How Yoga Promotes Early Literacy Skills
Well thought out kids yoga classes can assist in developing literacy skills. Learning to read is a key skill acquired between the ages of 4 and 7 years old. Most academic and career accomplishments depend on success in building a solid reading foundation in Grades 1-3. A children’s yoga class can facilitate this process in numerous ways thereby supporting lifelong reading competency.
Build Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is the ability to distinguish sounds (phonemes) in spoken language and is an essential auditory process for emergent readers. Incorporating segmenting, alliteration and rhyming into kids yoga classes are easy ways to facilitate phonemic awareness. Using music and nursery rhymes when teaching poses also develops sound appreciation. One such example is when practicing Bridge pose you may include the instructions “Build a bridge, bring your bottom to the sky” (alliteration) or sing London Bridge Is Falling Down.
Increase Vocabulary & Comprehension
Kids yoga classes contribute to the background of real world experience. Children are exposed to a wide range of vocabulary while following instructions to complete poses, discussing themes and participating in guided visualizations. This exposure combined with movement and relaxation builds neural systems and improves comprehension which carries over into the classroom.
Enhance Self Esteem & Self Regulation
How a child feels about themselves impacts their ability to learn. Yoga teaches self-acceptance, kindness and discipline in a non-competitive environment where children are encouraged to learn about their bodies, their minds and their emotions. Breathing exercises and visualizations teach focus, relaxation and body awareness. In addition, meditation and mindfulness techniques improve self-regulation which has been linked to the development of reading competence as children mature.
Teacher Training in Yoga for Literacy
Well trained kids yoga instructors will incorporate reading readiness strategies into their classes for children. Yogainmyschool.com offers teacher training on Yoga for Literacy; please contact donna@yogainmyschool.com for more information.
Love this! Thanks for sharing!
Donna,
Thanks for such a clear, concise summary of the value of not just yoga but movement enrichment education in general. I will share it on the Move with Me website. Our story-based movement and yoga DVD series Scooter & Me combines movement to story for all these reasons and even specifically teaches self-regulation skills. So, it might be a resource you want to share with your readers and fans. I hope you will add us to the links you love!
Warmly,
Leah
Wonderful article detailing the link between movement, in this case yoga, and early academic skills. Learning to read happens between 4-7 in our society because we’ve pushed the expectation so far down that children are being taught to read before their bodies are physically able to do so easily. Binocular vision, short range and in the midfield, naturally happens between the ages of 7-9 years, the same time as a synaptic growth spurt normally occurs on the left side of the brain. Many kids read, and some well, before that time frame but there is a cost, a strain on the overall system as they force their eyes to focus. Yoga and other forms of exercise provide a kinesthetic approach to learning and helps a child’s brain and body deal with the stress and pressure of early exposure to near range academic tasks.
Hi there, I wonder if you have any actual research to back up this claim. I would love to encourage my kid’s school to teach yoga, however I’d need more tangible evidence of yoga’s efficacy in it’s link to reading for them to consider it. Any thoughts/pointers in the right direction gratefully appreciated.