John Wayne is quoted as saying, “Life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.” I would have to agree. When a person gets it into their head that they are stupid, or cannot learn, life get’s difficult indeed! It is imperative that students that learn differently, who may or may not be in special education classes, believe that they are smart and that they can learn.

Many of these kids carry the belief that they are stupid and therefore stop trying to learn. It generally is by the fourth grade that students who have learning disabilities start to give up. They have been teased and told they’re stupid so many times by their peers or have said it to themselves so often; it starts to become truth to them.

As adults we must be affirming the abilities our children have, and coaching students to challenge untrue beliefs.

BE -affirming

I woke to clouds on the horizon this morning. As the sun began to rise it threw multiple colors in the sky, and it was just beautiful. Having children with learning disabilities sometimes looks like clouds on the horizon. We can tend to worry about how they will be successful in school and in life. When we wait for the sun we notice that our children’s differences are beautifully colorful. Each individual has a gift. Sometimes these gifts mean that we learn differently.

Embrace the gifts and the unique colors of your student this morning. Forget about disabilities and notice the abilities and possibilities that exist in and through your special student. He deserves to know that you embrace these so he can too! Empower your student to accept and honor their uniqueness today and everyday.

 BE -colorful

How can movement help our children develop brain function?

As I was going through my martial arts training, it often intrigued me that the children in the program seemed to not only get better grades, but also have better thinking skills. This sat in my mind for a few years and I would occasionally see an article in a magazine about movement and brain development in children. Yet I never saw any real research.

 Then I started having my own children (I have four boys). As I watched them play and saw them develop I developed some theories of my own, regarding movement and their development. I saw them as definitely related. Just look what small children instinctively do. They move, run jump and it is very hard to sit still in desks. Even babies wave their hands when they are awake. They hate being confined in seats, they love to move.

 Later more articles came out suggesting this relationship between exercise, movement and brain function and development. So I looked for them and read everything I ran across. Also, being a musician it was known that musical skill and mathematical skill go hand in hand. As life progressed and we decided to take our little Kitchen Karate Class out into the real world and open a school, I learned even more.

The research started pouring in, people were talking about Kinesiology, Brain Gym and rhythm to help with brain development. At I time when we see kids more and more sedentary, we get more and more evidence that they need to move to develop. Martial Arts training turns out to work on brain development in several ways. One is rhythm. We do warm-up strikes in cadence and with rhythm. The second is cross lateral motions. When one works the cross laterally, meaning across the body, the brain builds better cross lateral connections across the corpus callosum in the brain.

The other ways in which martial arts specifically helps is with focused control. We practice focus. Lastly, I want to point out that every child needs physical exercise, far beyond what they are getting in school, for proper brain development and function. If they had more, I don’t think we would see as many diagnoses of ADD and ADHD and hyper activity. Some of these kids just need lots and lots of physical motion.

I hope this peaks your interest in movement and brain development. It is fascinating to read about and see in practice. I hope you will support our plans to integrate and educational excellence center and a martial arts school. This is our vision for a better community.

Blessings,

BE -moving, yes you too!