A friend once said, “A horse has a brain with two sides, but the two sides don’t work together! If you are going to train horses to avoid an obstacle, you have to show it to them both going and coming for the training to be effective.”
Unlike the horse, both sides of a child’s brain work together. In fact, coordination of the right and left sides of the brain has everything to do with learning to read and write.
Since each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body and each side has movement functions, it has been found that movement is an important aspect of brain development in children. We have an imaginary line in the middle of our body from head to toe called the midline. It is helpful to think of movement as left or right of the midline or being at the midline (middle).
Most children develop midline competence from birth, (crawling, walking, etc.). We can continue to strengthen brain connections by doing movement activities in a rhythmic fashion with both sides of the body at once as well as moving across the midline to alternate sides. Edwards, M. (2011, April 18). Help Your Child Develop the “Crossing the Midline Skill” [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://nspt4kids.com/parenting/help-your-child-develop-the-crossing-the-midline-skill/
Isn’t it great to know that your ever-moving child is becoming a good thinker!
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