The Matrix Program for Children with Learning Problems

by Ilyhana Kate Kennedy BA (Ed) (Copyright, 8^th June 2002 )

MATRIX PROGRAM RIGHTS. WHO CAN USE THIS PROGRAM?

This program, excluding the Brain Gym components, may be used in its entirety or in part, by any person employed in a professional capacity or working voluntarily in public or private schools, or in home schooling, or in private tutoring, provided the program name remains as above and the author is acknowledged. The Brain Gym components should only be used according to the Rights defined by its authors Paul E Dennison, Ph D. and Gail E. Dennison in “Brain Gym: teacher’s edition”, published by Edu-Kinesthetics, PO Box 3396, Ventura, CA93006-3396 USA. The program, excluding the Brain Gym components, may also only be used in part or in entirety for private monetary gain if the source and author are publicly acknowledged. In so doing, those using the program accept that at the date of this writing, the work is in experimental phase and no claims as to its efficacy are being made or should be made by any person, except to state that its effects have so far proven to warrant further exploration and possibly further program development. Private enterprise wishing to include the Brain Gym components should also abide by the advice above as to the Brain Gym authors’ Rights. The author maintains the sole right to develop the Matrix Program for Children with Learning Problems as certified training offering professional credentials, and no other person or enterprise or institution may do so without permission from the author, Ilyhana Kate Kennedy).

About the Program.

 The following program of exercises and activities has been designed specifically for children with learning problems in literacy and numeracy related to vision, co-ordination and the genetic predisposition to difference that has been labeled as Attention Deficit Disorder. The program aims to help the child orient the self “in the body” in relation to the world outside. It employs the kinesthetic channel as the major channel of learning and then integrates the visual and auditory channels with the kinesthetic. The children are learning to be literate “through the body”, through movement rather than through “chalk and talk”.

 It is advisable to use this program, if appropriate, following professional assessments by a behavioural optometrist, an occupational therapist and a hearing specialist. The program should be used in combination with appropriate diet and routine, as well as nutritional supplementation.

 The elements of the program are described first and then some examples given of specific sessions to demonstrate how to best develop the program at a graduated pace that matches the child’s achievement levels.

 First and foremost, the program should be FUN! If you are unable to lead the program from a place of joy, find someone else who has a passion for working with kids to do the program! You’ll benefit from the results with the peace of mind that comes when your child begins to experience success in learning. And very importantly, the child should enter the program from a place of free will choice.

The program is suited to children from pre-school age to around nine years of age.

 Program Requirements

 The program is most effective if done in a small group of no more than six children. It can be done individually, but there are significant self-esteem and social advantages if done in a small group. The program facilitator needs to set a tone of expectation that the children can perform the tasks well. Achievement is rewarded by genuine remarks that assert confidence in the children’s abilities. Take care not to over reward or reward without integrity. The children are highly sensitive.

Failure to achieve receives little focus except encouragement to try again. Children are coached with love and care to perform the exercises accurately. Kindness accompanies correction. The children should at no stage feel that they are doing something “wrong”, only that they are learning new skills, and that these require practice.

Self-motivated discipline is encouraged at all times. If children do not participate willingly, their reasons must be explored. Children with habitual high avoidance behaviours will be a challenge. Firmness and consistency and a tone of instruction that delivers the message of equality of respect between instructor and children are the keys to success. Encourage a “wait a minute” behaviour pattern to help the children to develop “brakes in the brain”, i.e. restraint, development of frontal lobe. Make up a funny reminder pattern that teaches children to stop and recall what they are to do, before doing it! They’ll often want to begin long before they’ve heard all the instruction!

You’ll need a large space with a floor that can be drawn on in coloured chalks and hosed off. A large covered concrete space is ideal. You’ll need a set of big coloured chalks.

You’ll also need plenty of large felt pens with wide tips in a variety of attractive colours, sheets of white “butcher’s” paper at least 60x40cms preferably larger, and adhesive tape or tac, and coloured cardboard. Numeracy exercises require collections of solid objects as described in the program.

The children should have their own exercise book, pencils and colours etc for some written work at the end of each session.

Find a large attractive picture for the children to use as a “spotting” focus. Funny animal pictures are great. I’ve used a picture of a cat with a mouse on its head!

Practice the exercises yourself until you can do them easily. Adults take time to learn them as well!

Write up each session beforehand and ensure that you are well prepared with all the resources you need. You are working with children who are highly distractible and you cannot afford to lose their attention. Always have more material than you need. Always have a storybook on hand with great pictures.

Keep a record at the end of each session of each child’s particular progress and your observations. This builds a picture of the child’s individual mode of learning.

Children love doing these exercises and you’ll probably find them doing them as games outside of program times!

Matrix Program Elements

v     Brain Gym Midline Crossing Exercises

v     Infinity Loop Exercises

v     Spiral Exercises

v     Matrix Exercises

v     Kinesthetic Games

Literacy and Numeracy Exercises

Brain Gym Exercises

The Brain Gym program is designed to develop and enhance brain function through specific movements and meridian point activation. Training in the program is available from a qualified Brain Gym trainer. If you are unable to source the professional training in your area, there is a handbook available called “Brain Gym: teacher’s edition” by Paul E. Dennison, Ph D and Gail E. Dennison. It is published by Edu-Kinesthetics Inc., PO Box 3396, Ventura, CA 93006-3396 USA.

Brain Gym Midline Crossing Exercises

 Infinity Loop Exercises

The infinity loop ( 8 or ¥ ) exercises proceed from the Brain Gym Midline Crossing Exercises. In so doing, the Brain Gym exercises maintain their integrity whilst being used simultaneously with other exercises, each performing an extension of the other. See above to source Brain Gym exercises (Lazy 8’s etc).

Begin the development of the midline crossing function based on using the infinity loop with the Brain Gym exercises called “Cross Crawling”, “Lazy Eights” and “Double Doodles”, “Alphabet 8’s” and “The Elephant” as above. Once some proficiency is achieved, have the children stand a few metres distant from the infinity loop on the large sheet of paper on the wall, and while fixing the eyes on the center point, trace the line of the loop with an outstretched hand and pointing finger. Alternate hands. Also try following the loop with eye and hand .

Develop separately the walking of the loop drawn in chalk on the concrete across a midline while spotting a picture on the wall, same way as with the spirals. Make the loop about a meter wide. Line up the midlines of the vertical picture on the wall and the horizontal figure eight loop on the floor.

Now attempt to combine the two exercises. The combination of the two involves the kinesthetic sense in both horizontal and vertical planes, whilst training the brain to enhance the midline crossing function. Try same side hand and direction of movement, and opposite hand to direction of movement. Take the development slowly over a period of weeks.

Extend the infinity loop exercises creatively in the following manner:

When the children first learn to do “Double Doodles”, allow them some play time to create butterflies from the form and colour them any way they wish. Naming the sheets of paper when they begin helps avoid confusion later if they wish to keep them. However they often happily leave their pictures behind, the joy being in the doing.

The “Double Doodle” exercises can also be extended creatively to form pictures that reveal themselves as they are completed as below. Children prepare for the “Double Doodle” exercises by drawing a line down the middle of the page vertically, and locating the halfway point on this line. You’ll learn a lot about their vision from the location of these. It helps to have all children ready to start the exercise at the same time with chosen coloured felt in each hand. Demonstrate first and make sure that all children are beginning in the same place. Watch for the direction of hand movements carefully.

The example on the right is directional both horizontally and diagonally.

Spiral Exercises

 The spiral exercises, I developed for children based on influences of my experience of Steiner Eurythmy, but should not be regarded as Eurythmy, since Eurythmy is a wholistic discipline of its own. I have used that which was most appropriate to the needs of the program and integrated some elements for the purpose of cohesion in the learning process

 Note: it helps children to orient themselves in space by marking a spot where an exercise begins, e.g. the orange circle as in the following spiral exercises. “Where is your spot?” “Here is my spot.”

In the spiral exercises, we need to be aware of certain defining factors relating to brain hemisphere integration.

§      All spirals have a vertical and horizontal midline forming a cross that meets in the center.

§      The spiral drawn on the concrete floor is in a horizontal plane

§      The “spotting” picture is in the vertical plane.

§      Spirals may begin with a forward or backward movement

§      Spirals may begin with a movement to the left or to the right

The child always performs the spiral exercises with eyes trained to the “spotting” picture and body and feet facing forward to the picture throughout the exercise.

Build the following exercises over a period of two to three weeks, offering new challenges just as soon as there is some achievement happening, and long before boredom sets in.

If a child is not achieving the exercise, drop it and try something else for a while, coming back to it later in the program. Don’t labour where the child is not achieving. Experiencing failure is too familiar. There are other ways to work with the same function.

“spotting” picture on the wall at least a metre from the spiral's outer edge

The spiral is drawn in thick coloured chalk on the concrete floor, taking up a space of around nine feet square (a little more than two metres), i.e. nine feet wide. The picture for “spotting” is placed at children’s eye level aligned with the vertical center line of the spiral.

Demonstrate each exercise to the children before they attempt it. Demonstrate it first with only movement and an instruction to “watch”. Then demonstrate with movement and verbal instruction explaining what you are doing e.g. “I am watching the cat while I walk around the spiral. The cat is watching me. See how the cat can always see my tummy! I keep my body facing the cat. “ Children then take turns to try the movement.

The children will be using their peripheral vision to see the spiral on the floor.

I suggest starting them from the center first, marking the starting spot with a different coloured circle. Begin with a forward movement. When they have achieved the exercise of walking the spiral with body facing the picture, then have them start from the outside and move inwards. Next step is to combine the two.

Now use the reverse spiral in a different location also with a spotting picture out front on the wall. When you are satisfied that the children have achieved some competency with both, link the two spirals together horizontally as below.

Place the spotting picture in the middle of the two spirals and at a much greater distance from the outer edge of the spirals. The children begin this exercise by standing in the orange circle and choosing a spiral center to begin the walk. Take note of the choice of left or right. Keep records. You’ll learn about the child’s preferred modes of movement that could be helpful to professional assessments. The child moves from the chosen spiral center around the spiral across to the other spiral, into that spiral center, reverses the movement and comes outwards then across to the spiral where the walk began moving back into the center. The child should finish the exercise in the spiral center where he/she began and then move back to the orange circle and eye-ball the cat.

There are many midline crossings in this exercise combined with reversal movements.

 Next, try the following spirals that begin with backward movement from the center. Try them one at a time before attempting to join them. Always use a spotting picture to hold the direction of the body.

The next development is to combine the spirals as below.

Matrix Exercises

 The matrix exercises are the “body” of the program. They are exercises in movement that develop kinesthetic receptors for learning literacy and numeracy, based on the child’s orientation in space. The basic matrix is a set of nine squares as below.

When the child stands in the center square, there are four directions of movement vertically and horizontally. They are forward (and return to the center), backwards (and return to the center), to the left (and return to the center), and to the right (and return to the center). There are also four directions of movement diagonally. They are forward to the left (and return to center), backwards and to the right (and return to center), forwards and to the right (and return to center), and backwards and to the left (and return to center).

These directions are related to the formation of letters and the teaching of numeracy through number matrixes in threes. I found much greater success with numeracy when I worked in sets of three, rather than binary sets (twos) and the decimal system.

Alphabet letters and the numerals below are applied to the matrix in relation to direction of movement from a starting point, and also related to the midline crossing. You’ll find some differences here from the Brain Gym “Alphabet 8’s”.

         c, e, i, l, o, s, t, x, z                   a, d, g, j, q, u, y                    b, f, h, k, m, n, p, r, v, w

                                         0, 1, 8                                     4, 6, 9                                        2, 3, 5, 7

The infinity loop is related to the matrix as below.

Number is related to the matrix as below.

 The matrix can be expanded by addition of sets of the small squares to work with number beyond nine, or to work with multiple sets. Work kinesthetically with number as much as possible, using real objects and real life situations to teach mathematics. Maths should be something that the children find real purpose in doing, rather than be something they are expected to form abstract concepts about or simply commit facts to memory. The children will not be motivated to do so, as their personal interest is not stimulated. Make the maths as relevant to their everyday needs and interests as possible.

  9                                                           4                                                          8

Developing Kinesthetic Memory.

 To develop the kinesthetic memory to aid literacy and numeracy, try the following exercises. Develop the work one small step at a time, building in increments.

 Take a simple or funny four line verse, rap or tune in four/four time and dance or step this movement within the matrix drawn in chalk on the floor. The size of the squares should be appropriate to the child’s step length. Have the child write his/her name in the center in a circle. It helps to also draw the circle first , have the child stand in it, then draw the matrix around the child. “This is my spot”. Move out from the center and back to each line of the verse. Try one line at a time to begin. Ensure that all children are starting together and pointing to the direction of the first movement. Use hand directions for each movement and then later add verbal self-instruction as in the description “forward and return to the center” and “backward and return to the center” etc. Alternate this with movement to the words of the verse. Prepare the children with the call “Ready ? One and two, and three and four!”

For example:  Jerry has a dog with a great big snout

                              It eats big bananas and it runs all about

                              It’s name is Old Yeller and it causes such a fuss

                               When Jerry goes dancin’ and he takes it on the bus

And:-              

                        Take a step forward and return to the center

                        Take a step back and return to the center

                        Take a step to the left and return to the center

                        Take a step to the right and return to the center

I’ve had some fun with this doing it “Rocky Horror” style “It’s just a jump to the left    ” etc. or setting it to an Irish jig and gradually getting faster. You have to be fit to run this program! The more exuberant and enthusiastic you are, the more the kids love it, and you!

Notice preferred starter directions for movement in this exercise!

The next step is to walk the letters and numerals on the floor in the matrix formations. (See the description of letters and numerals related to the matrix above). Combine these sessions with kinesthetic games, making small numerals and letters in modeling clay (small motor skills) and large ones in the sandpit (gross motor skills). (See the Games Exercises). Do the games before the matrix exercises. The child walks the letter in the same directional way as the letter is formed by hand.

Now ask the child to walk the letter with the eyes closed (internalising for kinesthetic memory). Observe well what happens here!

Once the child is able to walk the letter or numeral with eyes open/closed or both, then ask the child to point to the letter within the matrix on the wall while walking it on the floor at the same time. You may need to develop this separately before combining.

 The reason for working with both planes is that in a classroom situation, the child is usually translating information from the vertical plane, on a blackboard to the horizontal plane, in the written work in the exercise book. This involves quite some visual facility.

Add verbal sounding of the letter when some ease of movement has been acquired. The visual is already happening as the child watches the letter to follow its movement. Closing the eyes during the exercise also asks for visual memory recall.

Asking the child to step letter “m” on an empty matrix for example, after completing the above exercises, will test the memory recall, kinesthetically, auditorily and visually.

 Kinesthetic Games

 The following games are a fun way to assist learning literacy through the kinesthetic channel.

 The left/right game

Children stand in a line facing the wave line, each in their own spot, and take turns to play the game. Draw it very large in coloured chalk on the concrete. The child begins in the orange circle each time, and walks the wave line forward to the end, facing front, then continues the walk backward still facing front, until the orange circle is reached again. On the first few rounds, the child simply learns to say “left” or “right” according to the side of the line the body is on.

On the next round, one child in the line calls out repeatedly “Which side are you on?” while the child walks the wave line and attempts to answer “left” or “right”. Or the child playing might call out “Which side am I on?” from time to time for the children in line to answer.

For some incidental learning, you might in later games, put letters or numerals that fall to each side of the line in coloured chalk to the sides. They may or may not be involved in the game in some way.

The Line Game.

                                                               d                            b

The blue line and the circles are drawn in coloured chalks on the floor. Reversal letters are good for this game but you could use any letters or numerals that move to the left or right of the midline. You could also add the midline letters later and develop it into a word game. You are only limited by your imagination!

The red circle is where you stand to lead the game with your back to the children who stand in the purple circles. Having a designated place to stand saves a lot of time and pushing.

The letters are drawn very large in the same coloured chalk on the appropriate sides of the midline.

You can begin this game like a dance, with the “Rocky Horror” line “It’s just a jump to the left, de,de,de,de,de,de!” and all jump to the left while singing the line (or shouting as they do). Then “It’s just a jump to the right, be,be,be,be,be,be!”

Now stand with your back to the children and say ”Doggies and dollies and digging and dungeons and dragons and dungeons, and the letter is ‘d’. Jump to the left!” Swing around on the spot to the right and look playfully ferocious and say “I’m coming to eat up all the bunnies on the ‘b’ side. If any children have jumped there, scoop them up and pretend to eat them. Of course, you get the few who twig to the game and jump to the wrong side to be eaten!

For the ‘b’ side you might say “Bunnies and broomsticks and bandicoots and butterflies and bucking broncos, and the letter is ‘b’. Jump to the right!” and swinging around to the left say “who’s the doggies on the ‘d’ side? I’m coming to eat you up!”

Repeat the game a number of times.

Now use very large flashcards of words that they are learning that begin with these letters. Have the letter in a different colour to the rest of the word. Place the cards on the center line between the letters. The children hop out and place a card each under the correct letter. Let them make their own corrections if they misplace them.

The “Hopscotch” Game.

This is a variation of the old game of Hopscotch. Here’s one example.

Here's an example of the layout of letters inside the hopscotch frame:

                                                                                      t

                                                    i

                                              q       b

                                                   o

                                               j        n

                                                   e

                                                   d       

                                                   p

Children stand in a line facing the hopscotch game. They take turns one at a time to play the game, stepping into the empty circle to start.

The first round is to learn to hop the game, both feet together in a circle, right foot in right square, left foot in left square. All are hopped or jumped in progression, the child choosing whether to move to left or right first in adjacent squares. (Observe the preferred choices). Add verbalizing of left, right, middle. Add hand indications.

Once this has been practiced a few times, ask the children to sound the letters while they hop or jump.

When they become more fluid in the movement, ask them to find little words in the game. Follow this with usual literacy work, based on the same words.

You can invent any combination of letters to make words, ensuring that they are placed according to their relationship to the midline.

 Modelling Games

 Use your imagination to create solid forms for the letters and numerals that are like animals, birds, flowers, fish, anything that children relate to easily. For example have a look at the letter ‘j’ below.

                                                                 j

The funnier and whackier they are the more the children love them. Take lessons from Dr Seuss!

Look for whole alphabets done this way in publications of early learning materials to guide you. Make them in playdough, or clay with the children. Use them to make words (while they are still soft and movable!). Ask the children to make the shapes of letters and numerals with their hands, or with their bodies. Make big  ‘j’ fish in the sandpit as a group.

 Story Game

 Play this game outdoors preferably. It trains the auditory function integrated with the kinesthetic function. It also trains attention and behaviour.

Choose stories that are very appropriate to the children’s interests. They should have bright clear pictures with easily distinguished images. When you start reading a page, ask the children to “jump up and down when you hear the sound “d” (for example). Practice this now. Elsie opened her eyes and there was the dragon.” Emphasise the ‘d’ sound as you read. Now read the page with children listening for the sound. Choose a new sound and a different movement for the next page.

Expect the children to sit still and quietly in between the movements. Do not start reading until they are still and quiet. I simply do something like clutch the book to my chest in a comic fashion, roll my gaze Heavenwards and dramatically say “I can’t read. Someone’s not ready!” Keep it funny and light and the children love to co-operate.

As soon as you can, choose a story with vocabulary that children can read parts of and allow them to have turns at story reading. If you sit behind them for easy reference for hard words, it gives them confidence. Doing it in a whispering way means that the children pretend that you are not actually there, that they are reading by themselves and they are not so worried about words they don’t know. Confidence and the belief that they can read is being developed with this game. They love the power of reading to the group while the children jump up and down!

In later developmental work, integrate the usual literacy work with the story for example using words from the story for word recognition or word building.

Literacy Exercises

 At the end of each session, or at some time during the session, integrate the exercises with visual and auditory learning processes as in the classroom.

As a prelude to this work and alongside of it, I have found success in building written and reading vocabulary from the children’s existing verbal vocabulary, rather than vocabulary prescribed for learning at a particular age.

When the children make up a story sentence with “d” words after playing the Line Game with the “d” for example, all of those words are written on flashcards. Quite a collection of flashcards develops. I use the sounding technique for word recognition, sounding in individual letters, then combining into syllables. I also find it useful to colour the first and last letters of the word. The children respond well to looking at the first and last letters at once, and then “grabbing the middle”.

Once there is quite a vocabulary within the cards, you can play story sentence building with them. For instance, choose the words for a particular story sentence keyed in to some other work in the session, and place the cards face up in a group spread close together. Have the children listen to the story sentence and take turns to find the words and lay the cards in sequence. When all the cards are in place, have them “read” the story sentence. This exercise helps the children to develop their sight vocabulary. They may not be able to sound or write all the words yet but they do recognise the words when they are in a familiar context.

Introducing the same words in an unfamiliar context is the next step. Match the flashcards to the words in the unfamiliar context if needed for a prompt.

Source Materials from publications for Early Learning and the usual audio-visual literacy development programs in schools are able to be integrated with the Matrix Program work.

 A Word of Caution:

If this program is done well with an enthusiastic and joyful facilitator, there will be a marked difference between the learning environment of the Matrix Program and that of the child’s regular classroom. Whilst I have found that two to three sessions per week of the program helps children to better participate in the regular classroom, the transition time of moving on from the program needs to be carefully managed emotionally for the child. The confidence that develops within the small group must be translated to the regular classroom social situation. Without a close rapport with the children’s teachers, the success of the program is significantly reduced.

 Sample Matrix Program Session.

 The following is just one sample session from an early stage of a Matrix Program conducted over a twelve month period with children of 7-8 years of age with varied learning problems related to literacy and numeracy.. The session was conducted over an hour and a half. The instructions are written in brief here, but my workbook would include as much detail as necessary to conduct the exercises with ease. I would also include hand drawn diagrams of the floor exercises and games, to prompt my memory.

1.      Do you need a drink? ( And of course they love to go have one)

2.      Brain Gym: Brain Buttons Exercise

3.      Brain Gym: Cross Crawl Exercises.  Knee patting, Knee pat and skip/arm raised, Hula Dancing, Patting foot behind

4.      Brain Gym: Lazy 8’s. Each hand one at a time.

5.      Infinity Loop on floor in coloured chalk, one metre wide, with midline. Walk loop while facing forward to spotting picture.

6.      Matrix Exercise. Movement forward, backward, left, right to jig tune. Work one movement direction at a time and gradually combine.

7.      The Line Game with ‘d’ and ’b’.

8.      Extend the Line Game with large flashcards of words used in game.

9.      Find a word that starts with ‘d’ or ‘b’ in these flashcards. Tell me a little story with the word. Write the story in your books and draw a picture.

10.  Story Game. Emphasise ‘d’ and ‘b’ sounds.

It has been my great joy to write up the Matrix Program and offer it to whomever may find it of benefit. Feedback from those using the program would be much appreciated. Please email comments to Ilyhana Kennedy at connect@earthsoulscience.com