Bring back the lullaby, says controversial expert 10th May 2011
To read this article published in the Toronto Star on 10 May 2011 follow the link below:
www.thestar.com/iphone/Living/article/988363 - Canada
Singing to children may help development of language skills 10th May 2011
To read this article published in The Guardian on May 8, 2011 follow the link below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/08/singing-children-development-language-skills
Calendar of Events: April 2011 - April 2012 3rd May 2011
Diary of Events for INPP January 2011 to April 2012
January 2011
Wednesday 12th to Friday 14th January 2011 - International INPP Course Module 1
Monday 17th to Friday 21st January 2011 - International INPP Course Module 2
Monday 24th to Thursday 27th - January 2011 International INPP Course Module 3
February 2011
Friday 11th February 2011 - One Day Training Course for Autism Wales provided in Carmarthenshire
Friday 18th - February 2011 One Day Training Course in Chester
Monday 28th - February 2011 One Day Course provided at INSET Day in Carlisle
March 2011
Thursday 3rd March 2011 – Lecture at Jump and Learn Conference to London BAECE Members
Monday 14th March to Friday 18th March 2011 INPP UK Course Module 3 plus Musica Medica
April 2011
Friday 8th April 2011 – One Day Training Course in Chester
Sunday 1st May – Presentation given at Kindyroo in Berlin
May 2011
Tuesday 24th May – Presentation to Nurturefest Conference. Stafford.
Tuesday 31st May – Presentation to working group at the European Parliament in Brussels at the invitation of The International Alliance for Childhood
June 2011
Monday 6th June to Wednesday 8th June 2011 – International and UK INPP Module 4 (Exam Module)
Friday 10th June 2011 – One Day Training Course in Chester
Wednesday 29th June 2011 – Presentation at “Physical Literacy Conference” , University of Bedford
September 2011
Saturday 17th September 2011 – Presentation at PWN Conference in Poland
Monday 19th September 2011 – One day training for carers of in residential homes for young people in Bratislava, Slovakia
Monday 26th September 2011 – Sensograph Training Day in Chester
October 2011
Friday 7th October 2011 – One Day Training Course (details to be confirmed)
November 2011
Wednesday 2nd November 2011 – Two 11/2 hour “Jump and Learn” Sessions at Thomas Coram Centre in Camden, London
Friday 11th November 2011 – Conference presentation Somerset (to be confirmed)
Friday 18th November 2011 – One Day Training Course in Chester
Friday 25th and Saturday 26th November 2011 – Supervision Weekend Queen Hotel, Chester
January 2012
Tuesday 17th to Friday 20th January 2011 – INPP Course Module 1
Monday 23rd to Friday 27th January 2012 – INPP Course Module 2
March 2012
Sunday 4th March 2012 – One day training for therapists and educators at the invitation of Therapeutic Services in New York
Tuesday 13th to Friday 16th March 2012 – INPP Course Module 3
April 2012
Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th April 2012 – INPP Conference in Barcelona
The Genius of Natural Childhood - publication date May 2011 1st April 2011
This new book explains why the processes inherent in natural childhood support and nurture children’s development.
As technology accelerates processes of change, subtle alterations in life style are increasingly effecting children’s experiences. Without denying the many advantages that technology has brought to modern living, this book explains why:
Children still need plenty of physical experience and interaction in the early years; why lullabies, nursery rhymes and fairy stories are still relevant to children today; the importance of movement, singing, imaginary play, the telling of stories and being read to; it provides ideas of games and activities for parents and carers to play with the under 5’s.The final chapter gives suggestions for what to look out for in getting children “ready” for school.
Children’s development unfolds in the context of the physical world.
Fairy tales - a point of disagreement 1st April 2011
New Book Title: Advance Information. The Genius of Natural Childhood 6th January 2011
The Genius of Natural Childhood – Secrets of Thriving Children
One of the greatest threats to modern society comes not from diseases of the past which Medicine and Hygiene have largely controlled, but illnesses, learning and social problems which are a direct consequence of modern living conditions, lifestyle and ignorance of children’s biological needs perpetuated by a culture of political correctness – from sedentary lifestyles, increase in childhood obesity, lack of physical play and one-to-one social engagement - to loss of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, bedtime stories and rough and tumble play. Sally Goddard Blythe, Director of INPP explains:
- Why movement is an essential ingredient for healthy brain development
- How music, song, lullabies and nursery rhymes prepare the brain for language
- Why fairy tales engender an understanding of moral behaviour and enable children to face their emotional fears in safety
- Why rough and tumble play exercise neural circuits involved in creativity and self regulation
- What to look out for if your child does not seem to be “ready” for school.
Description
According to statistics from the USA: 30% of children will enter kindergarten developmentally delayed; 30% of children are obese; 20% of children require special education assistance; infants watch 2.5 hours per day of TV and toddlers watch 4.5 hours per day TV; Elementary children use 8 hours per day of combined technologies and in the UK 40% of parents admit they have never read to their child.
Sally Goddard Blythe draws on neuroscience to unpack the wisdom inherent in lullabies, nursery, rhymes and fairy stories. She explains why movement experience in the early years is essential for healthy child development and why music helps to develop and enhance language. Dr Jane Williams, Director of Toddler Kindy GymbaROO in Australia provides a starter pack of games and activities which parents can do with their children. The final chapter provides a series of check lists of signs to look out for in children who may need additional help in getting ”ready” for school.
Publisher: Hawthorn Press. Stroud. www.hawthornpress.com
Publication date: Summer 2011
Article by Svea Gold on Asperger’s and Gaze Control 2nd November 2010
Asperger’s and Gaze control
With the planned revision of the DSM IV there is a huge controversy right now as to whether to retain the label of Asperger’s and not just to call the condition “part of the autism spectrum.”
No matter what the label, your child is still your little professor and that means that he is very smart.
One of the first things we who work with neurodevelopmental therapy are taught that if we notice is a huge difference in the area in which a child shows competence, and those areas in which he is lacking, that child’s brain is good and we can bring up the areas in which he is not functioning well.
So if you want to find out what you can do, have a look at the whole child. Don’t hide behind the Asperger’s label as a reason not to make life easier for him. You will not take away his intelligence, you will free it.
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All labels on the autism spectrum come with lists of “comorbidity.” That is a frightening sounding name, but all it means is that in addition to whatever label the child has been given, there are other symptoms as well. There may be balance problems, there may be speech problems; sleep problems, digestion difficulties and often there are allergy problems as well. Where does one start?
What ever these “comorbidities” are, chances are that they arise out of the same areas of the brain in which for one reason or another some connections are missing. In short, since nothing in the brain works without some feedback from other areas in the neural network, we must have a look at what is keeping the child from succeeding.
What is not connecting, what is not going in, and how can we restore or recreate some developmental stage that was missed? Are there some structural injuries in the spine –especially the top three vertebrae? There might even be some rigidity in the cranial structure.
The most common lack that I have found – in all cases of autism - but especially in children labeled with Asperger’s – is lack of gaze control. Gaze is a function controlled in the brainstem. Gaze control is what allows a baseball player to run across a field and though the ball he is trying to catch is always moving and the position of his own body is in constant flux, the ball stays in his field of vision at every moment.
It is not for nothing that autistic vision has been described as “fractured.”
The child essentially sees the world as through field glasses in a bumpy car. Symptoms of the child’s withdrawal then are largely an attempt to avoid this uncomfortable way in which the child experiences the world.
Why is that different from the way most of us see our surroundings. In the olivary complexes in the brainstem there are nerves that receive input from the body, from the vestibular system and from the visual system. In the olivary complexes all these nerves interact. If there is some disconnect from either of these systems, the child loses control of many functions. While we have to have a look at the whole child, this particular connection is rather easy to evaluate by checking the headrighting reflex of a child - or for that matter of an adult. If that reflex does not work with eyes open, we are looking at a problem in the connections to the visual system. If it does not work with the eyes closed, chances are it is because of the vestibular connection to either the eyes or the information from the body.
For the new born baby these connections are not yet in place. During the first few weeks the infant “stares at sound”. When he listens to someone’s voice, his eyes seem to look into space. He can either see you or hear you, not both. Through the experience of being moved around and touched, and generally learning to control his body against this strange force of gravity, the connections between these three systems are finally made.
There are many reasons why this interaction may not fully function. It could be caused by prenatal influences, by birth trauma, or simply by lack of proper stimulation during the first few months.
Daunting as all this may seem, by simply replicating the entire developmental progression, starting with movements made in utero, we can usually help the child catch up on what was missed in those very early weeks of life so that later development can follow in the ideal fashion.
Helping the child achieve ideal development does not take away his intelligence, it liberates it.
To understand more, I suggest you look at the article “I can look at you now!” on the “Free Articles” on this fernridgepress.com website. You may also contact me at sjgold22@comcast.net.
Children unprepared for school 31st August 2010
Children unprepared for school
Figures reported on the 27th August 2010 showing that one in five children failed to reach writing standards expected for their age, one in six failed to attain expected reading level, one in ten were behind in maths and boys trailed behind girls in every subject tested despite record investments in the early education and the recently implemented early years foundation stage (EYFS), suggest that there is more involved to acquiring literacy and numeracy than simply the teaching of basic skills.
“Readiness” for reading requires that all systems involved have received sufficient stimulation in the early years. This includes development of balance, coordination, postural control and fine motor skills to facilitate writing; control of eye movements and the ability to hear and say all of the sounds required for reading and spelling. These basic skills are nurtured not through direct teaching of reading and writing in the pre-school years, but through physical and imaginative play, singing, conversation, being told stories and being read to on a regular basis. Increasingly, the lacking ingredients in a child’s early years are physical interaction with the environment and social engagement with adults and other children. Children growing up in areas of social deprivation are particularly at risk, as are boys who are naturally later at developing the fine motor and language skills needed to support reading, writing and spelling.
Only last weekend, when I was running a training day for teachers in The Netherlands in how to recognise signs of neuro-motor immaturity in the classroom and how to administer a developmental intervention programme, one of the attendees remarked that these problems are now reaching “epidemic” proportions, not only in the United Kingdom but in other parts of Europe and the rest of the developed world. As technology proceeds apace, and children are increasingly exposed to visual stimulation without motor integration we are in danger of creating a state of evolutionary regression rather then progression in the motor and language skills needed to support reading, writing, spelling, maths and social integration. The foundations for these skills are laid down in the early years as a child’s brain and body learn to work together through activity.
Until successive governments focus attention on developing the whole child instead of trying to treat the symptom, we will continue to see similar depressing statistics.
Information on the INPP one day course for teachers in identifying neuro-motor immaturity and implementing a developmental movement programme may be be found at: www.inpp.org.uk/training
Why boys and girls have different needs in the early years 19th May 2010
“……….if boys and girls are to have equality of opportunity in education, then education needs to take these small but significant differences in rates of maturation and learning needs into account from the outset”
Extract from feature length article in Montessori International Journal April-June 2010
Article publised in “Nursery World” 3rd March 2010 11th March 2010
Child Development
Analysis: Motor skills - Put to the test
Sally Goddard Blythe, 03 March 2010, 00:00am
Developmental testing should be reintroduced for children before and after school entry to improve learning skills, says Sally Goddard Blythe.
Babies with poor motor skills at nine months are also likely to be behind in their cognitive development at this age and less well behaved at age five, the Millenium Cohort Study - involving 15,000 children - has found.(1)
These findings mirror the results of an earlier study, which found a link between immature balance and co-ordination skills at age five and poor reading and writing in primary school.(2)
Physical development is the foundation for learning. Without balance and co-ordination, we could not sit nor stand, have free use of our hands to carry out fine motor tasks, or control the eye movements needed for reading, writing, copying and maths.
Learning success begins with physical development and it is in the first nine months of life that a baby develops the postural abilities that will support gross and fine motor co-ordination for life.
No two children develop at exactly the same rate. But the development of head control, for example, is crucial for learning to sit, stand, walk and provide a stable platform for control of eye movements. Children who are later at developing head control tend to be later at developing other skills. This is where the assessment of primitive and postural reflexes at key stages in development can help identify children whose motor skills are likely to be delayed.
REFLEXES
Primitive reflexes emerge during life in the womb, are developed at birth in the full-term baby and are slowly controlled and transformed into more mature postural patterns in the first six months of life. Postural reflexes start to emerge after birth and continue to develop up to three and a half years of age.
Primitive reflexes are tested as a matter of routine at the post-natal assessment and at developmental check-ups in the first six months of life, but are not assessed as part of standard practice thereafter.
It tends to be assumed that if they were sufficiently integrated at six months then no further assessment is required. However, studies carried out on primary school children have shown that traces of primitive reflexes can and do persist into later childhood and that they are linked to under-achievement(3) and behavioural problems(4).
When my eldest son, now 28, was due to start school, every child underwent a developmental assessment by a school doctor, who checked gross and fine motor skills in addition to basic tests for vision and hearing. These tests were phased out a couple of years later, so children with underdeveloped physical skills at school entry simply slipped through the net.
By the time a child enters school, responsibility for the welfare of the child moves from the domain of medicine to education, meaning that subtle problems of a physical nature are not addressed. Neither do health visitors, trained to pick up signs of delay in the early years, follow a child on when they enter school to observe the long-term effects of early delays in motor development.
Reinstating developmental testing of all children, not only in the first year of life but also at later key stages in development, could help to identify children at risk.
This was evident in a study comparing the early developmental history of 72 children who had specific learning difficulties with children of the same age who were performing well at school. The study found that those who were struggling at school had almost twice the incidence of problems occurring in the first 18 months of life (from medical problems during pregnancy and the birth process to being later walkers and talkers).(5)
With regular assessments, suitable physical programmes could then be implemented to improve the motor skills of ‘at risk’ children before and in their first years at school.
Studies carried out in Northern Ireland and elsewhere in the UK between 2001 and 2005 have indicated that in many cases, developmental delay responds to specific training programmes.(6)
Daily developmental movement exercises were introduced into schools. Children in the experimental groups showed statistically significant improvements in measures of balance, co-ordination and infant reflexes compared with control and comparison groups, and greater gains in measures of reading and spelling. Teachers also reported improvements in concentration, behaviour and social skills.
These findings suggest that if we paid more attention to children’s physical development, teaching outcomes could be improved.
REFERENCES
1. Hansen K, Joshi H, Dex S, eds (2010) ‘Children of the 21st Century: The first five years’. Policy Press
2. North Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB) 2004. ‘An evaluation of the pilot INPP movement programme in primary schools in Northern Ireland. Final report’. Prepared by Brainbox Research Ltd for the NEELB. http://www.neeelb.org.uk/
3. Goddard Blythe 2005. ‘Releasing educational potential through movement: A summary of individual studies carried out using the INPP Test Battery and Developmental Exercise Programme for use in schools with children with special needs’. Child Care in Practice.11/4:415-432
McPhillips M, Sheehy N, ‘Prevalence of persistent primary reflexes and motor problems in children with reading difficulties’ Dyslexia 2004; 10/4: 316-338
4. Marlee R, 2008. ‘Neurological developmental delay research programme, first report’. Report prepared for the Behaviour Support Service, School and Family Support Division, Northumberland County Council
5. Goddard Blythe SA, Hyland D, 1998. ‘Screening for neurological dysfunction in the specific learning difficulty child’. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, October 1998
6. See reference 2
Sally Goddard Blythe is the director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester and author of books on child development including Attention, Balance and Co-ordination: The A,B,C of learning success (WileyBlackwell) and The Well Balanced Child: Movement and early learning (Hawthorn Press)