Neurological Development at Home Part Three: Bead Transfer
by Donna Rutherford on 04/23/12
You all are on your way to having a sizeable tool belt of Neurodevelopmental Therapeutic activities, all of which are essentially free of charge. This week, I will provide yet another one of these activities, again, free of charge in terms of the materials needed. The next technique is one I personally employ every time I’m with one of my students. In addition to the brain-strengthening power latent in this activity, manual dexterity is improved by the repetition of said activity. This is of paramount importance in that the control of the muscles and tendons in the hand provide us with not only improved penmanship, but an enhanced level of manual usage, which spills out into other areas of our pragmatic lives. “Bead Transfer,” as this technique is straight-forwardly named, is an incredible activity to use over and over again, and is fairly simple in practice. As is the fashion of all of these activities, a child might not be able to accomplish this particular activity at a proficient level at first, but as time goes on and the process is repeated again and again, the benefits of this wonderful activity will make themselves apparent.
With that being said, let’s get right into it. All you need to complete this activity is a simple bead. A bead, here, can be anything: a marble, a (very) small ball, a rounded die, or anything else that is easily maneuvered between two fingers. If possible, a textured bead is best to use, as the texture provides grip and extra tactile stimulation. To start, have the child place his or her elbows on a table or other flat surface. Bent at the elbows, have the child hold their hands upwards and make sure the child’s hands are hanging loosely, fingertips slightly pointed to the surface of the table, at the wrist. With the dominant hand first, have the child pick up the bead and place it between the tips of their thumb and index finger, then tell them to grasp it somewhat firmly. Have the child roll the bead between the two fingers for, at the very, very least, five seconds – I usually request the child to do this for two to three times this amount of time. After this first cycle, tell the child to pass the bead between their fingers – index to middle; middle to ring; ring to pinky – until all of the fingers have undergone this process. While rolling the bead, ensure that the child is remaining relaxed – especially in the mouth and wrists. If you detect tension in the child’s body, remind them to relax a bit (you can actually lightly pat their arms or non-active hand; this usually makes the child smile coyly, and they return to a relaxed state almost immediately). Once the dominant hand has completed the process, repeat these steps with the non-dominant hand. After this is done, proceed once more with the dominant hand, and the process is done.
This is a fairly simple procedure, but, again, the child may not be able to do this with ease at first. Again, don’t fret, and by now you might actually be expecting this, assuming you have experience with the prior activities I have enumerated in my past blogs. As stated in the first paragraph of this article, this activity enhances the cognitive functions of the brain and increases the strength of the little muscles in a child’s hand, all of which are required for activities such as fluid hand-writing.
So there you have it, folks. You can now successfully employ the “Bead Toss.” If you notice that your child is knocking over things with his or her hands, or you notice that his or her hand-writing is not up to par with his or her classmates, try using this strategy over a liberal amount of time. I am confident that you’ll see results.
Neurological Development at Home Part Two: The Lazy 8
by Donna Rutherford on 04/02/12
Last week I wrote a brief blog discussing one of the activities we do here at the Brain Zone, the Ball-n-Wall Crawl. I'm sure by now you all are probably certified professionals of the Ball-N-Wall Crawl; if not, though, don't worry -there's always more time. Plus, there are a variety of other activities I will be detailing over the course of the next few weeks, so you can pick and choose which of said activities work best for you. This week's installment of my weekly blog will be talking about an activity that you can do without any materials - that's right, this one is completely free! In fact, all you really need to have in order to do this is a finger and a set of eyes.
This exercise is called the Lazy 8. I do this with many of the children I work with, and I think doing this with a child before reading a book is a great idea, especially for a child who struggles with reading. The Lazy 8 does not necessarily need to be done for a prolonged period of time, which makes this not only an effective exercise, but a time efficient one. A child can practice their Lazy 8s anywhere, (i.e. in the car on the way to school, at school before a test, at home in any room of the house, etc.) and, thus, having the Lazy 8 in a child's tool-belt, if you will, may help a child develop their cognitive skills everywhere and anywhere they go.
Before heading on into the description of the actual process of the Lazy 8, I will first discuss the benefits of the Lazy 8. The main objective of the Lazy 8 is to cross the midline, (as is the case in many of the activities I've discusses thus far) and this is one of the easiest ways for a child to do so. According to the Brain Zone Reference Manual, the Lazy 8 "cross[es] the visual midline for increased hemispheric integration, enhance[s] binocular and peripheral vision, [and] improve[s] eye-muscle coordination." All of these areas are necessary for reading efficiently and effectively. Vision, of course, is a crucial aspect of reading; however, an important thing to consider is the strength of the eye. The stronger the muscles of the eye, the more easily one can track their eyes from left to right, which, of course, occurs in reading.
With all of the jargon and description out of the way, I will now detail the fundamental process of the Lazy 8 (which by now might actually seem a bit anti-climactic). To being the process, place your index finger in front of the child's face, approximately a foot away from the nose. Then, slowly move your finger in the shape of an infinity sign (an infinity sign is a figure-8 on its side, hence the name Lazy 8). Ask the child to follow your finger with their eyes. It is important to mention that many children will, at first, move their heads rather than their eyes. If this persists, it may be beneficial to actually hold their head stationary until they can complete the process without your aid. Do this for at least a minute or two. Another way to do this is to have the child do the entire process by themselves; however, more often than not, children usually need help to do this, initially. Yet another way to do this is to have the child carry out the process on a piece of paper with a pen rather than visually in the air. Again, work your way up to this - this is not a magic trick, nor an over-night improvement. Neurodevelopmental therapy takes time and patience, and that's okay.
So, with that being said, go out and do some Lazy 8s with your child. Though this process seems nowhere near as fun as the Ball-n-Wall Crawl, it is a good opportunity to spend time with your child and talk with them. This is a short process as well as a process of physical closeness, and as long as the child is tracking with their eyes, this could serve as a great time to ask your child how their day was. With the fast paced nature of today, it is exercises like these that allow us to take just a moment out of the day and connect as well as grow.
Neurological Development at Home Part One: The Ball-N-Wall Crawl
by Donna Rutherford on 03/24/12
Plenty of parents walk through the side-yard of the Brain Zone to drop off their children for their sessions; many of said parents often see children and their tutors outside "playing games." This, at first, might conjure up a couple of negative responses. After all, parents don't pay for their kids to "play games" for an hour – they pay for their kids to learn something of substance. Rest assured, though, parents, for the "games" we "play" aren't so much games as they are cerebral exercises. I'm the first to say that to an outsider this all sounds a bit lofty and perhaps even, as I mentioned in my previous blog, pseudoscientific, but, again, trust me - these activities are all very methodical and calculated, and they all serve as means to extraordinary ends. Plus, they're empirically tested and are, as a result, completely grounded in real, hard neuroscience.
The first exercise I will discuss at some length needs some background; in fact, the background provided in this section pertains to many of the subsequent exercises I will discuss in future weeks. Today’s exercise is part of a group of exercises which were developed by the HANDLE® Institute. According to the handbook of HANDLE® activities, there are a couple of cautionary conditions a parent must take into consideration before proceeding with any of their activities. HANDLE® activities all stimulate different portions of the brain and the nervous system, so it is important to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of a child’s nervous system. As is stated in the HANDLE® handbook, "over-stimulation of immature systems can cause the nervous system to become overwhelmed or stressed, which in turn leads to a shutdown, a regression to earlier behaviors, and possibly lethargy (exhaustion and sleep)." (Bluestone, 1) In short and in layman's terms, if an activity is too much for a child to handle, do not proceed with said activity.
With the cautionary conditions out of the way, I'm now going to have to give a disclaimer. You might be thinking by this point, "what’s the point to your rambling, kid?" Well, there is, as Shakespeare so aptly wrote in Hamlet, a method to the madness. Over the span of the next few weeks I will be detailing activities you can perform with your child in order to kick-start their neurological processes at home in a matter of minutes. As previously stated, each of these activities triggers a particular portion of the brain, and each one brings forth its own variety of benefits. Early on in this series of blog entries, I will explicate the easier, more accessible activities one can conduct with their child; later in this series, though, I will go into more detail about the more complex exercises. So, without further distraction, I introduce to you the Ball-n-Wall Crawl, or, as the HANDLE® handbook calls it, "The Organizer."
The Ball-n-Wall Crawl is one of my favorite HANDLE® exercises for a variety of reasons. This simple activity requires little more than a racquetball and it is one of the easiest activities for children to learn. On a deeper, neurological level, though, this simple activity does very complex things to the nervous system. Harkening back to the HANDLE® nickname of the Ball-n-Wall Crawl, the organization of the nervous system is the central benefit of this exercise; however, this is not the only benefit. According to the HANDLE® handbook, "the Ball-n-Wall Crawl enhances differentiation, lateralization, bilateral integration, and interhemispheric integration. This activity also works on improving visual-spatial functions and integrating them with other functions in a rhythmic pattern" (Bluestone, 3). Again, translating this to layman's terms, this exercise essentially commences and enhances communication between the two hemispheres of the brain and promotes overall cooperation between the two sides of the body; furthermore, the exercise enhances spatial awareness and builds internal body rhythms, which are essential to learning. So, now that you know the benefits of the Ball-n-Wall Crawl, I will briefly outline how to complete this activity.
To do the Ball-n-Wall Crawl, stand in a prone athletic position (meaning the feet should be about shoulder-length apart) about six to ten feet - or whatever distance you or your child might need in order to throw a ball overhand - away from a wall. Place a racquetball in the child's right hand and have the student raise their hand to about shoulder-height. Maintaining synchronicity, have the child step forward with their left leg while releasing the ball with their right hand. The ball should bounce once before hitting the wall and once more after it has hit the wall. For starters or very small children, have the students attempt to catch the ball with two hands - I use attempt here because, at first, there is a high chance that the child may not be able to catch the ball. If, however, the student is older, have the student catch the ball with their left hand. Repeat this process for a couple of minutes and then duplicate the process using the opposite hand/leg.
That's really all there is too it, which is why this is one of my favorite activities. There is a lot of potential to have fun with your child while doing this activity, and it is a rather simple activity to complete; if you have an old racquetball lying around, you can do the Ball-n-Wall Crawl. So, if you'd like to organize and center your child's nervous system, and, consequently, ready your child to be able to internally communicate at a higher level, I implore you to take out that old racquetball and find the nearest wall - you and your child won't regret it!
