Blog

Wiggling on the Floor

   Young students have been known to interrupt their lessons with a sudden drop to the floor for a wiggle fest. Parents and teachers react quickly asking the student to get up and for goodness sake behave! Of course the wiggle on the floor is more desirable to the student and we now have a “situation” to deal with in the lesson.

     My son had sensory integration issues and we began seeing a Brain Gym instructor to help him out. While I was observing the lesson my son dropped to the floor for a giant wiggle fest. Quickly I changed my role from the observant fly on the wall to the Mom reprimanding her son. However, the Brain Gym instructor informed me that the wiggle fest on the floor is a child’s way of integrating what they just learned. She explained that feeling their bodies against the floor is part of how their brain processes information.

     Nowadays when a student has a wiggle fest I just go with the flow. Learning the necessary coordination to play the violin is amazingly complicated. Having a student integrate what they’ve learned is a cause for celebration! However what I do is inform the student they get to have a 30 second wiggle so we can get back to the lesson and it seems to be plenty of time. I’ve even assigned 30 second wiggles as part of practicing!

     Sometimes a small piece of information can really make a difference! While kids are “getting their wiggles out” adults can smile knowing that information is sinking in!

My Tutorials | My Recital | Blog

Free Downloads | Q & A | My Violin Tutor | Fingerboard Workbook