Keep Crossing That Midline!

Children's brains are fascinating.  While research has led to more information about how children grow, learn, and perceive the world around them, there is still much to learn.  What has been learned so far has helped to shape the world of early childhood education, to eliminate some old ideas about what is good for children, and to reinforce the knowledge that grandma was pretty smart after all.

The new research tells us that children learn when their bodies are engaged as well as their brains, that they need time to run and explore to process what they see and feel, and that their brains will grow stronger if they cross their midline often.  Midline?  Draw an imaginary line (feel free to use a marker if you like!) from the top of your head down to the tip of your nose to your bellybutton and end between your feet.  This is your midline.  Crossing the midline encourages the two halves of your brain to work together.  Crossing the midline occurs during normal development - picture a baby crawling - and can be further encouraged during play.

We used to march in gym.  Since I am rhythmically challenged, I hated it.  It seemed pointless and boring.  Little did I know that Mr. Murphy was helping my brain to grow.  Encourage your children to march around the room or to the playground.  Singing and dancing are excellent ways to cross the midline.  The Hokey Pokey (don't forget that you can put in your elbows, tongue, nose, knees, tummy..., Wild Bananas, Tooty Ta, and Father Abraham are all examples of fun songs and chants that cross the midline.  Encourage your child to reach across the midline by handing him something from his non dominant side.  Crossing the midline with the lower limbs has an even more beneficial effect.  Have your child lie back on his elbows (you do it, too!  It will encourage your child and strengthen your abs.) and do "The Wheels on the Bus" or "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with his feet.  (Note to providers:  Be sure that you tell the parents that you are doing songs with your feet.  I have had parents tell me that they were singing about the spider when their child suddenly lay back and started kicking at them.)  Dance to rock and roll music and twirl while holding your child's right hand in your right hand.  Challenge your child to color or draw with the non dominant hand.  Tape a paintbrush to a hat brim and have your child paint while wearing the hat.  There are many ways to cross the midline - use your imagination! 

For the past seven or so years I have been learning more about brain function, growth, and crossing the midline.  Now I am reading about crossing the midline as a way to help strengthen the brain in adults and to help prevent dementia.  While your child is crossing the midline, cross yours, also!

Tooty Ta is a chant.  Start with thumbs up and chant the words while moving your hands in a sideways figure eight in front of you.  For the next verse, say thumbs up and the next command, followed by the tooty ta chant.  Follow the pattern until the end.

Tooty Ta

Tooty ta, tooty ta, tooty ta ta

Thumbs up

Tooty ta, tooty ta, tooty ta ta

Wrists together

Elbows back

Feet apart

Knees together

Bottoms up

Tongue out

Eyes shut

Turn around



Memories

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, and this one was no exception.  We spent Wednesday evening and all day Thursday at my sister's house.  My nephew was there, along with his fiance and her son, and my brother and sister-in-law came from downstate.  We had a wonderful time catching up with each other, cooking and eating lots of food, drinking some very good wine, and playing with our three year old great nephew-to-be.  We might not be Norman Rockwell material, but it was a joyous time.

The other thing that we did while we were together was to go through our mother's belongings and decide what to do with them.  It had been almost a year since she had passed away and it was time to take care of her things.  While it sounds like a miserable chore, one that should have been unhappy, it turned out to be quite a good time.  There was sadness because Mama was gone, but there were things that brought many happy memories - the post cards from our vacations on Cape Cod, the original Pooh books and Ferdinand the Bull books that were worn out from so much reading, the little pitcher that she used to heat maple syrup for our pancakes...the list goes on.  We found old family treasures and newer trinkets.  We all kept a few mementos and gave the nephew and fiance treasures for their new house.  We even found an official list of the equipment that she was issued when she went overseas to nurse the soldiers during WW II.

My mother was a human being.  She made mistakes, lost her temper, and could have been a better housekeeper.  She loved cooking, baking, walking in the woods, watching birds, and petting her cats.  She was a nurse, a Girl Scout leader, and an Orchid Society member.  Of all the things that she was, however, the thing that she loved most was being a wife and a mother.  While we miss her, there are so many good memories that we can laugh and talk about her with no sadness. 

I have written before about the fact that we are all memory makers.  When your children or the children in your care remember you, what will they be saying?  How will they be feeling?   Will their memories be happy?  Will they remember the caring, the laughter, and the happiness?  Will they remember that reading to them or walking in the woods with them was more important than dusting or Dancing With the Stars?  Will they remember the impatience and the sarcastic comments?  You have the choice to give the children in your care happy memories or unhappy ones.  Remember, and as Yoda says, choose wisely.