IMPORTANT BENEFITS OF OUR PROGRAMS

Many of the benefits of our programs are not readily apparent because they work internally. Smiles and laughter are always great clues for parents to let them know their children are having fun and enjoying themselves, but there’s another very important aspect that isn’t so visible but is extremely important. This relates to brain development and what neuroscience has learned about movement and sensory integration. Let me quote from a noted neurophysiologist, Dr. Carla Hannaford:

“The more closely we consider the elaborate interplay of brain and body, the more clearly one compelling theme emerges: Movement is essential to learning. Movement awakens and activates many of our mental capacities. Movement integrates and anchors new information and experience into our neural networks. And movement is vital to all the actions by which we embody and express our learning, our understanding and ourselves.”

It turns out the movement and the stimulation of the vestibular system (3D canals in the inner ears) in early childhood actually helps prepare and develop the brain for what we term “higher learning” (focus, concentration, problem solving, speech, language, reading, writing, and social-emotional maturity). Movement (rolling, climbing, spinning, jumping, etc.) helps organize and facilitate the flow of information within the brain and lays the foundation for the development of “higher learning”. John J. Ratey, MD, had this to say about movement and brain development, “Mounting evidence show that movement is crucial to every other brain function, including memory, emotion, language, and learning…Our “higher” brain functions have evolved from movement and still depend on it.”

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We’ve come full circle in this riddle of learning, movement and education. In the past, learning and higher thought were considered to be entirely separate from movement. Play and movement were relegated to second place when it came to the process of learning. We now know that communication within the brain improves when it is organized with movement. There is also plenty of evidence showing the positive effects of movement and exercise on behavior and our mental states. So at a time when our society is spending less time and money on movement (exercise & active sports) and more on computers and technology, we find that the process of learning is actually connected to movement and exercise. Our challenge now is to merge and balance the needs of our technological society with our biology, which has developed using movement to properly integrate our brain’s communication.

Although we at Gym Magic believe learning to perform a flip, a turn or a backstroke are great ways to learn new skills and develop self-confidence in the process, there’s really much, much more going on during this process. And as our children spend more time sitting (watching TV, using the computer, playing computer games, etc.), it is imperative to balance these activities with a steady supply of integrative movement activities that stimulate the brain in different ways and promote proper brain development for later “higher learning”. And now the best part – your kids will want to participate because our activities are just naturally FUN! They won’t even know that something deeper is actually taking place; they’ll just know that they are having fun!