Educational Kinesiology

True Learning is not just mental. The brain is informed by movement and the senses; therefore, true learning results from highly charged and instantaneous sensorimotor events- moments of neural reorganization by which one is freed to think in new ways. Whole brain development is integrally related to movement and the physical skills of learning.

History

Developmental experts have known more than 80 years that physical movement activates the brain and enhances learning. In the 1970’s, educational therapist, Dr. Paul Dennison, began drawing from and building on this knowledge to develop the field of Educational Kinesiology. Edu-K was developed through extensive study and insight drawn from kinesiology, developmental optometry, acupuncture, occupational therapy, dance, and sensory integration.Edu-K first achieved success in California’s Valley Remedial Group learning centers. Edu-K helped many children and adults who had been identified as dyslexic, ADD, hyperactive, or learning disabled to discover and develop their true potential. Subsequent studies published in North America, Germany, Australia, and elsewhere confirmed that Edu-K produced measurable gains in physical skills, learning skills, and academic performance. Edu-K presents the hypothesis, consistent with the latest findings in neuroscience, that new neural pathways grow when we move with intention.

Programs

Get Moving (Individuals)

Smart Moves (Schools or Organizations)

Meetings With Movement (Professionals)

Get Moving

A individual session is an excellent opportunity to learn about yourself and gain tools to help you grow in a safe and relaxed setting. A private session typically lasts sixty to seventy-five minutes and starts with you choosing a goal: something you want to accomplish.

What to Expect?

We will then investigate how well communication is taking place between the back brain and the front brain, the left and right hemispheres, and the mid-brain. After this, I will guide you through a process of choosing and performing activities that will best meet your needs. These activities, which range from small movements of your eyes or hands to easy whole-body movements, allow you to access the skills, abilities, and mental attitudes you will need to accomplish your goal. The Edu-K process is complete when you feel and demonstrate improvements in your goal-related learning and performance abilities.

Example Goals

• To easily organize and write down my ideas

• To read faster and remember what I read

• To be calm and confident in front of an audience or in an interview

• To communicate well with family, friends and colleagues

• To perform an athletic skill with more accuracy

Smart Moves

Integrating movement-based learning into your school or organization can help develop a calmer, more productive, and self-directed school or organizational environment. I offer workshops on the Brain Gym® educational model that enhances learning through movement exercises. Brain Gym® has been used successfully in classrooms and organizations for more than thirty years; it is taught in eighty countries on all the continents and has been translated into fifty languages.

Workshop Goals

• Participants will understand the relationship of movement to learning and performance.

• Participants will gain some fun and effective approaches to learning.

• Participants will learn Brain Gym® strategies to use with children, who are experiencing learning challenges, especially reading, writing, listening and communication skills.

• Participants will know what happens to the brain and the body when under stress and what to do to move out of stress.

• Participants will increase their self-awareness and ability to be self-directed.

Meetings With Movement

In addition to integrating movement activities into my facilitation process, I’ve utilized the facilitation techniques below to develop dynamic interactions that produce results. I have experience designing and facilitating strategic planning sessions, focus groups, and large collaborative meetings.

Open Space Technology

Opens Space Technology is a method of organizing meetings (immediately) and leading movements (longer term) so that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things, in record time.

World Café

Based on the understanding that conversation is the core process that drives personal, business, and organizational life, the World Café is more than a method, a process, or technique - it's a way of thinking and being together that draws out all of the knowledge and experience at the table.

Problem Posing Theater

A dynamic and interactive form of participatory theater, Problem Posing Theater enables a group to objective an issue or problem in a school or organizational culture and work to solve the issue in real time.