Brain Gym® Works for Students, Especially Cross Crawls

Students who participated in Reading and Math Academy at Sunset View Elementary the last school year were encouraged to raise the level of their work by increasing their energy, excitement and enthusiasm to learn. Although our students were eager at the beginning of their sessions to work hard, we found that by the middle of the session students’ focus and concentration were fading. I asked, “What can we do to maintain the mental stamina that our students need to accomplish their work for a 30-minute session of reading or math?”

Brain Gym movements came to our rescue! Earlier during the year Sara Banister instructed the Academy tutors on the purpose of Brain Gym and encouraged us to use it in the tutoring lab. We were very pleased with the results after using Brain Gym. The Cross Crawls where students touch the opposite knee with the opposite elbow and alternate, making sure they cross their upper body, seemed to be the most effective brain gym movement that improved our students focus and encouraged positive student behavior. It also increased our students’ energy and enthusiasm for learning. Applying Brain Gym in the middle of a reading session took very little time, required no set-up, and was used whenever needed. How simple is that? Brain Gym is movement with purpose and it works! Teri Yamada