TIME SAVING TIPSDuring your S.M.A.R.T. training, you learned all about the development of the visual system and the crucial role eye movements play in academic success. Developing strong saccadic eye movements, the quick, simultaneous movements of both eyes, is essential for effective reading and academic success. These eye movements allow students to efficiently scan lines of text, move smoothly from word to word, and shift focus between different parts of a page without losing their place. Poor saccadic control can result in skipped words, line repetition, or slow reading speed, which can hinder comprehension and make learning more difficult. Strengthening these visual tracking skills supports better reading fluency, focus, and overall performance in the classroom. A great resource from a vision-centered program, Eye Can Learn, provides educators with this helpful download.
0 Comments
The end of the year is approaching. Motivation can be waning and enthusiasm for S.M.A.R.T. may be low. Perhaps it is time to schedule the S.M.A.R.T. Olympics!  Just as athletes have to practice and prepare for their events, your S.M.A.R.T. students can gain some excitement for S.M.A.R.T. by viewing it as practice for a classroom competition.
Need some ideas of how to create a S.M.A.R.T. Olympics in your classroom or gym? We love to continue learning. The more we learn, the more we have to share! We are thrilled to share a helpful interview from Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, a pediatrician with a special interest in reading. Please enjoy the following article and interview.
This Doctor Has a Prescription for Creating Lifelong Readers A brief blurb from the article sets up the content that we are sure you won’t be disappointed listening to… “Watch my interview with Dr. Navsaria, or read the highlights below, to learn how shared reading contributes to kids’ flourishing—and why read-aloud time is valuable even when it’s squirmy, messy, and short. Plus, you’ll discover how to make the most of pediatrician’s visits and how to refer your child for early-intervention services if you think their development is lagging.” The end of year finds us yearning to be outdoors more. Don’t forget the power of taking S.M.A.R.T. outside! Your S.M.A.R.T. manuals from training contain a whole section of class where we talked about how to do many S.M.A.R.T. core activities out on your playground. You will find it in the section ‘S.M.A.R.T. Activities’ from day 2. One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher Jessica applied the principles behind the S.M.A.R.T. activities and drew a “Final Countdown” space inspired chalk sensory path for her school in Minneapolis the last few weeks of school that gave every student an opportunity at recess to have some sensory input while feeling like it was good old fashioned fun in the sun.
If you want to see some incredible smiles, hear tons of laughs, and watch kids have a blast doing S.M.A.R.T., grab a friend or two, several sets of sidewalk chalk, and get creative!!!
s.m.a.r.t. spaces
Build better brains while playing in the park! Parks offer a wide range of opportunities that stimulate our sensory systems and encourage gross motor movements. Here are some playground activities that the brain loves:
These sensations help both systems mature and build our body awareness. Body awareness is the ability to understand where we are in space and how to move about through it. Having a good understanding of body awareness will help your child be able to sit comfortably while learning, stay focused on the lesson, and move about in a more coordinated way. PS: They are gaining the ability to sit still during dinner too!  Slides! Slides give us great sensory input in the form of vestibular stimulation too. When we slide down, we feel that sense of acceleration. This fast sensation promotes the maturity of the vestibular system, allowing us to have a greater sense of control of our body.
This grip builds the foundation for holding a pencil properly, which means moving across the monkey bars is helping your child with writing skills!
So the next time you find yourself playing in the park with your children, know that you are making your child a S.M.A.R.T. child! Want more information? Check out the article "M is for Monkey Bars" written by child development expert Gill Connell.
Have you incorporated a theme into S.M.A.R.T. yet this year? Themes do not have to take a lot of prep! Keep it CORE and choose just a few activities to add in a thematic component. Let’s do one together as an example. If you are using the PreK CORE guide, open up to page 110-111. Here is the Bugs, Bugs, Bugs theme. This will be a fun one for the students this time of year. Let’s say we choose a Slap Track suggestion, a Pencil Roll idea, and a Tactile Tracker. For the Slap Track, I am going to download these faded flower print cards (spring_flowers_creep_track_cards) to add a little variety and write some rhyming words on them. We have been working on long vowels so I am going to write the words bee, tree, see on them in an ABC pattern.
Next, I am going to add a bunch of paper worms to the Pencil Roll area for them to roll over. Here is a download you can use to save some time (worms.pdf). I am going to distribute them at a morning work station and have my student cut them out. Fine motor practice meets prep time!
Finally, I like the idea of the bees flying to the hive for a fun Tactile Trackers. Head over to the Time Saving Tips section of this newsletter to download a copy of this Tactile Tracker! Reference: When were you trained in S.M.A.R.T.? How is your S.M.A.R.T. journey going? We often encounter teachers, specialists, and therapists who sign up to attend the S.M.A.R.T. workshop for a second time. Their response is always the same…”I am SO GLAD I came again. I learned so much more with having some S.M.A.R.T. implementation under my belt.” At our last training, we met Kendy. Kendy is a seasoned kindergarten teacher who attended a workshop six years ago. Not only did she share valuable insights and creative ideas with her fellow colleagues during the training, she repeatedly shared how grateful she was to have gotten a chance to come a second time. When asked what made her want to attend the training again, Kendy replied:
The power in knowing the WHY behind what we are doing with the children we work with everyday causes us to be more intentional, more consistent, and more purposeful in our approach. Kendy also shared what stood out to her the most this second time around: “Understanding the activity and knowing how I used it in my classroom allowed me to listen more intently to how this affects the brain, the whole body, and how students can go back and fill in what is needed for higher level learning. Re-understanding how to look at the students in your class through a different mindset and lens. Opening my eyes as a grandparent and understanding how my own body needs movement in different ways as I grow older and smarter.” Come train with us! Reignite your passion for the program by joining an upcoming workshop—refresh your skills, gain new insights, and continue making a meaningful impact on your students' success! 
During a recent S.M.A.R.T. workshop, a group of teachers shared that tracking S.M.A.R.T. can be challenging as it is one of a hundred things they must manage each day in a classroom. We hear you!
Day 3 of the workshop is all about implementation and setting up a movement environment. When this challenge was presented, we thought of a resource that might help. When we shared it with the group, the consensus was that having a student track activities on a chart like this would be a great visual to make sure S.M.A.R.T. was happening in an intentional way every day.
We would like to share this resource with you! Download either of these versions to track your S.M.A.R.T. activities weekly:
We are so grateful when educators and professionals in a child-centered field ask for specific tools to help with S.M.A.R.T. implementation. If there is a resource you would love to have, please email us at [email protected] We would be happy to do what we can to keep your program thriving! |
AuthorSCheryl Smythe Archives
May 2025
|
RSS Feed