Smart Moves

At first, a rhythmic activity in the Extra Lesson developmental movement class at Spring Garden Waldorf School in Copley was difficult for now-8-year-old third grader Grace Heller. Each student is tasked with stepping a leg over a rope while touching their shoulder with their opposite hand, continuously crisscrossing to a drumbeat. This helps with bilaterality or bringing interaction between the left and right brain hemispheres. Grace, who has torticollis, which is a tightening of the muscles in the neck, eventually mastered it with big results.

“Once you get the hang of it, you feel so accomplished,” Grace says.

“Her coordination skills have improved tremendously,” says her mom, RyAnn Heller, who adds that it has helped her learn to ride a bike.

Students take Extra Lesson — a class specific to Waldorf education, which addresses the whole child — periodically from kindergarten to second grade and then on a by-need basis. It helps students develop physical capacities and coordination, gain skills needed for complex movements including spatial orientation and balance and be able to transition from play-based early education to sitting at a desk and taking in academic instruction. The class has been especially important, as the sedentary nature of the pandemic shutdown affected students’ abilities to pay attention and follow teachers’ instructions and their gross motor coordination and fine motor skills.

“A child who has difficulty with attention, I see a distinct correlation between that and their ability to sit still,” says Diane Miskinis, Extra Lesson education support teacher. “The class allows children to strengthen this balance.”

Extra Lesson addresses gaps through playful activities like imitating fish, frog and pony movements on the floor to develop motor skills. They also toss bean bags to work on eye tracking, which helps with reading, and left-right brain communication, which helps with math.

“Our bodies … it’s a bridge to helping children grasp higher-level learning,” says Miskinis. “Children build those physical capacities and deepen awareness of their body, self-control, patience, stillness.”

Often, Miskinis modifies activities, such as one where students walk on a balance beam and raise a Hula-Hoop over their heads and step through it. She might cup their elbows to guide them. Grace’s 6-year-old brother in first grade, Jude Heller, struggled with that exercise, but with Miskinis’ assistance, eventually he felt successful.

“She helped me do it,” Jude says, “and find my inner strength.”

“It helps my children to learn better … when they’re self-aware of their body,” adds RyAnn. “It’s giving them a sense of self-worth.”  KP