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Do you know what your children are being taught at school?
Low-Income Schools See Big Benefits in Teaching Mindfulness
On his first day teaching at Coronado Elementary School in Richmond, Calif., students threw rocks at Jean-Gabrielle Larochette, pretending he was a police officer. He spent fifteen minutes of every class calming down a handful of kids in this low-income-neighborhood public school who wouldn’t follow directions or behave.
Larochette began practicing meditation and mindfulness to cope with his own stresses of teaching and supporting traumatized kids. He believed the breathing techniques that helped calm his fears might work for his students too, so he founded the Mindful Life Project.
“Before we can teach a kid how to academically excel in school, we need to teach him how to have stillness, pay attention, stay on task, regulate, make good choices,” said Larochette. “We tell kids be quiet, calm yourself down, be still. We tell them all these things they need in the classroom, but we’re not teaching them how to do that.”
The project has since grown and is now being incorporated in a group of elementary schools in Richmond, in an attempt to improve academic performance and create a more positive school culture by teaching students mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to exist in the present moment and practicing it often looks like meditation. Schools across the country are beginning to use mindfulness as part of an effort to address the social and emotional needs of children, improving student achievement in the process.
“My hour of lost teaching time because of behavior problems went down to about 15 minutes a day –that meant almost a whole other day of teaching,” Larochette said. “I had to figure out what I could do to bring this to the rest of the schools in our area.”
Studies of mindfulness programs in schools have found that regular practice — even just a few minutes per day — improves student self-control and increases their classroom participation, respect for others, happiness, optimism, and self-acceptance levels. It can help reduce absenteeism and suspensions too. A mindfulness practice helps reduce activity in the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center responsible for fear and stress reactions.
“The other thing we know mindfulness does with the brain is it increases the activity in the prefrontal cortex,” said Vicki Zakrzewski, education director at the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, which studies the science behind mindfulness. “This is where we make our decisions, how we plan, our abstract thinking,” she said.
Educators at Nystrom Elementary school in Richmond are seeing some of those positive effects in their students. “This year is much better,” said third-grade teacher Glenna Hamilton. “Last year, it was just horrible.” One of Hamilton’s most disruptive students became more respectful and responsible since he began receiving mindfulness training. “If he does something incorrect, instead of being argumentative with me, he really thinks about it and realizes, ‘I didn’t make a good choice,’ and I see him self-correcting,” she said.
Nystrom’s school culture has shifted since the student began mindfulness training, said Principal LeDonna Williams. Students now have a common language to use when they want to calm each other down and fewer students are being sent to her office. When a student does act up, Williams will sometimes ask them to practice mindfulness before she addresses the problem. “Then you see the little fists releasing and their temperament coming down and they’re willing to talk to you a little more candidly about what their issues are,” Williams said. “They use it, they really do and it’s nice to see that.”
COPING MECHANISM FOR TRAUMA
Many students at Nystrom directly know people who have been killed and others experience trauma secondhand from living in a violent neighborhood. In 2013, there were four homicides, 39 armed robberies and 47 assaults with a deadly weapon reported to the police in South Richmond.
“There’s a lot of grief and loss,” Williams said. “A lot of students experience violence on a daily basis, either in the home or in the community. And it’s coming out in their school work, in their interactions with other students, the climate of the school, it affects that.”
All the schools the Mindful Life Project works with have seen drops in detentions and referrals, said Larochette. At Nystrom, 18 kids accounted for 82 percent of the suspensions. At the beginning of their mindfulness training those kids were suspended 62 times in the first trimester. After three trimesters of mindfulness practice, that rate had dropped to 20.
“When we look at low-performing schools it’s not that these children are unable to learn, it’s that very often they are unavailable to learn,” said Madeline Kronenberg, a West Contra Costa County school board member. “They’re not able to focus; they’re so fixated on other things that are going on in their lives that it’s difficult for them to be able to find space for learning. Our job is to educate these kids and the way you educate them is that they need to be available to learn.”
At Nystrom, students report using mindfulness in a variety of situations. “When there are older kids, we were playing football and he hit me pretty hard on purpose,” said sixth-grader Tayshawn Newman. “We were going to get into a huge argument, and I just said, ‘Forget it.’ I took a deep breath and said, ‘Forget it.’” Another student reported that the mindfulness training makes him feel calmer and that he uses it when he feels like hitting someone. Another boy said he uses his mindfulness practice when he has trouble falling asleep.
Hear about individual students’ experiences with the Mindful Life Project
The mindfulness instructors understand that for many kids the ability to create inward calm is crucial when external quiet is hard to come by.
“The idea was to really create a grassroots movement,” said Larochette. “A movement that’s within, that stays within, that solidifies within and then meeting our kids when they get to middle school and high school and sustaining those opportunities and having a mindful life project instead of just mindfulness for eight to 10 weeks or a couple of years.”
The project is in the process of finalizing contracts with two of the biggest middle schools in the area. They hope mindfulness will follow elementary school graduates, helping them navigate middle school and eventually high school. Ultimately, Larochette would love to have high school mindfulness students come back to mentor younger students.
Check out what the Mindful Life Project looks like in action.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by thewatchman on
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Yeah, or kick the can, dodge ball, recess, tag, etc. :)
There's an agenda for sure.
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there at the end where the kid gets upset about his brother, do you see that one kid in the blue bouncing around - that's my young'un right there. lololol
ROFL!
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Permalink Reply by Tammy on
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He's always been like that. At the 3rd 9 weeks of his school year, he brought home a 26 on his report card & all of the other grades were an F as well. I finally decided we had to do something about it. I knew all along he had ADHD from my perspective but the thought of putting my young'un on drugs wasn't even an option for me. Being as I've always had a weakness for drugs, I wasn't going to put him in that position. However, the thought of him also failing tore me apart esp since he has a twin who excels in school. So, we then had him tested & of course, it was positive for ADHD. The meds they gave him worked for about 2 days & then nothing. This kid came home every single day yelling. It wasn't an angry yell but he couldn't hold a sensible conversation without talking way beyond the shrilling level. He sounded like 2 cats fighting or something. This continued after those 2 days. Once his meds were almost gone, we went back to the doctor. She doubled his dosage which she says they rarely do but being at the end of the school year, she wanted him to at least have a chance at passing.
Those meds have made a different little man out of my child. All he wants to do is organize stuff. My house is still a wreck because of him but he tries to do things to organize our home so I'm not saying anything. I just let him do it. The other day, he pulled everything out of every kitchen drawer to organize them. Now, he left half of the stuff in the floor & on the counters but my drawers were organized. I got up this morning & he had tons of family photos out, punching holes in them & putting them in a notebook to make me a picture album. All my pics had holes in them but I told him thank you for my album. My floor is also a mess but I pay Destiny every week to clean my house. I might as well make it worth my money & her time. This medicine has not made him a zombie or anything. He's come to certain conclusions about himself within this time like one day he said "I know why people don't like me or play with me is because I'm different". It broke my heart but he gets being different honestly & you know who I'm talking about.:) I told him that being different is the best thing in the world. Too many people try to look like the rest of the world so he's doing an awesome job. Now, he still may fail his grade but he's also come to grips with that as well. A couple of his friends who were homeschooled are going to the public school next year so he'll be with them if he fails. His twin is moving to another school which I hope he'll be OK with. I've prayed the Lord's will be done in this situation because if he passes, he has a lot of catching up to do. There are many negatives with failing like him being bullied or feeling bad about himself but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
The thing about Braeden though is he is BRILLIANT. I know all parents think that about their kids but he truly is. We had a computer sitting around that Tim couldn't fix & you know he's the computer guy. One day Braeden came in & asked us to follow him. He fixed that dadblame computer. He fixes stuff that blows my mind that Tim wouldn't know the first thing about fixing. Anyways, just thought I'd share that tidbit cause I'm bored to tears today. lol Tim is in Cali for 2 weeks & the boys sleep all day & are up all night. I guess I could go clean up Braeden's messing but Nope, not going to.
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Permalink Reply by Mary O on
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Hi Tammy, God bless you!
Braeden sounds like a terrific child, so smart. The people that love him are helping him. I think he's going to be fine. My grandson stopped talking at age 2. He went from a jabberbox to almost no talking. Shari put him in a program to help him develop the muscles to speak. He just didn't develop as fast as his older sister. The state they live in has a free program for speech development for early years. He's just now talking to me on the phone, and I can understand him. Not being able to talk can be disconcerting for a little fellow if you are hungry, thirsty or have to use the restroom. We even tried a little sign language which helped. He appreciated the sign to ask for milk. With lots of love and work, he's come out of it. I knew he was smart because the child gate and locks in the house couldn't keep him. He took apart his dresser, his bedroom door. He outsmarted the babysitter and got out of the house. He figured out how to open the locks.
Just because a child is behind in an area, sometimes other areas can excel. You figure out their strengths and work with it. And Braeden's organizing things, truth be known, a lot of little kids do that. I used to be a store clerk. Children would come in with their parents and reorganize our shelves (in a good way). Braeden may turn out to be good at seeing patterns and math. Look at how he fixed the computer. Braeden has technical abilities. Recognizing a child's strengths and abilities at an early age is invaluable.
Love,
Mary
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The school called & said Braeden done excellent in Math. His score was higher then either one of his brothers so I am now in the position to pass or fail him. Of course, I'm going to pass him because I feel the Lord has now opened this door for him. It's going to take a little more work from me to help him catch up, but I'm game. That young'un was so excited as well when he heard how good he did in Math. He still failed the reading but it wasn't by much. I have to meet with them next week which by law, it's now up to me what to do with him.
I'm thankful your grandbaby is now talking to you Mary. Bless his little heart. I know that was hard on him.
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Hi Tammy, God bless,
Check around for summer reading programs. Shari (when she was a kid) locked into Friends of the Library. They had a summer reading program. According to what they read, they got prizes (free books). Then at the end of the program, they all got together for a big pizza party.
Also in my neighborhood the Bookmobile goes through. Kids can pick out books, read and exchange books. Our Bookmobile also has a small breakfast or lunch for the kids. I remember Shari informing me...But mom, all the kids are going. She discovered she liked the Bobsey Twins. That might be an idea, find a series of books, Shari liked Nancy Drew and the Box Car Kids.
I used to buy books from the used book store for say 50 cents. Shari and friends would swap books. At 50 cents, it was no big deal if someone spilled a drink on a book. Our Friends of the Library bookstore sells some children's books for 50 cents.
Something we started with our granddaughter, the kids get a leaflet with all the current books and the prices aren't too high. We gave her money for her birthday to buy new books. They're paperbacks. I guess if you're a little kid and you buy books at school, you're way cool.
School is a right of passage for our family. We gave Ana a book bag and school supplies before school the last two years. We didn't miss the other kids, but Ana got a book bag. A book bag is a big deal in their household. Grandpa and Nana can fit a lot in a book bag. This year James starts school. :-) We know he's wondering if he'll get a book bag. It just points out an accomplishment. Kids have milestones, and you can make them feel special.
Anytime they get a great grade on a report card pass to the next grade, it's pizza to celebrate. Celebrate accomplishments. Doing excellent in math is a big deal. Not everyone can do that.
Love,
Mary
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We can't stop everything our child experiences out there in the world, but we can make sure they know home and family is where it's at. The teaching starts at home and they take it out into the world with them. It can get turned around.
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This is just a little info I've discovered today. Yoga can be divided into 4 categories: Vedic Yoga, Preclassical Yoga, Classical Yoga, Postclassical Yoga. The Sanskrit (an Indian language of old) word veda means “knowledge,” while the Sanskrit term rig (from ric) means “praise.” Thus the sacred Rig-Veda is the collection of hymns that are in praise of a higher power. This collection is in fact the fountainhead of Hinduism, which has around one billion adherents today. You could say that the Rig-Veda is to Hinduism what the Book of Genesis is to Christianity (their words not mine).
The other three Vedic hymnodies are the Yajur-Veda (“Knowledge of Sacrifice”), Sama-Veda (“Knowledge of Chants”), and Atharva-Veda (“Knowledge of Atharvan”). Atharvan is some old man with great wisdom supposedly. The first collection contains the sacrificial formulas used by the Vedic priests. The second text contains the chants accompanying the sacrifices. The third hymnody is filled with magical incantations for all occasions but also includes a number of very powerful philosophical hymns. It is connected with Atharvan, a famous fire priest who is remembered as having been a master of magical rituals. These hymnodies can be compared to the various books of the Old Testament (again, their words).Vedic Yoga revolved around the idea of sacrifice as a means of joining the material world with the invisible world of the spirit. In order to perform the exacting rituals successfully, the sacrificers had to be able to focus their mind for a prolonged period of time. Such inner focusing for the sake of transcending the limitations of the ordinary mind is the root of Yoga.
When successful, the Vedic yogi was graced with a “vision” or experience of the transcendental reality. A great master of Vedic Yoga was called a “seer”—in Sanskrit rishi. The Vedic seers were able to see the very fabric of existence, and their hymns speak of their marvelous intuitions, which can still inspire us today.Yoga came into its own with the Upanishads, which are gnostic texts expounding the hidden teaching about the ultimate unity of all things. There are over 200 of these scriptures, though only a handful of them were composed in the period prior to Gautama the Buddha (fifth century B.C.). These works can be likened to the New Testament, which rests on the Old Testament but at the same time goes beyond it.
In its significance, this work of only 700 verses perhaps is to Hindus what Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is to Christians. Its message, however, is not to turn the other cheek but to actively oppose evil in the world. In its present form, the Bhagavad-Gîtâ (Gîtâ for short) was composed around 500 B.C. and since then has been a daily inspiration to millions of Hindus. Its central teaching is to the point: To be alive means to be active and, if we want to avoid difficulties for ourselves and others, our actions must be benign and also go beyond the grip of the ego. A simple matter, really, but how difficult to accomplish in daily life!
Preclassical Yoga also comprises the many schools whose teachings can be found in India’s two great national epic. These various preclassical schools developed all kinds of techniques for achieving deep meditation through which yogis and yoginis can transcend the body and mind and discover their true nature.CLASSICAL YOGA
This label applies to the eightfold Yoga—also known as Râja-Yoga—taught by Patanjali in his Yoga-Sûtra. This Sanskrit text is composed of just under 200 aphoristic statements, which have been commented on over and over again through the centuries. Sooner or later all serious Yoga students discover this work and have to grapple with its terse statements. The word sûtra (which is related to Latin suture) means literally “thread.” Here it conveys a thread of memory, an aid to memorization for students eager to retain Patanjali’s knowledge and wisdom.
Patanjali, who is by the way often wrongly called the “father of Yoga,” believed that each individual is a composite of matter (prakriti) and spirit (purusha). He understood the process of Yoga to bring about their separation, thereby restoring the spirit in its absolute purity. His formulation is generally characterized as philosophical dualism. This is an important point, because most of India’s philosophical systems favor one or the other kind of nondualism: The countless aspects or forms of the empirical world are in the last analysis the same “thing”—pure formless but conscious existence.In contrast to classical Yoga, postclassical Yoga affirms the ultimate unity of everything.
This is as far as I got so far. I had to look up the definition for half of these words so it was an all-day read.
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Permalink Reply by 2968mctuuxavp on
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We need to teach our kids early on before school about God. If forced to this parents still have an option of having there kids excused due to religious beliefs. If that don't work teach kids to meditate on Christ during these sessions.
The christian family causes lots of this to. If we don't want kids learning this why do christian schools charge so much that it's not affordable to most?
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I agree, that the Christian schools charge a lot...homeschooling would be my priority...sadly, I wasn't a Christian early enough in my childrens years to make a difference. I would have home schooled them if given the choice now.
I just want Christian mothers and fathers to be aware...anything "public" is another psuedo name for government.
There is an agenda, we must be aware...Matthew10 :16--Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be :e therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
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Home school addresses the issue like Christian school. Not everyone has the resources. The Bible says to help one another that the family of God should be looking to provide for widows and orphans and those in need when we have plenty. Today's church is only half biblical. They do only what benefits them and don't do the rest we are told to do.
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And again, I feel you need to do some research on this issue as well. Just because you homeschool doesn't mean you have to buy ANYTHING. I homeschooled as well & only used my Bible. It can be used for everything except Math. You can look up on the internet anything including math & get it free. I'm not understanding what helping widows has to do with the Christians helping others unless you feel they should let them go into these private Christian schools for free. In that case, who is going to get paid for teaching them. Who is going to get paid for organizing it? Who is paying the utilities? And the list goes on.
Sorry if I sound so defensive however, it cost a lot of money to keep these schools going. The teachers get paid considerably less & no money is given to them except thru you, the parent. These teachers sacrifice a LOT for the sake of the children. If you want that type of education for your child, again I say, figure something out. If not, go with your other plan of taking them out of this particular part of the class.
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