Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition [Perfect Paperback]

Paul E. Dennison (Author), Gail E. Dennison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1989 | ISBN-10: 0942143027 | ISBN-13: 978-0942143027

Brain Gym Teacher's Edition details the 26 Brain Gym activities used around the world by people of all ages and abilities to make learning easier. This is the revised and enlarged third edition of a very popular book that has been translated into 20-some languages. This is a stand-alone book for parents, teachers and learners who want in-depth descriptions and variations for the 26 Brain Gym activities. Those who need only drawings of the 26 and simple descriptions of how to do them can refer to the small orange book Brain Gym: Simple Activities for Whole-Brain Learning, written in a simple story form that children can understand.

The book references recent research in the field of neuroplasticity as it shows how learners can master the physical skills required for development of academic abilities. The 26 activities, each taking just a minute or so to do, help learners to develop skills of stability, locomotion, and sensorimotor coordination, as well as providing effective tools for self-calming and self-management. When a student can respond to the stress that inhibits the flow of learning, he or she can better access the joy, creativity, and expression inherent in the learning process. This expanded 2010 version of the book offers new information on the physical skills involved in the learning process, ways to use the 26 activities to teach specific academics such as reading and writing, personal accounts from parent and educators, and games for teaching through movement and play.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Brain Gym Teacher's Edition is a must-have for any classroom or business library. The clear, easy, yet profound nature of this work, as outlined in this practical book, has the potential to assist all learners to accomplish what they choose in life, whether it be academic, creative, athletic, or relational. It is time for learning to again become the cornerstone of our lives, opening us to greater awareness, connection, and joy in all we do, and this book shows the way. --Carla Hannaford, Ph.D, educator, biologist, and author of Playing in the Unified Field: Raising & Becoming Conscious, Creative Human Beings.

I have been using the Brain Gym program with my students for almost 25 years. It is by far the easiest and fastest way I know of to shift students from scattered to focused, from confused to clear, and from tense to relaxed. I appreciate the additional clarity and support in this NEW edition! --Victoria Kindle Hodson, coauthor of Discover Your Child s Learning Style: The Key to Every Child s Learning Success.

A typical classroom experience lacks the quantity of movement required for healthy physiological development. The Brain Gym program demonstrates an intrinsic under-standing that a well-developed human machine will excel at all of its tasks, including learning. This program is so fundamental to the biophysical process of learning that it s hard to believe it's not already in every curriculum. --Katy Bowman, bio mechanical scientist, director of the Restorative Exercise Institute, and creator of the Aligned and Well program.

About the Author

Paul E. Dennison is an internationally known educator, a pioneer in the field of movement-based learning, and an authority on the acquisition of cognitive and academic skills. Gail E. Dennison is the originator of Brain Gym International's Visioncircles, Double Doodle Play, and Movement Dynamics courses. Paul and Gail are the co creators of Educational Kinesiology and the Brain Gym program, and the authors of more than fifteen books and manuals, many of which have been translated into dozens of languages.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 45 pages
• Publisher: Edu Kinesthetics (1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942143027
• ISBN-13: 978-0942143027
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

366 of 373 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very important book for educators, March 12, 2002

By 

jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition (Perfect Paperback)

This book is an excellent introduction and manual for Brain Gym. It not only explains in detail how to do the simple excercises, but gives many scientific explanations for how and why they work.

For those who don't know, Brain Gym is a method whereby brain functions are accessed by performing simple physical movements, and it has been found to profoundly improve ADD/ADHD/Dyslexic conditions as well as other learning disabilities. It is a series of exercises (drawn from all areas of movement -- from the calisthenics we did in phys-ed class to the eye exercises of behavioral optometrists, to acu-pressure points) specifically studied and narrowed down after many years of research to those that were found to optimally affect brain functions. Luckily they are all easy and take only minutes (or even seconds) to do, and they get immediate, verifiable results. In my experience they help students and professionals of all ages learn faster, improve memory and coordination, and generally reduce the stress of adjusting to new situations or learning foreign or difficult tasks.

In my own experience, I no longer teach violin without integrating Brain Gym exercises because the students learn so much faster and develop better technique because they are more relaxed, naturally. I have also taught Brain Gym to writers, musicians, actors, doctors, mathematicians, teachers, dancers, investment bankers, producers etc. and the feedback is consistently positive. If you are a teacher and are interested in this kind of thing, classes are recommended, but the next best thing is to have this little book!

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As thorough as it gets, January 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition (Perfect Paperback)

This book gives an in-depth review of each of the Brain Gym movements from academic benefits to postural correlates. Each page includes a brief history of how the movement became part of Brain Gym. Each page includes directions on how to do the movement along with variations to try later. I use this book regularly for myself, in the preschool classroom and as a Brain Gym consultant. Every time I open it, I read something "new". It is filled with valuable information and is a great interest grabber into the world of Brain Gym and Educational Kinesiology.

It's thoroughness can be overwhelming for some. And then for others, like myself, it's level of completeness is what makes it such a great book.

106 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor introduction, June 28, 2005

By 

kabuky (Germany) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition (Perfect Paperback)

I have never practiced Brain Gym. A special ed teacher recommended I buy a copy to use in my own class. So..of course, I bought the Teacher's Edition. The problem - it has VERY poor directions on how to do the original exercises!! It assumes you KNOW the exercises and have a copy of the original "Brain Gym" manual. I don't!! And I have a hard time believing that such a big seller would have such poor directions/illustrations of exactly what to do/what to avoid in the physical activities.

Lots of tips on how to specialize the exercises for different kids but WITHOUT bothering to give one very good directions on how to do the exercises. I am VERY disappointed. There are also LOTS of references to their other books (for you to buy).