ABC’s of Yoga for Kids

Sometimes, kids are just out of control.  They are incapable of controlling their bodies.  They are completely unaware of what their bodies are doing in the space around them.  My first year of teaching (in kindergarten), I found myself saying things like “In kindergarten, we walk forwards to see where we’re going.”  Or “While we are learning together on the rug, we sit on our bottoms instead of rolling around.”  Or “In kindergarten, it’s important to keep your clothes on.”  And I kind of figured it was just because they were 5 and had never really been in an organized setting before.

But then I moved up and started teaching 2^nd grade.  And I still found myself saying those same things!  But it was even more ridiculous!  They would be standing in line, not even walking yet, and just fall over.  We’d be doing work in their seats, and they would fall out of their chairs.  Not like they were going to sit down and missed, they were ALREADY sitting in their chairs and would somehow not be able to stay there.  And I found myself with this stupid look of incredulousness on my face because I was thinking, “How is this happening?  Were you born in a barn?  I know you’ve been going to school for 3 years, you should be able to walk without falling over by now!”

If it were just one or two students, I would be calling in specialists for second opinions because I thought there was some kind of sensory issue going on.  But it was the majority of the class.  And the more these kinds of things went on, the less patience I had with it because it seemed that they were just trying to draw attention to themselves.  But as I paid closer attention, I came to realize that they simply had no idea how to control their bodies in space.   Then I found this book, The ABCs of Yoga for Kids.  What better way to teach kids self-control than yoga? 

So we started practicing.  Every day before we started, I set the focus.  “We’re doing this so you can learn how to control your bodies.”  Then we’d spread out around the room and try a few poses.  We practiced breathing, transitioning between poses, holding poses. 

Look at the balance here!  

It was a mini-miracle!  I even noticed a significant decrease in the amount of talking out and interruptions.  They were connecting what they learned about controlling their bodies and began controlling their voices as well. 

So if you have a class that shows a ridiculous lack of self-control, you should try using yoga as a tool to teach them!  It made a world of difference for my class!

Jodie