Rock n' roll can help slow learners

We’ve found this has a really positive effect on learning Mary Mountstephen, Millfield Preparatory School

‘Sacha just won’t sit still, no matter how often I remind her’. ‘Jay’s teacher says he’s driving her crazy with his wriggling!’ ‘Emily’s concentration is just not getting any better’

Does all this sound familiar to you? Parents often feel at a loss to understand why their child is under-achieving in spite of time, money and effort. With little measurable result academically or any noticeable improvement in the child’s social, emotional and behavioural development, they can begin to despair.

It’s worse still for the child, who becomes increasingly aware of the academic gap widening between him and his peers. He knows he is not doing well in class and he doesn’t know why he is unable to keep up with the others. This can lead to plummeting self-esteem.

Tummy gliding

At The Learning Development Centre at Millfield Preparatory School in Somerset on any school day you’ll see and hear Sacha, Jay and Emily, along with the rest of their class, rolling along the hall floor to the sound of music and giggling.

The children find many ways to get from one end of the room to the other before practising gliding on their tummies and squirming from side to side.

These children are following a structured developmental movement programme designed to give them a better foundation for learning.

Director of the centre, Mary Mountstephen explains more: “It’s an effective and fun way to include balance, coordination and body control in a 10 to 15-minute daily workout to prime learning. We’ve found it has a really positive effect on learning and achievement.”

Primitive reflexes

So how exactly do rolling, gliding, crawling and rocking make a difference to a child’s learning development? “Each one of us is born with a set of primitive reflexes (sometimes known as survival reflexes), which should be controlled by a higher part of the brain during the first year of life,” Mary explains. “Primitive reflexes affect motor control, eye functioning, eye-hand co-ordination and perceptual skills. If these are not fully integrated during infancy, the knock-on effect at school can be academic under-achievement and social/ emotional difficulties."

Early development

Quite often children who have difficulties at school have not successfully passed through these early developmental stages to enable them to make the most of their intelligence and natural ability. Learning remains an increasingly frustrating and stressful experience for the child as well as the teacher and parents.

The more effort a child makes to sit still, for example, the harder it is for him to concentrate on what the teacher is saying. Symptoms may also include concentration and memory problems; immature behaviour,  including poor impulse control; inability to take turns; frustration and emotional problems; inability to catch a ball and co-ordination difficulties, such as learning to tie shoelaces and do up buttons.

It would appear that simple programmes can make a significant difference, however. “The experience of movement helps to build the architecture of the brain by strengthening pathways between nerves and association areas," says Mary. “Thousands of children worldwide have benefited from 10-15 minutes of daily activities including rolling, crawling and floor-based movements which help to strengthen connections between the body and the brain.”