Resources

Every student knows the feeling: you're sitting in class, trying to pay attention, and suddenly you realize you have no idea what the teacher just said. Your mind wandered off to lunch, or last weekend, or that thing your friend said at recess. And then comes the familiar thought: What makes me so distracted? Here's what every child—and every teacher—needs to know:   Attention shifts from moment to moment. When you raise your awareness of when you are focused and why your bra

Visual Processing Skills: Building Blocks for Learning and Development Visual processing encompasses a sophisticated set of cognitive abilities that allow children to make sense of the visual world around them. These skills work together as an integrated system, enabling everything from reading and writing to navigating playground equipment and solving math problems. Understanding these skills helps educators, clinicians, and parents recognize both strengths and areas where c

According to the American Optometric Association (AOA), approximately 25% (1 in 4) of all children have a vision problem significant enough to impact their learning. While exact numbers vary, studies suggest around 3-4%  of children have significant visual processing deficits like Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) or Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD), though some estimates place general vision problems affecting learning as high as 10-15%, and even higher (30-60%) in childr

Deep Pressure & Vestibular Input Help Children Calm When children become dysregulated in the classroom, their brains are telling us something important: the demands of the moment have exceeded their current capacity to cope. Dysregulation isn't a failure of character or a choice to misbehave-it's a neurological reality. The child's brain has detected a threat, whether that's sensory overload, cognitive overwhelm, social stress, or physical discomfort, and has automatically sh

A child's physical coordination and movement skills are inherently connected to their developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral abilities. This is especially clear during the early years of development when children discover the world through sensory experiences, motor actions, exploration, and play. In this article, you will find 12 activities to support your young children's motor, cognitive, and language skills. Developmental Milestones Achieving motor milestones lik

Physical activity, neuroplasticity, and brain growth are interconnected elements in childhood development. Regular physical activity stimulates neural growth and strengthens connections between brain regions, enhancing cognitive function, learning ability, and emotional regulation. Our students need to physically move 2-5 minutes every 45 minutes in class to prime the brain for learning. Our next book about movement, music, and cognition will include over 50 activities for yo

Crawling is a foundational developmental milestone that does far more than help babies move around. Research shows that when infants crawl, they develop crucial cross-lateral movements where opposite sides of the body must coordinate - right arm with left leg and vice versa. This cross-patterning helps establish important neural connections between the brain's hemispheres. Beyond physical coordination, crawling is vital in developing depth perception and spatial awareness. As

Written By Dr. Lynne Kenney, PsyD for Fit & Fun Playscapes  via ... Self-regulation is a core executive function skill associated with academic achievement, learning, behavior, and successful social relationships in children. Self-regulation is generally defined as the ability to manage one’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings to achieve goal-directed behaviors. Self-regulation is so important that, for many children, it is a better predictor of early academic success than is