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Pushing our children to ‘learn’

May 9, 2018 By Leanne

Assessing Neuro Motor Readiness for Learning

 

The joys and excitement of a child turning five is celebrated as a rite of passage. The child growing up, going to ‘big school’ and putting on their new uniform brings delight to parents and teachers. But when is a child really ready for school? How can we tell if they are going to succeed or not? Are there ways to tell if a child is school ready? Or do they turn five and are magically able to adjust? Can we help them learn? What are the keys for success? And how can we help them?

We know that child development is fluid – children develop faster or slower than others, but generally all children follow the same milestones of development despite country, culture and race.  This development is physical, mental and emotional and these factors are interrelated in a wholistic way meaning they are all interdependent on each other. For example, the maturity of the emotions is largely dependent on maturity of the mind, just as maturity of the mind is impacted by maturity of the emotions.  However there has been little discussion as to how the maturity of the physical body also impacts mental maturity and agility and visa-versa. Can we know if a child is ready for school by reading their physical capabilities?

The truth is we can! We can see if a child will start school on the upper hand or not if we look past the a,b,c’s and 1, 2, 3’s.  As teachers we have tended to do away with assessing children too young – and for good reason.  However, we have also done away with observing and ensuring children reach their developmental milestones physically.  The assumption is that “all children will get there eventually” and while this may be true in part it does not help the child and adults working with children best provide for their physical development alongside their mental and emotional development. In fact, if children do not meet their physical milestones it can hinder their progress in other areas.  And don’t we all want to give our children the best possible start? Why allow delay if it is not necessary.

Let me explain.  Primitive reflexes are apart of our central nervous system and are meant to be there until around one year of age.  It is at this time that they begin to transition into postural reflexes.  We need these postural reflexes to help defy gravity, give us good posture and fluid movement all through life.  But most importantly these postural reflexes allow us to continually operate in our mature brain, that is the part at the front of the head which problem solves, evaluates and does other executive functions.  Without getting too technical – primitive reflexes come from the brain stem and spinal cord.  Postural reflexes release these so that we are free to operate in our mid-brain and cortex – the thinking brain.

It is for this reason that assessment of the primitive and postural reflexes at 5 will determine the physical maturity of the child and subsequently the ability to operate in their cortex long-term.  Primitive reflexes are like a ‘trigger’ to a child’s brain. Any movement of the head or limbs causes different reflexes to operate to distract and interrupt the child’s processes. Some reflexes such as the ATNR will even cause involuntary movement of the arms upon head rotation.  I’m sure you know this child.  The one with the messy sloping handwriting, or the one who children always say “he hit me” only to have the child emphatically deny it.  Or the one who is constantly ‘clumsy’. This is because reflexes are not conscious.  They are rooted in our subconscious primitive minds.  It’s cause and effect.  Turn head, arm goes out.

However, with a specific movement programme tailored to release these reflexes, the child can be free of the annoying and damaging effects of them.  This programme can be undertaken at home one on one with a parent, or in preschools and schools by trained teachers. Age is no barrier for the programme it can work at any age, yet at 5 we can see how the child will transition into primary school and support this process. The assessment tool also helps us recognise the signs and symptoms of neuro motor immaturity in the classroom.

No longer do children need to live with the emotional insecurity and fight/flight reactions of the Moro reflex.  Or the inability to ride a bike, or handwriting issues, mid-line crossing and co-ordination difficulties of the ATNR. Or the postural distractions, inability to swim, and constant wriggle of the STNR.  Even issues with speech and language can be helped and healed through remediating the TLR. When we understand what is causing the behaviours we can then set about freeing the child from them.

These are all constant issues for children every day of their life that the adults around them and they themselves are largely unaware of. They live with them continuously and when it is time for big school the adults wonder why they cannot still hold a pencil, draw a circle, or sit still on the mat. They aren’t ‘naughty kids’, their bodies and brains just aren’t communicating well yet. But they can. Both teachers and parents can access this support for their child at school or at home. We can see if a child is ready for formal learning at 5, and the good news is we can help them if they aren’t.

If you know a child who suffers from these symptoms there is help! If you are a teacher, you can help all your class become physically ready for formal learning by registering your interest in the one-day teachers’ course here. Or fill out our initial screening questionaire on the here to see if your child needs this support.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: child, education, help, learning, movement, parent, problem, professional development, ready to learn, reflexes, school, school ready, teacher

Movement and Cognition

April 12, 2015 By Leanne

Published in the Autumn issue of The Space magazine, 2015

As a mum of four children I feel I have done it all in terms of parenting styles. I have implemented the authoritarian approach: “Get in the car now”, the passive approach: “Okay do what you want” and more recently the authoritative style: “this is what I think, what do you think?” Let’s be honest, we all know that there are times when we are not parenting at an ideal level but whether we can muster the strength in that moment to actually do something about it is another thing. You know what – that’s okay! We all fail at times. One joy of parenting I believe is that we all have another day to wake up and do something different, to keep on learning and give it another go if things don’t go as we hoped. Children are gracious and full of forgiveness, especially in their early years, so we can use this on our path of parenting.

It is on my quest for a better understanding of my children and why they do what they do, and what works best in terms of how they learn that I undertook training in the INPP (Institute of Neuro-Physiological Psychology) Method. This method helps children by solving the underlying issues (which my children had) through physical movement. But you ask (I know because I also asked) how does simple movements of the body affect the mind? That is a fantastic question! The brain learns and is trained in many different ways. One of these ways – when we are babies – is reflexes. Now I know what you are thinking. The doctor hits your knee and it goes flying. Yes and no. That is correct in the way that you as a person have no control over a reflex. It just happens. But that is not the reflex I am talking about. There are different levels of reflexes; Intra-Uterine (in the womb), Primitive and Postural. The Intra-Uterine are completely at the control of our genetics and our mother. The Primitives are essential for the first year or so of life. They help us survive and provide a way for us to get all we need at this age. These should then start to develop into Postural reflexes around 12 months old. This is not immediate, it is a process, yet all Primitives should be integrated into our central nervous system and we should have Postural Reflexes developed by around 4 years old.

A BABY MUST CRAWL

The brain is trained in our early years through our movement. We are all aware that when a baby is born she knows where her food source is, and cries when she need assistance – these are all reflexes. As she grows she then learns how to hold and move her head and arms in unilateral movements. This is also a reflex. However, the greatest training of the brain comes from crawling. If nothing else is taken from this article it is that a BABY MUST CRAWL! It is said that a baby must crawl for hundreds of hours to fully utilise all the development accorded at this stage. If you have a baby now at crawling age, please put them down on the floor and let them move. If they cry, get down with them, talk and reassure them. A baby must learn how to defy gravity and she must learn how to make bi-lateral movements. If she does not then the child’s reflexes will not be fully integrated into their central nervous system and therefore the child’s ability for higher academic (cognitive) learning will be impeded later on.

CHILDREN ARE BORN FOR MOVEMENT AND THROUGH MOVEMENT THEY LEARN.

As a culture we are prone to placing our babies in many devices which limit their movements. I have been guilty of this for years! Car seats, high chairs, exer-saucers, jolly jumpers, the list is endless. There is nothing wrong with any of these products. The issue arises when we are using all of these products all the time to the detriment of our baby moving. This is compounded as they grow up and we continue to sit them at desks, on couches and in cars. Children are born for movement and through movement they learn. So if we see our babies on the floor and they start to cry – let’s resist the urge to pick them up. At times it is better to get down to their level, talk and reassure them. How about lying on your back on the floor and have your baby on your stomach. The baby is still learning about movement and enjoying the interaction with you! After graduating from a one-year course I now can’t believe that the connections between movement and cognition are so obvious. The INPP method is an individualised, drug free intervention that can help a child to become coordinated and comfortable in their own body. Once a child has the ability to control his or her body then they can access higher parts of their brain for academic or further use. If a child is still operating under Primitive reflexes then they will be continually using their cortical brain to readjust their physical body, controlling it through thought – not Postural reflex. If the brain is busy keeping the child under control it cannot be busy to learn. It is for this reason that the INPP programme offers help to children struggling academically through a process of simple movements tailored to the needs of the child. So how well do you know your child? Is their behaviour or immaturity symptomatic of choice, or retained reflexes? Can they control their body, or is their body controlling them?article

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: academics, body, brain, brain health, homeschool, learn, movement and learning. move, moving to learn, remember, school

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