Summer Learning Institute

SUMMER LEARNING INSTITUTE: 2010 TUTORING

The Summer Learning Institute is part of IMAGINATION STATION, a multi-level education program that blends movement and classroom instruction. Summer is about fun, but did you know that it is also a time when many students lose much of the educational gains they achieved during the school year?

‘Summer learning loss’ has been studied for many years and appears to be responsible for much of our society’s educational deficits. It is especially troublesome for those students that have already experienced delays or difficulties.

Educational research documents that the summer time, although a fun break from traditional school, can be a critical setback if students are left at home watching TV or only playing in the neighborhood instead of participating in organized camps and activities. Researchers then asked why organized camps and activities during the summer made such a difference in education.

The answer requires a glimpse into what we know about the actual process of learning. Great strides have been made into how we actually learn, and some very interesting data has emerged. It appears that there is an important connection between movement and learning, i.e., reading and math and even higher learning.

In the past, motor skills (physical movement) were relegated solely to athletic abilities and preparation for sports. We now know there is much more to this story and that coordinated movement actually affects our learning and our ability to learn with ease. This explains why summer camps and structured activities prevent ‘summer learning loss’ – they providecoordinated movement and motor skill development, which we now know help organize and develop the brain.

The Summer Learning Institute (SLI) offers a multi-level approach to learning through the combination of coordinated movement and dedicated classroom instruction with certified teachers.

Physical movement provides two very important elements:

Movement provides basic skills that help to organize and develop the brain by working on coordination and motor skills.
Movement and gym time are FUN; they provide a change of pace and focus, which can reduce negative attitudes and help to establish new positive attitudes about learning and about oneself.

Classroom instruction provides two very important elements:

Individualized instruction to offer immediate feedback and correction in a fun, kid-friendly atmosphere
A proprietary program that focuses on success and building self-confidence through accomplishment

SLI is scheduled mid-summer to target the best opportunity to reduce ‘summer learning loss’ while also allowing adequate ‘summer fun’ prior to and after SLI. It’s good to have some time off also.

Classes meet at Gym Magic (behind Best Buy). Integrative movement is taught in the main gym; tutoring occurs upstairs in designated classrooms. Instruction is offered during the following weeks.

June 21 – 24

June 28 – July 1

July 6 – 9* (Closed Monday; Class on Friday)

July 12 – 15

SLI meets Monday through Thursday from 9:00 to 11:00 for four consecutive weeks.

9:00 to 9:30: Integrative movement
9:30 to 11:00: Classroom instruction

Our ratios are typically 1: 3 to allow our teachers to build skills and monitor individual daily progress.

Pre-registration is required. You must attend all four weeks unless special permission is given by the Director.

Ages: 1^st to 6^th grade; special trials available for those outside this age group

Tuition: $175 per week (SUMMER DISCOUNT)

(4 weeks x $175 = $700 for the summer)

LOCAL BUSINESS
LOCAL CERTIFIED TEACHERS
CENTRALLY LOCATED
TITLE 1 TUTORS

IMAGINATION STATION

…learn, laugh, grow

IMAGINATION STATION brings education and fun firmly together!! Learning should be FUN; learning should be about curiosity and exploration, movement and activity. IMAGINATION STATION combines movement (integrative movement) with traditional classroom instruction to develop the foundations of learning.

You might ask why we combine movement and learning. At first glance, it may seem unusual to have learning paired with physical movement – until you remember how we learned as babies and toddlers (through our senses and through movement). In fact, the greatest development of our brain actually occurs within the first few years of life as billions upon billions of neurons are linked and mapped as we learn to physically interact with the outside world. It turns out that the process of learning has always been connected to movement.

And now research is documenting this same connection in higher learning, i.e., reading, language, math and logic.

Studies now document that movement helps to organize and develop our brain. Movement (motor skills) is important to learning and is connected to reading and math. Imagine that! We naturally learn best through movement. Studies have even shown that the best predictor’s for success in reading and math, when monitoring students from kindergarten through 4^th grade, was motor skills and coordination! You might have guessed that the best predictor’s for success would be learning the ABCs, phonics or counting, but the best predictor was actually coordinated movement.

What is meant by coordinated movement or integrative movement, and why are we missing this now? A brief explanation is that integrative movement enhances coordination between the two hemispheres of the brain. Movements that cross the midline of the body establish connections between the two hemispheres of the brain. Reading uses both hemispheres of the brain, so the better the connection and flow of information between the two hemispheres, the better our reading becomes. And what improves this coordination of the two hemispheres? You guessed it! Movement, integrative movement, develops this coordinated action and enhances the ease with which we learn. And what is one of the best forms of integrative movement? Gymnastics is one of the best forms if not THE best form of integrative movement.

And why are we as a society behind in many forms of integrative movement? What is different about today versus a few decades ago? Many things have changed as we live in a highly technological society with computers and/or screens of some sort all around us. We have shifted our children’s focus from physically playing outside to staying inside more of the time.

How many homes now have multiple TVs and/or TVs that are very large? How many hours of screen watching (TVs, computers or games) are our children watching each day, each week, each year? By the time our children reach first grade, they have spent an enormous amount of time watching TV (multiply the number of hours each day by 365 days of the year by the number of years – a staggering number of hours emerges for most children). Compare these hours with the number of hours spent actively exercising or just reading a book. The difference will be striking.

WHAT DOES IMAGINATION STATION AND THE SUMMER LEARNING INSTITUTE OFFER?

LOCAL CERTIFIED TEACHERS
LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS
MULTI-LEVEL TUTORING
PROPRIETARY PROGRAM

IMAGINATION STATION provides the only multi-level approach to tutoring in Las Cruces. We know, and research confirms, there are basic physical skills that help the brain develop and help students ‘ease’ into learning. Therefore, combining integrative movement with dedicated classroom instruction gives our students that added edge. Combining movement with tutoring can also help to re-establish a positive attitude about learning.

Another very important component that should not be overlooked is that the physical movement we use is also FUN! This can be the game-changer because many students that are behind in their studies develop an attitude of “I’m not good enough. Or I can’t learn”. These damaging attitudes can be hard to turn around in a typical classroom setting. However, when we bring students into the gym first and they experience small physical challenges that they can master and enjoy, they typically relax and we start to see smiles. While having fun, they are also organizing and improving their brain connections. Imagine that!!!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

CALL 523-1616

VISIT: gymmagic.com