I just have to share about Brain Gym. I have never heard of it before, and now that I am participating in a class with my youngest son, I have to wonder why. I think EVERYONE should know about this! The top photo above is the book that simply explains how to do the exercises and is simple enough for children to understand. The bottom photo directly above this paragraph is the Teacher's Edition, which is the one our class teacher recommends because it not only shows and explains how to do the exercises, but it also gives some additional ways of doing the exercises to switch it up a bit, as well as giving information on what part of the brain the particular exercise stimulates and what it is useful for.Let me explain a little more. Our co-op has offered this class this semester and I decided to enroll my youngest son, and the teacher stressed the importance of a parent participating in the class with the child because it's important that the parent knows about the exercises and what they are useful for, as well as to be able to help students who have a bit of difficulty with an exercise until their brain gets used to it. The lady teaching the class has been doing this for over 30 years and has seen it work in many ways for many people. She has actually been able to help a retarded child how to read and write simply by using Brain Gym.
Brain Gym is exercises that you do with your body, sometimes standing up, sometimes sitting down, and sometimes lying on the floor, as well as exercises with a dry erase crayon and a laminated manila folder with activities on it, and I don't know what we have yet to learn, but this stuff is amazing. It helps my little guy to listen better and to focus. (That's what it's done so far). However, as we continue to learn, the teacher assures us that it will help our child with math skills, spelling and writing skills, reading skills and more.
It does require a time commitment, and you need to make time to fit it into your day everyday in order to get the maximum benefit and success. Most of the exercises really don't take that long (10 - 15 minutes). However, the writing therapy exercises she taught us today will take quite a bit more time, but are very important for helping your child learn to read and write. Our co-op plans to keep this lady on board and have her continue teaching classes, so I highly recommend that anyone in my area that knows me contact me and get their child(ren) involved in one of these classes. Otherwise, I recommend that you purchase the book, study it and put it into practice with your child(ren).
Brain Gym can be used for any age, so even adults can use it, and they have found that it helps older folks in nursing homes who are having memory issues. A few years ago, my middle son needed vision therapy and it helped him tremendously. Brain Gym uses many of the vision therapy exercises and ideas, but goes a step further and can help a child to no longer need glasses, it can help with behaviors unless the behaviors stem from an attitude issue which is a heart and sin issue that simply needs to be dealt with. So I advise EVERYONE to check this out!
