Workshops: Developmental Movement, Drawing & Painting
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Strengthening Capacities for the Whole Class
How to create/promote and support a school-wide repertoire of whole-class remedial work EVENT TYPE Seminar AUDIENCE Teachers TIME 3 hours Certain exercises and activities based in The Extra Lesson are highly recommended as part of a primary grades teacher’s repertoire of ways to help every child be ready to do his or her best, every day. Experience has shown that students who receive these activities are able to move ahead more solidly. Benefits of these exercises – if done regularly and with the indicated rhythm – include: • Foundations for literacy - developmental capacities for all aspects of language. • Foundations for numeracy - the math/logical and spatial intelligences in motion. • Readiness for deskwork - enhancing focus and attention. Setting the stage for harmonious receptivity to new material. • Bodily/kinesthetic and spatial integration. • Strengthening the will. Participants in this workshop will be helped to map out a strategy for their school. For more information, —> see classroom.pdf 16 Keys to Developmental Movement Needs What are the developmental steps and goals that must be addressed through a school’s program? How can all teachers participate? EVENT TYPE Seminar/workshop AUDIENCE Teachers TIME 3 hours When a grade-school child struggles with reading, or math, or focus; when a child is nervous about school, acts out, or has begun self-defining as “not good at” academic areas, very often there are developmental steps to be filled in (and that can be filled in). These interrelated areas of development create a child's capacities or readiness for learning. Even though every child has a unique spectrum of strengths and needs, there are 16 basic categories that every teacher can use as a lens, and a guide to further support. For more information, --> see keys.pdf Rough and tumble play From first grade through eighth - curriculum and approaches EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop with lecture and discussion AUDIENCE Teachers, parents TIME 1.5 hours Rough-and-tumble play, a form of social engagement consisting of activities such as play fighting, hitting, wrestling, and chasing with the intent of fighting, is believed to constitute approximately 15% of all the vigorous physical play observed in children. While it is not known why immature organisms engage in such play, its primary function might be to allow children, and particularly boys, to establish their status within a dominance hierarchy. This appears to be the function of rough and tumble in other mammals, such as chimpanzees; it is a relatively safe way to establish one’s status within the group without the risk of injury that may occur during genuine aggressive acts. There is a correlation between the appearance of this activity and the maturity of the frontal lobes of the brain. For more information, —> see play.pdf “Zoo-Robics” Exercises and Postural Control From first grade through eighth - curriculum and approaches EVENT TYPE Lecture/seminar with audience discussion AUDIENCE Teachers, parents TIME 1.5 to 2 hours How much creeping and crawling does it take to prepare a child for school and life? Many child development specialists believe that tens of thousands (perhaps as many as 50,000) crawling type steps are needed to properly myelinate the brain for academic readiness. Given today’s popularity of strollers, walkers, baby bouncers, backpacks, etc. it is unlikely a modern infant/toddler will take that many crawling steps. Audrey McAllen, a Waldorf school remedial teacher for many years, has suggested many creeping and crawling exercises, based on her deep experience with the early movement patterns and primitive reflexes of children from birth to age 3. She describes these in her book The Extra Lesson and other publications on child development. I will add to these, dozens of agilities, animal imaginations and tumbling activities. For more information, —> see zoorobics.pdf Games and movement for Grades 1-2-3 “Raiders of the Lost Art” (of play) EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop with lecture and discussion AUDIENCE Teachers, parents TIME 1.5 hours We will explore the foundations of healthy development that occur through movement over time, and experience how these foundations can be joyfully built through ‘old time’ schoolyard and backyard games once played by children all over the world. Many of these activities are in books for teachers and recreation directors published between 1910 and 1950. (Come prepared to have fun!) Workshop includes techniques for sensory integration, specific academic goals. Ball & Balance Activities Activities to promote learning readiness and interpersonal connection EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop with lecture and discussion AUDIENCE Teachers, parents TIME 1.5 hours Individual tossing/catching activities strengthen fine motor control for vision, spatial orientation, balance, sequencing, laterality, rhythm, and speech. Group tossing activities additionally strengthen interpersonal attention. By adding a balance component, deeper remedial issues (including contact disturbances) can be helped. |
Shaded Drawing
Strengthening the will, working with anticipation EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop AUDIENCE Teachers TIME 1.5 hours In her description of the “Shaded Drawing Exercise”, Audrey McAllen points to the connection between the diagonal line and the will, and notes that shaded drawing calls on attention and patience. Participants will experience how to build up this skill progressively through the grades, so that shaded drawing can be both a regular whole-class remedial activity, a beautiful addition to Main Lesson Books, and an added tool for recapitulating the introduction of the alphabet. For more information, —> see shadeddrawing.pdf and diagonalshading.pdf 
Painting Handwriting
A method of adding beauty and flow to writing EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop AUDIENCE Teachers TIME 1.5 hours In June of 1921, Rudolf Steiner spoke to the teachers of the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, as they were about to establish the first Waldorf tenth grade. During the fourth lecture, Rudolf Steiner stated: "We really ought to get people to write in a way that is akin to painting. Writing in that way is far more hygienic." By this, I believe he was indicating a “painterly” style of handwriting (i.e. with a pen or pencil, not the use of a brush per se.) However, in my opinion, the painting handwriting exercises in this workshop are consistent with Steiner's advice. And in my experience, the effort to provide students throughout the elementary grades with them, will be well rewarded! For more information, —> see writing.pdf 
Copper Rod Exercises
Copper rod exercises serve the academic/developmental needs of grade school children EVENT TYPE Hands-on/experiential workshop with lecture and discussion AUDIENCE Teachers TIME 1.5 hours Copper rod exercises enhance the physiologic development needed for writing and reading: fine motor control through the radius and ulna • Direction, rhythm and sequencing - related to math • Proprioception and balance - one of the “Multiple Intelligences” • Working with anticipation; social skills For more information, —> see copperrods.pdf |
