Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
Yoga in Schools: Kids and Teachers Talk Kids Yoga.
A quick peek into what kids and teachers are saying about using the Sing Song Yoga app in the classroom. Kids yoga in schools explored… Highlights from the video clip:
Tell us about Sing Song Yoga®
What I would tell other kids about Sing Song Yoga is that you have to try it because it calms you before, if you do Daily Five in your classroom or writing. ~ first grader, MI
It all started with a simple challenge from our movement specialist in the district to say we’ve got to get our kids moving and that will increase the engagement. And I would say that Sing Song Yoga is our perfect answer to doing that. ~ Kristi Zoerhof, First Grade Teacher, MI
- “It keeps you strong and healthy and it really keeps you calm when you’re doing stuff.”
- “I would tell other kids that Sing Song Yoga is really fun.”
- “It is the funnest thing in the world.”
- “It gets your body moving and it makes you exercise.”
- “The app is my favorite because it is completely customizable. Whatever you have time to work with, whether its 5 minutes or 20, you can create yoga sequence videos for your kids to do. And it is actually a spot in our lesson plans that we have a spot for yoga.”
- “It’s really really fun and it’s relaxing.”
- “They love it. They look forward to it. They request it. And it is probably our most popular activity of the day.”
- “They should do it ’cause it’s really really fun.”
How does Sing Song Yoga® make you feel?
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel happy and calm.”
- “We find that we are more focused and our work time is more productive.”
- “I feel happy from yoga.”
- “Sing Song makes me feel happy.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel calm.”
- “It’s calming.”
- “I like crane pose because it makes me feel steady.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me feel happy.”
- “Sing Song Yoga makes me get happy and excited.”
What would you tell other teachers about Sing Song Yoga®?
- “I’m really sure that if your children do it, it’s going to be fantastic.”
- “Truly, every minute spent in Sing Song Yoga we have seen the rewards and the benefits in our classroom work. I would recommend it to every classroom teacher who wants to give their students a moment to have intentional movement breaks.”
- “The songs are really cool.”
- “You can see it on the iPad and you can see it on the screen.”
- “Try Sing Song Yoga. You will not be disappointed.”
- “I love Sing Song Yoga.”
Related Posts:
Getting Kids Ready to Write: Yoga in Schools A teacher question answered: “I was wondering the best combinations [of poses] to use [with my students] for getting ready to write.”
Twitter Leads to Most Rewarding Visit Imaginable Sing Song Yoga founder does yoga with students she connected with on Twitter.
Top 5 Tips to Help Kids Yoga Balance: Kid Twitter Question Answered A kid question answered: “Do you have any tips to help us balance better?”
At Sing Song Yoga we love tweeting with students about their yoga ideas, experiences and questions. We also love chatting with teachers! 
For more info:
Sing Song Yoga® Kids’ Yoga App
Sing Song Yoga® kids’ yoga DVD
Sing Song Yoga® school program
This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2015.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga in Schools.
Tagged: app, brain breaks, children, childrens yoga, dvd, education, educators, kids yoga, kids yoga app, movement acivities, movement in the classroom, schools, sing song yoga, testimonial, yoga for children, yoga for kids, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom
Kids Yoga in Schools: Getting First Graders Ready to Write
Sue, a first grade teacher from Michigan writes:
I was wondering the best combinations [of poses] to use [with my students] for getting ready to write.”
This is a great question! Yoga in schools can be a powerful resource for helping kids get ready to write, as well as do other school tasks. Kids’ Yoga is not going to take overly energetic children and mesmerize them into a state of conformity, but it can help a child transform their energy into a more usable form for accomplishing particular tasks. As teachers we occasionally need tiny reminders that children are not built to sit for long periods, and their squirminess might be good feedback to us that their bodies truly need to move in order for their brains to work most efficiently.
I know that, as an adult, when I rush around my world to run errands and then sit down in front of my computer to get some work done, it takes me a bit of time to refocus on my task at hand. Also, if I sit for an extended period of time I need to get up and move to focus most efficiently. Similarly, if a child is moving from one activity to the next without time to refocus with some deliberate guidance, or is sitting for extending periods of time without a chance for specific movement, then it’s likely that s/he won’t be able to give her best.
Yoga in schools can provide purposeful tools for helping children refocus. There’s much involved in how yoga can do this. However, simply put, focusing on one’s body to get into and hold a pose can help quiet the mind’s chatter, allowing more space for purposefully focused thought. And if the yoga movement itself is sufficiently involved it can fulfill the body’s need to move in order to stimulate the necessary systems for optimal learning.
In other words the physical yoga poses and the focus necessary to accomplish them work in tandem to help children refocus.
In addition to this, particular sequencing of poses also has the potential to calm the nervous system, which counters the stressors that physically shut down the brain for learning. The brain of a child who is in distress physically shuts down the networking necessary for learning. The brain of a relaxed child has much greater learning potential.
When thinking about yoga in schools it might be helpful to know that poses can be divided into three categories regarding their main effects on the nervous system:
- energizing poses (red – see arrow in pic below)
- calming poses (blue)
- neutral poses (yellow)
Poses can be sequenced to deliberately shoot for particular goals. For example, our Brain Break sequence was created to assist students in refocusing within their school day with the least number of poses necessary to accomplish the goal.
Brain Break Sequence includes:
- Triangle – general movement lengthening and strengthening the entire body
- Standing V – the inversion allows blood flow to the brain which may enhance mental functioning and forward bends calm the nervous system
- Eagle – crosses the mid-line helping the two halves of the brain communicate through the corpus callosum (helping to coordinate skills being carried out in different parts of the brain). Eagle also stimulates the vestibular system (balance), stimulating the brain for new learning
- Sailboat – crosses the mid-line and twisting allows for additional release of tension
Note below: the color coding above each pose in the app screenshot: red, blue and yellow represent energizing, calming and neutral poses respectively.
Brain Break Sequence shown in Canvas. Press Play to begin video.
The Jazz up My Brain sequence within the Sing Song Yoga App is a longer version at 22 minutes. Teachers can throw poses out or add poses within the app within the sequence canvas and make it work for each situation. Sequences you create can be saved and named. And here’s another example of the app in use.
Thanks for stopping by! We intend to continue growing our posts dedicated to helping teachers enjoy the benefits of yoga in the classroom!
Until next time, Happy Teaching!
We would LOVE to hear from you – how you’re using yoga in schools or questions of how to begin. We are on Twitter @singsongyoga and Facebook and really look forward to connecting!
For more info:
Sing Song Yoga® kids’ yoga DVD
Sing Song Yoga® Kids’ Yoga App
Sing Song Yoga® school program
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2015.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Kid's Yoga Sequences, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga in Schools.
Tagged: app, children, childrens yoga, first graders, health, ipad app, iphone app, ipod touch app, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, kids yoga benefits, mindfulness, physical activities for toddlers, research, schools, sing song yoga, test prep, writing, yoga for kids, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom, yoga poses
Yoga in Schools – Twitter Leads to Most Rewarding Visit Imaginable
Twitter is one of those things that I tried simply because I was told it was necessary for today’s startups — but did so reluctantly with little engagement. Then one day I received a twitter notification from a first grade teacher who was using Sing Song Yoga with her students. This gradually evolving connection not only inspired me to reach out to more yogis and educators on Twitter, but it eventually led to… meeting in person!! 
When you develop a program you hope that someone will find benefit in it, utilize the tools and share its value with others. But just because YOU love it and think it’s great doesn’t mean anyone else will find it valuable!
It was delightfully surprising to me how connected I began to feel with Mrs. Z. and her #firstgradeyogis on Twitter. They tweeted about their experiences with yoga in school and asked great questions (#ssykidquestion). We learned from, and encouraged each other and made continued Twitter connections – even with first graders in China! 
And last Tuesday my heart grew!! Have you ever gotten to know someone only online and then get the chance to meet? Well it’s just like in the movies! When you see their familiar faces and begin to chat it feels as though you’ve known them forever. The mutual excitement is tangible! Hugs and chats and hugs and chats! And then… the magic continues as our yoga songs fill the air. My songs have become their songs. My heart skips a beat the moment their voices join with mine and fill the room — with about as much love as a room can contain before bursting at the seams! As I write this I can still feel the expansion of my universe that occurred in those moments. 
Thank you Mrs. Z. from Michigan for not only providing the loving platform tying my heart to yours and your students’, but for providing your kids with the practical tools and benefits that kids’ yoga has repeatedly demonstrated. Your kids get a jump start on their learning each day because you have taken the time to learn what’s best for kids — and of course yoga is only one part of that!
Until we meet again… Thank you from the bottom of my heart! 
If you’d like to connect with @singsongyoga on Twitter or Facebook we’d love to hear from you…
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2014.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: childrens yoga, dvd, gifts, kids christmas, kids yoga app, schools, sing song yoga, testimonial, twitter, yoga benefits, yoga for children, yoga for kids, yoga in schools
Top 5 Tips to Help Kids Yoga Balance
This topic was inspired by a helpful kids yoga question tweeted by Mrs. Z’s #1stgradeyogis in Michigan…
Do you have any tips to help us balance better?”
Mrs. Z’s #1stgradeyogis doing Eagle Pose (Garudasana)
These talented first graders and their creative, tech savvy teacher have been tweeting about their experiences with Sing Song Yoga and we’re loving it! Thank you @MrsZFabFirsties for sharing your yoga experiences of kids yoga with us and the world! Thank you also for the inspiration for this post!!
Some simple tips to help you balance in your favorite kids’ yoga poses…
1. Know that it’s okay to fall over. When I was first learning to do headstand, I was unsure about moving my pose away from the security of the wall. However, once my instructor mentioned that it’s okay to fall when trying headstand in the middle of the room, I gave it a shot and never turned back! Now it’s a favorite of mine! Sometimes children (and adults) simply need to know that it’s okay to lose their balance and fall. Taking the pressure off can sometimes be all the support they need to feel success in a balancing pose.
2. Try to look at one spot in front of you. Fix your relaxed gaze on something that is not moving. To experience how helpful our eyes are when balancing try this: Before doing a balancing pose, experiment with the kids having them close their eyes while in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Even Mountain Pose feels wobbly with our eyes closed. Then compare how Mountain feels with their eyes open. Then do Tree Pose (Vrksasana) and compare the different experiences of first, moving your eyes all over the room and second, keeping your eyes fixed on one spot. Might be fun to illustrate the comparing/contrasting experiences with a Venn Diagram in the classroom, with some interactive or shared writing.
Mrs. Z’s #1stgradeyogis doing Tree, Big Butterfly and Flower
3. Hold your arms out to the side like a tightrope walker. Children tend to do this naturally, but you can also discuss this with them. You could also, for example, do Eagle Pose (Garudasana) twice. Once with their arms wrapped together in front of their chest and once with their arms out to the side. And ask the kids which feels easier. Answers will likely vary but it’s powerful to feel these differences within their own bodies.
4. Start at the ground and move up. Focus first on having strong balanced feet (or whatever body part is on the ground). Try to distribute weight evenly between the front and back and between the inside and outside of each foot. Oftentimes when yogis are attempting a balancing pose, they don’t even notice that they are holding their feet crooked and half off the ground because they are so focused on balancing. So again it can be helpful to experiment with Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Close the eyes for a moment to feel how the weight changes within their feet as they wobble. Try to keep from falling over by focusing on the feet remaining flat on the floor. And once they open their eyes try to keep their attention on their feet while they steady their balance. Then try to re-balance the feet before beginning the next balancing pose. Closing the eyes allows us to attempt to focus more clearly on other balancing systems that we are less likely to notice when our vision is being used — in this case the feet (and vestibular system).
5. Imagine that you’re floating up. Next time the kids are doing a balancing pose have them imagine that they are really light and nearly weightless — maybe even that their foot is glued to the earth with hardly any gravity. This one in particular is not based in anything I’ve learned, only in what I’ve experienced. So give it shot.
Bonus: And just for fun try thinking about your belly button while balancing. It seems to help sometimes — and if not, it tends to bring on giggles 🙂 Thank you James Fry for this one!
Please send your kids’ yoga questions to Sing Song Yoga’s
Twitter or Facebook using #ssykidsquestions
See this link for an outline of the Simple Process for Creating and Saving a Kids’ Yoga Balancing Sequence within the Sing Song Yoga App
Creating Balancing Sequence within the Sing Song Yoga App
For more info:
DVD: https://www.singsongyoga.com/childrens-yoga-dvd/
App: https://www.singsongyoga.com/kids-yoga-app/
school program: https://www.singsongyoga.com/school-program/
This entry was posted on Sunday, October 19th, 2014.
Posted in Education, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: app, balance, balancing yoga pose, childrens yoga, dvd, ipad app, iphone app, ipod touch app, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, schools, sing song yoga, yoga app, yoga for kids, yoga in the classroom, yoga poses
Sing Song Yoga for Kids Awarded 2014 DVD of the Year
We are honored and grateful to have received word today that our Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga DVD has been named the “2014 DVD of the Year” by Creative Child Magazine. Thank you to the over 100 reviewers who selected us for the honor! For fun, the process is explained below.
Awards Program Details
Creative Child Magazine’s Awards Program is unique in that all products submitted are reviewed by moms, music educators and early education professionals. Products are not reviewed by any one person. They are reviewed by many people-the very people who purchase them.
Each year, a 2-day event is held in Henderson, Nevada where over a hundred guest reviewers are invited to attend our organized review event at our local convention center. All products are divided into categories and displayed at various review stations. Guest reviewers are asked to sit and review each products at one station and then move to another station and so forth and so on. This allows for each product to be given multiple reviews.
A review form is provided to each guest to aid them in evaluating each product. The review forms are to include written comments and a score value based on criteria that corresponds to the product’s category.
Upon completion of the event all review forms are collected by Creative Child Magazine staff assistants. All scores are tabulated and comments are reviewed.
Later, based on the scores and comments certain products are then determined to be a finalist for DVD, CD, Book, Game and Toy of the Year. Only one product per category can win a Toy of the Year award, as well as, CD, DVD, Book and Game of the Year. The remaining finalists receive a prestigious Preferred Choice award. The Seal of Excellence is another prestigious award that is given to those products that are not finalists but do exceed expectations based on the criteria for nurturing creativity and education in children. (info. from Creative Child Magazine website)
For more information on the Sing Song Yoga for kids, see www.singsongyoga.com Also check out their Sing Song Yoga kids yoga App and their school program.
Thanks again Creative Child Magazine!!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2014.
Posted in Education, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga, Uncategorized.
Tagged: 2014 DVD of the Year, awarded, awards, children, childrens yoga, creative child magazine, dvd, health, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, parenting, sing song yoga, top DVDs, top kids yoga dvd, yoga, yoga for kids