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  • About
    • Mission
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    • Bob's Legacy Fund
  • Programs & Services
    • Clinical Services >
      • Client Forms
      • Vision Services >
        • OptomEYES Vision Therapy
      • Occupational Therapy
      • Speech Therapy
      • Neuro Integrative Clinic >
        • Treatment Models
        • NI Clinic Pricing
      • Audiology Services >
        • Auditory Processing
        • Workshops
        • Auditory Interventions >
          • JIAS
          • CAPDOTS
          • Acoustic Pioneer
      • Insurance Payers
      • Teletherapy Services
    • Brain Training >
      • Neurofeedback >
        • Neurofeedback Rentals
        • Advanced-Brain Intensives
        • Brain Spa
      • Audio-Visual Entrainment >
        • Advanced-Brain Wellness Program
        • AVE Store
      • Brain-Training Workshop Series
    • Home-Based / PCA's >
      • Get Started / Qualify
      • Waiver Services
      • Intake Form
      • Become a PCA
    • MLRC / S.M.A.R.T. >
      • S.M.A.R.T. Program >
        • How S.M.A.R.T. Works
        • S.M.A.R.T. at My School
        • S.M.A.R.T. Mentoring
        • S.M.A.R.T. Steps
        • Research & Resources
      • Workshops >
        • S.M.A.R.T. Elementary
        • S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K
        • Bridging The Gap
        • Auditory Processing Workshops
        • Hosting a Workshop
        • CEU & Credits
        • Registration Policy
      • S.M.A.R.T. Supplies >
        • Downloads
    • School Services >
      • Third-Party Billing
      • Vision & Hearing Screenings
    • Turnquist Childcare >
      • Curriculum & Assessment
      • Teen Parent Program
      • Enrollment Forms
    • Summer Programs >
      • Neuro Integrative Intensives
      • Advanced-Brain Summer Intensives
  • Parents
    • Helpful Resources
    • Testimonials
    • Share Your Story
  • Events
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Time Saving Tips - Nov. '21

10/28/2021

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Now that your students have been doing Alligator Crawl for a few weeks, teach your students to stay low and go. By teaching them to stay low, it will encourage them to keep their chest and chin down and it will help them to stay off of their elbows. 

We encourage the students to stay low because as they are Alligator Crawling, their body is getting lots of heavy proprioceptive and tactile input to the whole front of their body. ​
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The Proprioceptive System helps to understand where the body is in space, how much force is needed and how to time movements. That means, it’s the body’s ability to maintain just enough muscle contraction to remain seated in a chair. As children are developing this important system, they may have difficulty with motor planning, motor control, postural instability and grading movement.
  • Motor planning is figuring out what part of the body needs to move in a a certain way to complete a task.
  • Motor control is knowing what to do, but not knowing how to make the body do it.
  • Postural instability is having enough muscles contraction to maintain a posture.
  • Grading of movement is knowing how much force is needed to complete a task.
Place this visual at the beginning of Alligator Crawl to remind your students to stay low and GO!

​Download: TST Alligator

Resources:
  • Pre-K CORE Guide: pgs 47-49
  • Curriculum Guide: pg 66
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One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher - Nov. '21

10/27/2021

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Michelle from LaCrosse encourages her students to stay low and GO by having her students Alligator Crawl under a low table. By placing something over the Alligator Crawl, Michelle’s students have to keep their chest and chin down.
If you don’t have a table, use cones with pool noodles or yardsticks.
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S.M.A.R.T. at Home - Nov. '21

10/27/2021

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Spending time Belly Crawling (or Alligator Crawling) helps develop many skills used at home and at school.

These are just a few of the benefits of Belly Crawling. 
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S.M.A.R.T. Spaces - Nov. '21

10/27/2021

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When changing up your S.M.A.R.T. course, put in 2 places to Alligator Crawl (& Creep!). Notice how this school put in 2 places to Alligator Crawl on rainbow mats.
​Alligator Crawling helps develop the tactile system by providing tactile input to the whole front of the body and the undersides of the arms. The tactile system receives information about the world. For example, it tells us when we are in contact with danger, it allows us to know when, where and what is touching us and it also measures temperature, pressure and vibration. When we are able to processes tactile information effectively, it allows us to feel safe and to bond with those who love us.
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S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - Oct. 2021 S.M.A.R.T. Spaces

10/4/2021

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Now that your S.M.A.R.T. course has been in action for a few weeks, you may have noticed a backup or two. One simple way to fix the backup is to add a return activity. We think that once your students are down for an activity, keep them on the floor for the next activity.

When using a stations approach, have a return activity at each station. For example, at your station with the Creep Track, put down another Creep Track so they are creeping the whole duration of time. Or mix it up by combining Creep Track with Alligator Crawl or Pencil Roll. 

​When using a continuous loop approach you won't have a return activity, but you can still keep your students on the floor by having a Creep Track followed by Pencil Roll and then Alligator Crawl.
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S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - Oct. 2021 Time Saving Tips

10/4/2021

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Every so often as you are scrolling through items on Teachers Pay Teachers, you find a gem. Recently, we found simple Creep Track cards in Mrs. Russell's Bright Learners store! Her monthly themed cards are easy to download and a brilliant way to change the decorations in your room if you are running short on time. We love her bright fall themed October bundle with letters and numbers! AND they double as flashcards to use during centers.
​

​When using a Creep Track, we are helping our students develop their Gross Motor and Bilateral Coordination skills because they are using both sides of their body at the same time. This increases the dendrite connections between the Left and Right Hemispheres of the brain. These connections help when we are reading, writing and doing math. See One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher for more information on how Creeping helps develop the vision system.
 
Check out Mrs Russells Bright Learners Teachers Pay Teachers store to find her Creep Track All Year Bundle.
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S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - Oct. 2021 S.M.A.R.T. at Home

10/4/2021

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Crawling on Hands and Knees (also known as Creeping) provides the important foundation for many skills:
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  These are just a few of the many skills Crawling on Hands and Knees develops.

Looking for ways to have your child crawl on their hands and knees at home? Here are some ideas:
  • while playing
  • under furniture, like a table
  • through boxes
  • over pillows
  • into a fort
  • while playing hide and seek
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S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - Oct. 2021 One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher

10/4/2021

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Mrs. Russell is our October One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher! When you visit her Teachers Pay Teachers store, notice how she starts the year with simple Creep Track cards and as the year goes, she increases the complexity, but continues to make sure they are review material. Her beginning of the year bundle has simple shapes, colors and letters.
While the Creep Track helps develop Gross Motor and Bilateral Coordination skills (see our Time Saving Tips for more information), it’s also a Vision Activity. When students watch their hands or look at the pictures or words in the Creep Track, they are working on saccadic eye movements - the precise jumps the eyes make as they move from one item to the next. We use this Learning Readiness Skill when we get to the end of a line of text while reading and our eyes jump to the next line, so we can continue. This activity also helps students connect their motor and vision systems.
 
By keeping the Creep Track cards review material, Mrs. Russell’s students don’t have to use their cortex to decode the information, but are able to stimulate their brainstem, making their saccadic eye movements instant and automatic.
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    AuthorS

    Cheryl Smythe
    Director of Education Services at ACTG
    csmythe@actg.org

    Katie Hansen
    S.M.A.R.T. Mentor / SLP

    katie.hansen@actg.org


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Our Mission is to promote the maximum development of the whole child and adult through innovative, individualized and comprehensive brain-centered programs and services.
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