Posts Tagged ‘testimonial’
Yoga for Kids In Thornapple Kellogg Schools
Always great to read about yoga for kids in schools and even more fun, personally, when it’s Sing Song Yoga!
Thornapple Kellogg Schools recently published an article from which the below text was taken and can be read in its entirety as Kindergarten Students Find Calm in Yoga at TKschools.org. Thank you TK schools for using our program regularly and for sharing it with your readers! We so appreciate it!
Some highlights from TK Schools’ article follow:
McFall Elementary kindergarten teachers have found yoga helps their students transition between lessons, take “brain breaks” and even find calm during a hectic day.
“I love it. It makes me feel good,” said Aubree after about 15 minutes of yoga right in her classroom.
Kindergarten classmate Dylan Wallach gladly showed off his strength and balance in a balancing frog pose and Cameron Mancuso said his favorite yoga pose is “the one where we get to roar like a lion.”
Carissa Caskey said she likes the fish sit the best. “I just love how it makes me feel better when we’re done,” she said of the yoga stretches. “I feel happy.”
At least once or twice a week, McFall kindergarten teacher Jasmine Koster has her students practicing yoga in the classroom with a program called “Sing Song Yoga” developed especially for children. Students follow yoga pose instructions given in a sing-song version using music and rhythm.
“We use it in between lessons as a transitional tool. It reinforces concentration and gives students a brain break,” said Koster. “The afternoons can sometimes get long and we just need to have a little break and a little calm.”
Koster said she’s thrilled to be able to combine her two passions – teaching kindergarten and doing yoga. She’s been teaching at McFall four years and been practicing yoga for about six years. She started incorporating Sing Song Yoga in her classroom immediately. She said most of the other kindergarten teachers at McFall also use the program developed by Deb Weiss-Gelmi.
Koster said she sees many benefits to using yoga in the classroom.
“Sing Song Yoga is a great way to transition from one lesson to the next as a way for the students to refocus their attention and concentration,” Koster said. “It has been a wonderful tool to help create a sense of calm within our classroom.”
She said it also helps students realize the importance of caring for their bodies. “I see their flexibility, coordination and strength improving. And that’s really fun to watch progress.”
She said she also loves seeing how proud the students are of themselves when they master a new pose for the first time. “They are so excited and so proud. It just helps build their self-confidence, ” she said.
“We’re not meant to sit still all day. So getting up and doing something physical is important. Yoga involves concentration, but it’s also very calming and a good way to get kids out of their seats for awhile,” she said.
Since using the program in her classroom, Koster said parents have started using it at home as well. “I always get really positive feedback from the families,” said Koster. “Some of them use Sing Song Yoga at home now as a calming exercise before bed or sometimes when they (students) just have a stressful situation at home.”
Weiss-Gelmi came up with Sing Song Yoga as a way of using music, movement and fun together to naturally help students physically and emotionally. [The] Sing Song Yoga [app] offers the ability to create individualized yoga sequences or choose from one of the 39 preprogrammed sequences already in place. There are preprogrammed sequences designed specifically for brain breaks or test preps.
Koster said the beauty of the program is that anyone can do it and students may continue to find yoga a useful tool in their lives long after kindergarten.
Related Posts:
Yoga for Kids in School on Fox 17
Sing Song Yoga® founder and school teacher discuss some tools for using yoga in school as well as some benefits of it.
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.”
8 Kids Yoga Myths Some common misunderstandings about kids’ yoga. Explore other view points for a broader perspective.
Top 5 Kids’ Yoga Tips for Greater Flexibility A kids’ yoga question answered: “We want to know how we can stretch better! Any tips?”
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.
Crossing the Midline and Kids’ Yoga yoga for kids is one of the many activites that can provide cross-lateral experiences for children. If done regularly might assist in building the brain for…
Top 6 Yoga Poses for Toddlers “A few months ago a parent asked how she could best do yoga with her one-year-old daughter…”
Kids’ Yoga App – Create Your Own Balancing Sequence Effortlessly create a balancing sequence with a few taps of this kids’ yoga iOS app.
Top 5 Tips to Help Balance in Kids’ Yoga: Kid Twitter Question Answered A kid question answered: “Do you have any tips to help us balance better?”
Twitter Leads to Most Rewarding Visit Imaginable Sing Song Yoga founder does yoga with students she connected with on Twitter.
Kids Yoga App Series – #3. Restore Purchases –FAQs: How to easily restore in-app purchases in seconds with this simple illustration.
Kids Yoga App Series #4 Guidelines Video Our Sing Song Yoga Kids share their wisdom about doing yoga in this Guidelines Video.
Kids Yoga App Series #5 Time Management for Home & Classroom Super efficient time-management kids yoga app tools to get the most out of every second spent with our kids.
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 Tuesday, April 19th, 2016.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga, Yoga in Schools.
Tagged: childrens yoga, kids, kids yoga, kids yoga app, music and movement, sing song yoga, testimonial, yoga benefits, yoga for kids, yoga in schools, yoga in the classroom
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
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
Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga App – Dad Testimonial
Thank you Bill Badran for sharing your family’s experiences with the Sing Song Yoga kids’ yoga app! We really appreciate you taking the time!
Here’s what Bill has to say…
“I’m a proud parent of a six-year-old daughter who really loves Sing Song Yoga… She loves it. She is able to follow along with ease and she’s really focused with the song format to each move… Now she’s created her own profile and she’s organized it the way she wants it (the poses within the app)…We ended up getting her her own yoga mat and now my wife and daughter are doing yoga side by side…Even my two-year-old is following along… it’s great for all ages…” ~ Bill Badron
Thanks a million Bill!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 20th, 2013.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Parenting, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: app, boys, children, childrens yoga, chilren's app, christmas, dad, dvd, girls, ipad, iphone, ipod touch, kids, kids yoga app, loving guidance, sing song yoga, testimonial, yoga app
Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga App – Teacher Testimonial
Thank you Kathy for sharing your experiences with using the Sing Song Yoga Kids Yoga App with your students! We so appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to do so!
Click on the video below to hear what Kathy has to say about her experiences:
“I’m a reading specialist in an elementary school. I service developing readers grades K-5th. I started using the Sing Song Yoga app this year as a way to transition my students from their regular classroom into the more intense instruction that I give them. For the first few minutes of our thirty minutes together we [do one of the poses]. The students are completely relaxed and very quiet. Then we go into our instruction and I can tell as a result of the Sing Song Yoga that they are much focused and calm and centered. My students enjoy it so much that when we walk… to my classroom… they ask me… what pose are we going to do today? I highly recommend the Sing Song Yoga [Kids Yoga] App to any age elementary student”
Thanks again Kathy!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 19th, 2013.
Posted in Benefits of Yoga, Education, Sing Song Yoga.
Tagged: app, app store, boys, children, childrens yoga, christmas, dvd, gifts, girls, gratitude, health, ipad app, iphone app, ipod touch app, kids, kids app, kids christmas, physical activities for toddlers, physical education, sing song yoga, studies, teacher, testimonial, yoga, yoga app, yoga benefits, yoga for kids, yoga poses