It has finally arrived—that time of the year. The time that teachers prepare for and students dread.
The NJASK.
Beginning next week, students in Hillsborough School District in grades five through eight will be taking this standardized test, while students in grades three and four will take the test a week later.
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The idea of the NJASK is to gauge how much our students know and are they proficient in the tested content area. The NJASK is a child of the infamous No Child Left Behind Act, now known as the Elementary School Education Act.
Standardized tests are a part of our educational system and have been for many years. I recall taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills when I was in grade school. But I don’t remember feeling pressure about these tests, and I certainly do not remember our teachers talking about taking the test with the class.
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In classrooms across the state, students have been preparing for these tests since the day they walked through the door in September. In fact, some teachers may have started talking about these tests in September.
Many parents ask me “What can I do to help my child be ready for test week?” Besides the obvious answers of getting a good nights sleep and having a healthy, hearty breakfast it would seem that is all there is to do. However, think outside the box for a moment.
In many of my past articles I’ve talked about how important movement is to learning. Movement is just as important for cognitive skills and test taking skills. In 1987 an organization called Educational Kinesiology Foundation was founded by an educator and reading specialist named Paul Dennison and his wife Gail Dennison. In 2000, the organization became known as Brain Gym International.
Brain Gym activities recall the movements naturally done during the first years of life when a baby is learning to coordinate the eyes, ears, hands, and whole body. Positive results have been reported for more than 20 years, but just why it works is still unknown.
It seems that whole brain learning through movement re-patterning is the key that enables students to access those parts of the brain previously unavailable to them. If you were to Google “brain gym success stories” you would find many people who have experienced positive, immediate results.
When we think of the brain, we basically know that the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and each side is responsible for certain tasks. Many times in learning and thinking, we need to access both sides of the brain.
Doing “midline movement” exercises that cross over the midline practice using both hemispheres together, making them work better together. An example of a midline movement would be an exercise called the Cross Crawl. To do this movement, simply touch your right elbow to your left knee, and then your left elbow to your right knee, alternating back and forth for a minute or two. This allows communication between the two hemispheres and allows the brain to be open to learning new things.
Another brain gym exercise that is pretty simple to do is called Brain Buttons. To do Brain Buttons, simply put one hand over your navel, and with the other hand, rub deeply just below the collarbone to the left and right of your sternum. Brain Buttons is said to help in reading and concentrating in reading as well as when you are going to use your eyes in a concentrated way.
Still not convinced? Let me tell you about a girl named Mary. Mary was a third grade special education student who did not talk, write, or play with the other students—ever. Halfway through the year, she had a teacher who had attended a conference and learned about Brain Gym. This teacher began everyday with just five minutes of brain gym exercises. Over a period of about six months, Mary made huge progress—she began talking, writing, and even playing with the other children. Coincidence? I highly doubt it.
In this age of all natural remedies and holistic medicine, why not try holistic education? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to take five minutes to do brain gym exercises before the NJASK, or any learning for that matter.
We will never know, unless we try.
