This adorable picture of 19-month old Jaxon matching letters on an iPad was posted by his mom on Instagram this week.
Isn’t it amazing what technology can offer our kids these days. Even more amazing is how adept kids (even toddlers) are with it! It’s mind-boggling!
What fun it is to see the problem-solving, attention, and visual discrimination Jaxon is getting to engage in with this activity.
BUT…A word of caution… 
Jaxon happens to be a little boy who gets lots of opportunities to test out his muscles with running and climbing, but technology can be so enticing, and entertaining, and there are so many “educational” games available, that parents may inadvertently fall into the trap of believing that educational screen time is the key to later school success.
John Ratey, M.D., author of A User’s Guide to the Brain says, “Mounting evidence shows that movement is crucial to every other brain function, including memory, emotion, language and learning. Our “higher” brain functions have evolved from movement and still depend on it.
Learning has its foundation in movement. In addition to the phenomenal wealth of fun,engaging, and educational apps and e-games for kids, be sure your kids are getting lots of time to MOVE!
Babies need to be on their tummies. The effort they have to expend to roll, scoot, crawl, and eventually pull themselves up is teaching them body awareness and control. It’s building the foundational internal organization needed for all higher levels of attention and learning.
Toddlers and young children need the opportunity to run, climb, and explore their environment. This is how their visual skills and their understanding of space, time, distance, speed, force, timing, and motor planning develop.
Movement supports attention, learning, memory, and health at any age. So in this amazing technological age, take advantage of the resources, but do so with intention and balance, and never let it take the place of movement!
When children (or adults) struggle to learn or function easily in their lives, one of the first things we need to look at is what we call Core Learning Skills. These are foundational visual and movement skills that allow us to move easily through our environment and our social and academic worlds. These skills, which develop through movement, support memory, attention, and organization.
As a society, we have gotten very enamored with our electronic devices – and I have to admit, they are quite amazing. But one of the very best gifts we can give to our children is the opportunity to move and create with unstructured playtime.
Do you have a struggling student?
If your child has struggled in school and you are concerned that the next school year will bring more of the same, please, please join us for a parent information meeting.
By addressing the underlying processing or learning skills that are needed for efficient learning, most learning and attention challenges can be dramatically improved or completely corrected.
Let us help you figure out and correct the root of the problem and remediate whatever academic skills have been affected. This is a life-changing gift you can give to yourself or your child.
Go to www.learningdisability.com for date, time, and RSVP information.
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