Did you ever?
@GardenGerty (160665)
United States
September 2, 2020 8:25am CST
Did you ever while away the time bouncing a rubber ball or tennis ball off the side of the house or constantly practice dribbling a basketball? Did you like the rhythm of it hitting and bouncing?
You were doing something good for your brain.
Watching the ball your eyes practiced tracking. If you alternated hands and directions you were crossing midline and connecting the left and right hemispheres of your brain. You worked other parts of your brain if you bounced it straight up and followed it with your eyes. Do you juggle? Play with a hacky sack?
We use a system in our schools called Balavisix. It was developed here in Kansas by an educator and has been shown to improve focus and learning ability.
The plan is to spend some time with every child in the school every week to help them learn, and still have fun. Here is a link:
The link is put out by a company that trains others to work with the system.
https://brains-in-motion.com/bal-a-vis-x/
7 people like this
7 responses
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
3 Sep 20
We had an inservice to introduce it, because the aide that used to teach it, who had taken the classes and had seen it help her sons, had to retire. She tore her achilles tendon and had a long recuperation. Our aides and reading specialists are implementing it in small doses as part of their program. Equipment is not expensive--bean bags filled with sand, and raquet balls. Oh, and the eye tracking piece can be made with a short piece of dowel and some cord and a tennis ball.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218871)
• Walnut Creek, California
3 Sep 20
@GardenGerty Yep. Feeling "coordinated," and in control of your body, does NOT require expensive stuff. Bean bags are one of God's gifts to Early Childhood Education (ECE).
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
3 Sep 20
@TheHorse Supposed to coordinate your eyes, both sides of your brain, the front to back part of your brain and the side to side. There is a lot going on, and we just think it is fun.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
3 Sep 20
When we did that we did not know we were helping our brain connections.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (89882)
• Arvada, Colorado
4 Sep 20
Yes I used to love doing that also Heather. Fond memories of it.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
3 Sep 20
How about spinning around and around until you are so dizzy you fall. I liked to do that. My mom did not like me to. That is also good for your brain.
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
5 Sep 20
None of us get enough exercise it seems.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160665)
• United States
3 Sep 20
It is a lot better than some other things we could choose.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (68032)
• United States
2 Sep 20
I have a “slinky” that I got a long time ago when I worked at a doctor’s office. It was provided by a psychological service. It’s blue and red (so it looks purple when you play with it), and the simplicity of moving the slinky back and forth in your hands is calming.
Amazing the things we never thought about as kids turned out to be good for us as an adult!
1 person likes this
