Smart Moves: Why Learning is not all in your Head

In Kindermusik, we incorporate movement so much, that it is known not just as a music class, but as a music and movement class.  Our creative team goes into extensive research from a variety of sources on how children learn, and there are many professionals over the centuries that show how important movement is in the learning process. 

If you want to read a great book that describes, in scientific detail, the importance of movement in the learning process, I  HIGHLY recommend “Smart Moves” by Carla Hannaford.  There is fascinating information in that book, based on extensive research, which she lists, and is written in a way that makes it very understandable.  She talks a lot about the development of neural connections in the brain, and how movement is KEY to developing strong connections, and a foundation for further learning.  It also talks about movements that help your left and right brain hemispheres to work together.  She introduces a lot of Brain Gym activities, which refer to the process of using specific movements to set up the body for doing particular activities – a science called Educational Kinesiology.  (When I told my husband that, he said “Bless You” – he never takes any of this seriously.)  The information in this book just truly got me excited about the big picture of learning, and I encorporate a LOT of her ideas in my teaching methods.

 

At a Kindermusik Conference in 2006, I also was fortunate enough to see her present information about her new book, “Awakening the Child Heart”, which takes her theories a step farther than the nuts and bolts of the body’s hardwiring.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well, and the whole vision of the interconnectedness of our bodies, and our connections to each other in this world.  It’s a bit more philosophical, and I do recommend reading “Smart Moves” first.  But if you are up for a book that will make you really stop and think about human beings and how integrated our body systems are – and how even little things make such a difference – pick that one.  From Carla, to me, to you:  I wish you Coherence.