KINETIC LEARNING FOR DYSLEXIC CHILD
Sandi
Jennifer
Learning by using kinetic imagery is an useful mode of learning
for children
with developmental disorder.Kinetic imagery is developed out
of sensation from muscular movement. But in association with other images
like visual and auditory, kinetic learning will be more fruitful. Dance
is very good medium for kinetic learning. And here all sorts of sensory
images are associated with. Eurythmics is one kind of dance based on concept
of kinetic learning. Eurythmic
is the art of harmonious bodily movement especially through expressive
timed movements in response to improvised music for kinetic learning.
Jaques-Dalcroze conceptualized
eurythmic.He developed one
institute to disseminate his concept.
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Gift of dyslexia
Testing dyslexic
Kinetic learning for dylexic
children
My 5 y/o son is dyslexic
and I have been working with him since his birth to provide
a proper patterning to his mind so that he had as much of a chance to overcome
hereditary dyslexia as possible. He's a kinetic learner, as so many
children are, and that is what I capitalize on when we study. I have found
that for him, reading is a joy. He likes to point to different
words in the texts --- out of order! -- just to know what they are.
It's the action and the spontaneity of it that involve him. However, his
memory is quite excellent so that he can almost always follow
the thread of a story or whatever it is we're reading. Another aspect of
the kinetic type of motivation is that he has to move to talk and learn.
He learns best if he can use his whole body and vocalize his lessons,
be they basic math or reading or writing. I will say, however, that we
have a real problem with fine motor skills yet...but we are working on
it. I think the greatest challenge for today in this area is to involve
the whole mind in the learning process...and to do so with structure. The
best way is by having trained people...aides, perhaps...work
with students that learn best in this fashion. At the very least, home
motivation has to be there. A very large part of this is support for the
learner.
~Sandi~
Eurythmics
In the mid-twentieth century, researchers confirmed what teachers had long
suspected: kinesthesia (kines = motion, thesia = awareness) is the sixth
sense. All the other senses are informed in childhood by kinesthesia.
This is why infants and young children are in constant motion: they are
exploring their world and building the mental “maps” that they will
use for the rest of their lives. Jaques-Dalcroze had been using
kinesthesia to teach all the elements of music before the turn of the century.
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950), was a Swiss composer-music educator.
He was 27 years old, and an established composer, when he was appointed
to the Conservatory of Music in Geneva. He quickly discovered that the
music students could not hear what they saw on the printed
page, and that they performances were often quite mechanical and unmusical.These
observations led Jaques-Dalcroze to the understanding that the student
musicians did not have the necessary
coordination between their eyes, ears, mind, and body to thoroughly
and efficiently learn their music,let alone perform it well. He realized
that the first musical instrument to be trained is the body. This
was in 1887. Eurythmics is a comprehensive musical training
developed too, by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Students explore musical
concepts such as phrasing, tempo, dynamics, and rhythm through movement
and self-expression.
Problems of my dyslexic child
In response and for continuing discussion, I thought I would comment this
morning on my son's dyslexia. Visual perception problems are generally
inherited. My mother is a vision therapist, so not only do
I have a pro in the family (which is a relief!) but I knew long before
I was married what the early signs of dyslexia are. Fortunately,
with my son, I taught him his lefts and rights from his earliest
days. This helped immeasurably in patterning and "wiring" his mind to overcome
the worst of inherited dyslexia. The signs he exhibits include inverted
speech and the usual confusion with his letters and numbers as well as
difficulty in recollecting "where" in his mind he has "put facts away."
These are all signs of a perceptual problem. One reason dyslexia
isn't often "diagnosed" until a later age is because it is hard
to spot unless one is expecting it and knows what to look for. My son is
an extremely verbal person and his speech tendencies toward
dyslexia were evident early. To help him the best I have been able,
I have made sure to enunciate clearly, show him where his spoken errors
were, and had him repeat things properly. Again, this is part of the patterning
that will help him to learn better in all ways in the future.
Solution of right left problem:
Because I knew there was a good likelihood of my son inheriting his father's
dyslexia, I consulted with a professional vision therapist about ways I
could offset the earliest problems that would arise. She said that
getting the lefts and rights well and truly cemented in the mind would
help a great deal in helping to properly pattern the brain, so I started
there.
When I brought my son home from the hospital, I began. Whenever
I changed his diapers, got him dressed, played with him on my lap, I referred
to his limbs not only by name, but by "orientation. "This is your right
arm. This is your right leg," I would say as I touched them or put
clothes on or whatever. "Mommy is washing your left ear, your left
cheek." I always, always referred to his limbs, eyes, and ears in terms
of lefts and rights. This was so that he would identify that side of his
body
with the proper orientation. Hence, as he grew up, it became
natural for him and for me to refer to things in terms of their lefts and
rights.When he was 3 -- a rather young age for it -- he was able to not
only refer to himself and his things in terms of left and right, but also
to identify others' lefts and rights...correctly! This was a major
jump and I was very proud of him.
This patterning helped him to "put things away" in his head so that
now he can find them again when he goes to look for them. His memory,
like that of many dyslexics, is incredible. And now, it is wired
properly.Oh, he still has some problems with his words and letters...but
on the whole, he understands the problems. He is aware of them and
can learn to correct them, rather than being confused and uncertain. And
this, I think, is one of the greatest benefits of all.
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