DEVELOPMENTAL FITNESS is the development of the neural network which physical movement provides to the brain.
Vicki Conway is serious about play. In today’s interview, part one of a two-part interview, she shares how important physical activity is for our children’s, and our own, brain development.
Listen to the full episode here
Vicki Conway is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Tyler. She actively performs in concerts, plays the organ for her church, and maintains a private piano studio as well.
Together with her husband, Brett, Vicki founded Conway Music, Movement and Math through which they offer coaching and assessment in a variety of topics including math tutoring, music lessons, and motor skills efficiency.
What is Development Fitness?
Developmental Fitness is a program that focuses on gross motor skills and how they relate to how we process cognitively. These are the underlying skills that actually control everything we do in our life. They can make things much easier for us or they can hold us back and frustrate us.
Vicki started researching the connection between physical movement and the cognitive process years ago when her own nephew was struggling with ADD and learning challenges in school. Jean Foster, a new piano teacher to Tyler at the time, was able to assess Vicki’s nephew as he did a few normal physical activities and observed how he was using his body. Simply by watching him move, Jean was able to determine his cognitive strengths and weaknesses and explained the reason why he was struggling in some areas.
She gave him some basic physical activities to do at home to help him overcome the areas he had been struggling and function better in the classroom. After meeting with Jean Foster, Vicki’s nephew told his mom he was so glad to know that he hadn’t just been “lazy and stupid” all his life.
This is what so many ADD and ADHD kids feel because of disconnections in their gross motor movement.
Kids today don't have the same experiences that we did
When we were growing up, it wasn’t uncommon to stay outside in the neighborhood all day, riding bikes or playing in the park with friends. Many of our mothers worked in the home which allowed us the freedom to play outside and use our imaginations and creativity when we played.
There wasn’t 24/7 television and mobile devices to occupy our attention. As good as children’s programming can be, the unintended consequence has been that our children come home, sit on the couch and be entertained. This creates severe consequences on the neural network development that physical movement provides to the brain.
Parents need to limit the amount of screen time their children spend and give them equal time to play outside. Let them come up with their own ways to be creative and work through perceived boredom.
If our children are always dependent on someone else to provide something for them to do, they are going to be in big trouble as adults.
Creative play is critical.
Giving them space to move is critical.
Providing them opportunities to be physically active is critical.
Survival Skills
Survival skills are those things our brain will automatically do in order to protect and defend. If the brain perceives a threat, it defaults into survival mode. Many adults and children who lack efficiency in the following skills can have a difficult time concentrating at work or school. They can become frustrated and develop a poor sense of self-worth because of their inability to concentrate, even when they are trying so hard to do so.
Body Awareness –
a simple awareness of all the parts of our body. Parents need to teach children the names of the joints; elbow, ankle, knee, shoulder, etc. Children need to be able to move their body in an efficient manner’ jumping, running, walking.
Spatial Awareness –
a huge skill for focus and attention span. Children need to learn to manage the space surrounding their body, within an arm’s length around themselves. This includes the physical sense that another person or thing is in our personal “bubble”. In addition to physical presence, we also need to be aware of visual space and aural sounds that come into our space.
Everything we see, hear, or feel is first processed in the survival area of the brain to make sure the information is safe and we are not in danger. Our ability to process all that incoming information has a direct correlation with our ability to stay focused on other tasks.
Children with ADD and ADHD are bombarded with constant information because they cannot filter out what is unimportant. Noises like the hum of the lights or the air conditioner, which many of us don’t even notice, grab the attention of children who don’t know how to process those sounds quickly and determine that they are not a threat. Their brain is in constant survival mode and they cannot focus on any task that interferes with survival.
To help their children learn to become more spatially aware, parents can go outside with them and interact with lots of different things. Bouncing a ball back and forth teaches children that some things coming into their space are not threatening and they have the ability to defend themselves.
Vicki uses ropes and hoops taped to the ground for children to walk next to or jump in and out of. The dimensional aspect of the rope helps children feel the incorrect placement of their feet when they walk or jump.
Center Line –
closely related to the survival area, center line is the ability to deal with things that are to your left, directly in front of you, and to your right, and to be able to transition smoothly between on side to the other. The is a huge test-taking skill. Students who are not comfortable in all three spots are very vulnerable to test anxiety and performance anxiety for musicians.
All of us have a favorite place where our brain processes the best. We intuitively place ourselves at a desk with all the things organized around us in favor of that favorite place. Children sitting in tiny desks at school may not be able to sit in favor of their favorite position. When your brain is forced to work outside of that best spot, it doesn’t function as well. This affects that you have studied and what you remember.
Parents can help their children become more comfortable in all three positions by working in all three positions. Bounce a ball to your left, in front of you, and to your right. Play tetherball with the ball going in different directions.
Balance –
the ability to maintain control of your body when in contact with the ground, like sitting still or standing
Dynamic Balance –
the ability to maintain control of our body when we are in motion, particularly jumping with both feet together. These two skills have a direct link to memory.
Even professional musicians who have worked with Vicki and expressed a weakness in memory skills were shown to have poor dynamic balance. When they jumped, they did so with one foot at a time instead of both feet moving together. By increasing their ability to jump they were able to improve their memory skills.
Parents can help their children become more efficient and balanced by jumping rope, riding bicycles, and allowing them to climb and fall. If you fear for their safety, do these things with them. What a wonderful gift to give your children!
All the skills discussed today are known as Survival Skills. They are housed in the survival area of the brain. If adults or children are lacking in these areas, their brain automatically goes into survival mode and they are unable to retrieve information stored in other areas of the brain, whether it is facts they studied last night for a test or the piano piece they are playing in the upcoming recital. That information is cut off because the brain is working to survive and to protect you from perceived danger.
Be sure to catch Episode 149 to learn more about Developmental Fitness and how our physical activity has a direct connection to our cognitive abilities.
Resources
To connect with Vicki and learn more about the services she and her husband, Brett, offer, go to ConwayMMM.
What do you think?
Did you connect with any of the skills Vicki talked about today? What physical activities to you enjoy that you know are healthy for your brain as well? Please share your thoughts:
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