spoken language.
• Self care: Dressing independently,  holding and using cutlery, tooth brush as but some examples.
• Sensory processing: Accurate registration, interpretation and response to sensory stimulation in the environment and their own body.

What can be done to help improve balance and coordination skills?

• Movement at home– Do simple activities at home like Flip Board or Balance Board activities
• Strengthen the ‘core’ i.e. the central muscles of the body to provide greater body (especially trunk) stability.
• Improve muscle strength to allow for better muscle control for speed and direction of movement.
• Improve muscular endurance to increase the length of time with which the child can maintain balance and coordination.
• Improve sensory processing to ensure the body is receiving and interpreting the correct messages from the muscles in terms of their position, their relationship to each other, the speed at which they move and how much force they are using.

What activities can help improve balance and coordination?

• Walking on unstable or uneven surfaces
• Unstable swings and moving games i
• Wheelbarrow walking
• Swimming
• Tapping a balloon back to another person.
• Hopscotch
• Stepping stone games
• Bike and scooter
• Balance board

If left untreated what can difficulties with balance and coordination lead to?

When children having difficulties with balance and coordination they might also have difficulties with:

• Social isolation as they might struggle to participate in social activities such as pool parties, birthday parties at a physical activity location (e.g. Bounce, Latitude, Ice skating, ten pin bowling) and other physical play with friends.
• Poor self esteem when they realise their skills do not match their peers.
• Bullying when others become more aware of the child’s difficulties.
• Poor fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) due to poor core stability meaning they do not have a strong base to support the controlled and efficient use of their arms and hands.
• Inability to ride a bike or scooter, which will limit the options for play with peers as many like to ride their bikes as a means of catching up with friends.

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Don’t miss out on the $10 off shipping coupon I have in my online shop valid till the end of July (2018). All you have to do is buy 2 more more products and enter the coupon: reducemyshipping

Here are my products in action.

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Babies all over the world are genetically programmed to move their tiny bodies in specific ways.  Some of these reflexes begin in utero, others appear after birth.  Most of them help to prepare the baby for its trip down the birth canal (in which it is an active participant), for breathing air, navigating in gravity (vestibular sense), and generally getting adjusted to life outside the womb.  Many of these reflexes aid the child in raising itself upright, creeping and crawling and eventually walking.  Tied in with this is the development and integration of all the senses: touch, temperature, vision, sound, and a sense of the self in open space (proprioception).  Fully adapting to the “outside” world takes the brain/body at least a couple of years, and requires lots of sensory stimulation.  The role of the reflexes in this is critical: as each one appears, and is practiced over weeks or months, it evolves into the next stage of movement, and the infant’s brain lays down the neural foundation for subsequent development.  A weak foundation, or underdeveloped reflexes, means the rest of the construction may be unstable.  That instability may manifest in balance and coordination problems, difficulty orienting in space, or a number of other symptoms. Read more about infant reflex development HERE.

If your child is having learning difficulties and you  would like to have them assessed contact me for an appointment in Mapua, Richmond or Nelson. See my website for session times and pricing.

The post Rhythm and Reflexes (or, Why We Rock Babies) appeared first on Kerri Bainbridge.

Use of a balance board can help to develop balance, core strength and flexibility in the trunk and pelvis. These skills are important for general body awareness and posture.

Safety factors

• Check the balance board has a non-slip surface
• Make sure your child has bare feet or trainer shoes on when using the balance board
• Check the floor surface isn’t slippery

Activities

Exercises can be carried out sitting, kneeling or standing on the board. Time how long a child can balance on the board and try to extend this.

Rock from side to side – with feet firmly placed on the board, make slow controlled movements from side to side. Remember to keep the head up.

Rock backwards and forwards – slowly rock the board from front to back.

Games & activities

• Try getting your child to throw a beanbag or ball at you, or at a target such as a bucket or some skittles.
• Children can pass a beanbag from hand-to-hand while balancing on the board.
• They can also try reaching to clap soap bubbles or to catch floaty scarves
• Magnetic fishing games can also be played while standing or kneeling on the board
• Place the board in front of an easel or magnetic board and encourage your child to complete creative activities while balancing
• Play clapping games together while your child balances
• Get a balance board for yourself and see who can stay upright the longest!

Order one in MY SHOP on this website now!

Develop balance skills with a Balance Board. This one is made of Pine.

Develop balance skills with a Balance Board. This one is made of Rimu.

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