Why BrainMoves Works: Movements for Focus and Learning
- Elizabeth hummel
- Mar 7
- 3 min read
Here is an article I wrote for my great friend and mentor, Diane Malik, M.A., who created the BrainMoves system for preschoolers. If you like this sort of content, follow her BrainMoves training program over here There are many reasons BrainMoves works to help preschoolers' brains and bodies work better. When a child has trouble learning, reaching developmental milestones, or is experiencing other social issues, including having a brain that seems to be ‘wired’ differently, the BrainMoves system can help strengthen the child's brain and body connection.
It’s a practical, simple system that can be used at home, in school, or professional settings, such as occupational, speech, or physical therapy clinics.
The movements imitate developmental reflexes that help your student's brains grow & develop properly. When students have the proper foundational structures in their brains they learn better, think more clearly, and do better at home, school, and in social settings. The system is a natural way to help preschoolers with challenges or who want to enhance their current skills. Children go through developmental stages and naturally learn through movement and play.
So how does it work? When a child is still in utero their body goes through a series of involuntary movements as the brain and body form. These movements create new synapses (connections) in the brain. In utero and after birth, these movements follow each other in a specific sequence. In an earlier article on in utero development that the fifth week after conception, the first synapses start forming in the fetus's spinal cord.
With reflexive, automatic movements switching on and then off as the next developmental phase occurs the unborn child moves through development, preparing for birth. This continues after birth. Babies in the first eight weeks after birth have no control over their movements; all their physical activity is involuntary or reflexive, either as a signal from the child’s brain to move or as a reflexive response to external stimuli. As children learn to roll over, grab their feet in their hands, crawl, and then eventually walk they continue this developmental movement/ brain development progression.
Even if the child seems “precocious”, skipping a developmental movement in this process can lead to challenges in coordination, vision, or motor skills. Reflexive movements provide the building blocks for developing more complex skills at each developmental stage.
Skipping a particular development movement can lead to development and learning challenges later on, often resulting in behaviors seen when a child is “stuck” in the freeze, fight or flight reflex (stress) and contributing to hyperactivity and meltdowns.
When a child is uncomfortable doing a particular activity, like sitting quietly, or is unable to use their body in a particular way, often the issue is that the stress reflex is “stuck on,” thus limiting the child’s full range of ability.
Many of the BrainMoves movements work by imitating developmental reflexes or parts of reflexes that involve movements babies make in utero and after birth. With BrainMoves parents and educators can imitate those developmental movements, creating new synaptic connections and helping to lay down foundational neural structures in the child’s brain. BrainMoves helps students stay calm and helps them listen, study, and play better.
Children are naturally curious and want to do well. The movements can be done by themselves or by linking them with positive belief statements. With positive statements the child receives positive affirmation that they are capable of mastering a skill. Doing a movement for better visual tracking while prompting the child to say the words “I read well” further helps the brain know where to create new synapses and lay down the foundations for stronger neural pathways.
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