It has long been the norm in education that some degree of stress or suffering is necessary for long term learning.
In fact the science says the opposite.
Stress and suffering create the stress hormone cortisol, a neuro-toxin which cuts the connection between the instinctive part of the brain and the reasoning part of the brain. More over neruo-trophic factor - the upping of the IQ - happens most effectively when the body is in movement while problem solving.
And the most recent studies show that if you add fun and joy to this process you magnify the neuro-trophic factor significantly and the information stays in the brain.
Anything learned under stress is quickly forgotten.
Anything learned in movement and joy - if you disguise learning at play - leads to long-term learning and the ability to take in ever more complex information.
Our mentors in this include neuro-scientists at the University of California, physicists and mathematicians at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, and Frankfurt, as well as autists and brain experts such as Dr. Temple Grandin from Colorado State University.
In fact, our entire journey into the field of movement and learning began when we followed the advice of Dr. Temple Grandin in how to educate young autists. She said: follow the child - physically, emotionally and intellectually; do it outside in nature as much as possible (and nature can be a backyard or outdoor area of a school); and let the children move, move, move, because most people learn best kinetically.
The initial results were so spectacular, that we began to consult with neuro-scientists and other experts as to why and from their explanations and the studies they pointed us to, Movement Method was born.
Put simply, it works! Because this is how the brain actually prefers to learn.
The good news is that it can be implemented very easily in every day environments such as schools, the home, therapists offices and so on with very minimal investment.
Once you know the basic neuro-science it becomes very easy to adapt pretty much any situation and the more you do it the better at it you get, whether it's teaching the most basic concepts/skills or the most complex.
What's more, as you practice it your own IQ goes up, because by learning Movement Method and applying it, neuro-trophic factor kicks in for you as well those you are trying to teach.