4. An interesting thing about left-eye dominant people is
that their eye tracks opposite from how English is
written. They could have learnt to read Japanese or
Hebrew with greater ease than English.
When left-eye dominant children learn to read, they
see every letter backward and their brain has to learn
how to turn the letter, turn the letter, turn the letter so
they can read the word.
Left-eye dominant readers of languages like English
have to practice more to become fluent, fast readers.
Neuro-Nastics: Eye
Dominance
5. Neuro-Nastics: Eye
Dominance about left-eye dominant people is
An interesting thing
that their eye tracks opposite from how English is
written. They could have learnt to read Japanese or
Hebrew with greater ease than English.
When left-eye dominant children learn to read, they
see every letter backward and their brain has to learn
how to turn the letter, turn the letter, turn the letter so
they can read the word.
Left-eye dominant readers of languages like English
have to practice more to become fluent, fast readers.
Editor's Notes
LaunchPad: Zoom! (PPT Slide 1)2 minutesWelcome participants to their LaunchPad: Zoom! workshop.Introduce yourself – include any relevant sport/physical activity experience, teaching/coaching experience and association with Gymnastics Australia. [Remember the essence and values of LaunchPad when you are presenting – we want our coaches to feel invigorated and excited about LaunchPad!]GA appreciates honest participant feedback to refine content and delivery of coach workshops in order to provide beneficial learning opportunities to coaches.
Neuro-Nastics: The Brain (PPT Slide 5)SAY: “What makes us move is also what makes us think.” Ratey, 2008 Ask participants to discuss this quote from Dr. John Ratey. Questions to stimulate discussion might include: Do you agree/disagree with this statement? Why/Why not? How might this statement be reflected in a fundamental gymnastics session? Elicit from participants that the brain plays an essential role in human movement. ASK: Ask participants to make a model of their brain by putting two fists together to form the two brain hemispheres. This is a fairly accurate model of the size of their actual brain – observe their reaction (they may look at their neighbour and compare!).Using the picture on PPT Slide 4, show Participants where the corpus callosum and motor cortex are. The corpus callosum connects the two brain hemispheres from left to right and the motor cortex dissects the brain from front to back. These important parts of the brain transmit information to relevant areas of the brain as electrochemical impulses via neurons.The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons that transmit information in the form of electrochemical impulses. Neural pathways can be strengthened through practice/repetition (in the form of myelin – an electrical insulator that develops around the neuron’s axon), discarded if not used (neural pruning) or created when new activities are tried and developed (neurogenesis).Information travels from back to front (across the motor cortex), side to side (across the corpus callosum) and up and down. Three basic human movements replicate how information travels around the brain – walking, rolling and jumping. ACTIVITY: The following ‘brain challenges’ are designed to use neural pathways that are either yet to be created or are undeveloped. This will help participants to develop empathy for the young people they coach as this is often the kind of feelings they will experience when they are learning an activity for the first time.One Finger, One ThumbAsk participants to face a partner. Each partner points their right index finger at their partner and makes a ‘thumbs up’ gesture with their left hand. On the count of three, they swap. Count to three and swap again.Nose and EarHold your nose with one hand and reach over your arm to hold your ear with the other hand. Switch and switch again.Writing in CirclesWrite your signature on an imaginary piece of paper with your dominant hand (you should be fairly good at doing this!). Once you have done this a couple of times, draw a circle with the big toe of your opposite foot while you write your signature.The brain thrives on challenge and these activities challenge the body and the mind to work together, using both sides of the body and both sides of the brain – stimulating neural pathways and engaging the brain.
Neuro-Nastics: Brain Benefits (PPT Slide 6) SAY: In this module, we are going to explore the relationship between increasing learning potential through brain development and fundamental movement. Encourage participants to take notes on their handout if they wish. BalanceKey Points: An awareness of where their body and limbs are in space encourages children to develop both their static and dynamic balanceDynamic balance keeps children on their feet when running, skipping, hopping or moving in general whereas static balance refers to the balance required to maintain a stationary positionEquilibrium settles the mind and through the vestibular system, prepares it to focus, maintain attention and begin the process of taking in new information.RhythmKey Points: Our bodies perform rhythmical activities every day without us having to consciously think about itThe brain is especially sensitive to rhythm and has the ability regulate the body’s internal rhythm – heartbeat, breathing, blinkingRhythm is also found in all languages through pace, pitch and toneReading and speaking require development of these core components which can be achieved in an enjoyable way through activities involving music and movementRhythm can easily be used as a teaching tool to cover other curriculum areas such as numeracy (counting beats, working with multiples, etc.) and, of course, music Vestibular StimulationKey Points: Regulates our equilibrium and our sensation of movement through information sent to the brain from the eyes, muscles and joints Vital component of the brain’s ability to maintain alertnessStimulating the vestibular system helps to wake the brain and prepare it for new informationVestibular stimulation can happen by taking the body off-balance and back again – e.g.; rolling and rotatingThe vestibular system sends messages to the brain; helping us to be aware of where our body and limbs are in spaceSpatial awareness relates to the ability to locate and place letters, numbers and symbols on a page Visual TrackingKey Points: The muscles that control our eyes need to be exercised and developed just like any other muscle in the bodyOcular lock (eye muscles becoming locked only focusing the eye in one place) is becoming more and more prevalentMoving the eyes is paramount to success in activities such as reading and writing where children must scan across a page, crossing the midline of their body with their eyesight and focus Fine Motor Skill DevelopmentKey Points: Involve the small muscles of the hands and fingers, feet and toes as well as the faceGenerally develop after gross motor skills (large muscles), moving from body parts closest to the trunk down to the extremities Crossing the MidlineKey Points:The left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versaThe corpus callosum is a bundle of neural pathways that are formed and strengthened as the body movesEach time the limbs on either side of the body cross the midline; the neural pathways in the corpus callosum are stimulated and strengthened.Core StrengthKey Points: Without good core strength, posture is compromised and children will become tired and restless much more quickly as their weak abdominal muscles work as hard as they can to keep the child upright
Neuro-Nastics: Eye Dominance (PPT Slide 7)Give participants time to read the slide (from the bottom right). Ask if anyone found it difficult to read? Or easy to read?Assess eye dominance
