Vestibular & Proprioception Systems Affect Learning
Growing up, I learned about the five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. These senses affect how a person perceives a situation, what knowledge he or she takes in from a lesson, and even what level of alertness is experienced.
This leaves out two very important senses for body awareness.
Proprioception-
This sense is the awareness of the body’s position. Muscles, joints, and tendons have receptors that send messages to the brain. That message communicates the position of the body, which then helps motor planning, develops gross motor skills, and perfects fine motor skills. This sense is also most known for calming the body!
We typically talk about this sense in relationship to challenging the muscles through lifting, weight bearing, climbing, and pushing and pulling. But, let’s not forget the power of the hug, which applies a calming compression to all those muscle receptors.
Homeschooling provides a unique opportunity for us,
As parent-teachers, to use our own bodies to help our children through tough subjects or times when sustained attention is hard. Our children have the freedom to cuddle with us before, during, and after hard things.
My son literally learned to read while sitting in my lap day after day. And since teaching phonics can be frustrating for mothers too, another hidden advantage is that a child sitting on a mother’s lap allows the occasional frustrated mom-face to go unnoticed.
Let’s be honest, this can’t happen in a traditional brick-and-mortar school. It is a definite advantage of homeschooling that should be celebrated!
Vestibular system-
This sensory system alerts and orients. It has receptors in the inner ear, where the sense of balance is established, and gives information on where the body is in space. Intentionally targeting this system through spinning, flipping, and climbing outdoors before a time of the day when a child needs to be alert is especially helpful.
For example, we have time on the trampoline for jumping and spinning before tackling seated subjects like reading and writing. BUT, this sense can also trigger feelings of overwhelm. So, follow vestibular-based activities with proprioceptive input to help the body stay organized.
Homeschooling allows us as parent-teachers to organize each child’s academic activities to maximize alertness and to minimize overwhelm. And this is yet another advantage to celebrate!
Resources:
Gray, P. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play will Make Our Children Happier, More Self- Reliant, and Better Students for Life. New York: Basic Books, 2013.
Hanscom, A. Balanced and Barefoot. California: New Harbinger Publications, Inc., 2016.
