So I Left the Playlist . . . ( "Playlist" II )
This is the first sequel to When To Leave The Playlist, posted Feb. 4, 2012).
So here I am, a visiting teacher in a preschool music class, with a dozen high school students and their teacher watching me, hanging on my every word (?), with copies of my lesson plan in their hands –
but I’ve had to jettison my playlist. About halfway through the class, these preschoolers showed me that their developmental needs had very little to do with my next song/movement choice. They spontaneously started rolling around on the floor.
This is pretty young stuff. Often, this kind of thing happens when kids have already been challenged (as they were in the first half of the class), and if when they feel safe. You can call it “regression,” but I don’t like to do that – it gives it a kind of negative onus.
I choose to consider this kind of behavior a compliment. The children must recognize me as someone they can trust with their developmental needs, and they’re showing me the movements required to help them progress. It doesn’t always look like a compliment (since it usually is offered in some form of unintegrated “acting out” behavior). But when I regard it in that light, something good always happens.
So here we are, having switched to I Am A Lizardfrom Rappin’ on the Reflexes:
I am a lizard, crawling on my belly
Crawling, crawling, crawling, crawling, crawling on my belly.
(Stick out tongue) Stick my tongue out, catch a fly!
(Stick out tongue) Stick my tongue out, catch a fly!
That’s the whole song. The “lizard” version is for integrating the Bauer Crawling Reflex. But I’ve found ways to extend it into other animals, and, eventually, other reflexes.
I am a turtle, rocking on my body . . .
We get up on knees and elbows (forearms and hands down, of course –) and we rock back and forth. This motion is sometimes called “bumping,” and you see some kids doing it all the time. They are trying to align their sacrums (the triangular bone just above the buttocks, that has everything to do with pelvic stability) and their sphenoids (the butterfly-shaped bone in the middle of the skull, just behind the nose, which has everything to do with cranial stability).
“Bumping” is an extremely important movement. In addition to helping structural alignment, it gets the craniosacral pump going, encouraging the even flow of cerebrospinal fluid that feeds the nerves and takes away toxins. It also integrates the Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex, which is extremely important for crawling, eye-teaming, and, eventually, being able to read, and sit in a chair without wiggling (too much).
Once the turtles rock back and forth for a verse or two (my turtles stick their tongues out and eat some plants, by the way), it’s time to locomote and crawl.
I am a turtle, crawling to the water . . .
Once we’ve crawled enough, we “Splash!” It’s a good way to end a song.
Next post, we’ll explore what to do when even turtle movements seem too advanced for your children’s personal evolutionary processes!
Julie Goodro Mar 17, 2012
Eve,
I have a class just like the one you describe. I have followed them out onto the floor many times, but I need to follow them in a better way. I needed to know why, as you have explained. Thanks for the reminder and the suggestions.