Today's, stressful, and chaotic for children. The value of quiet reflective time in which children can calm their inner selves, reduce stress, integrate their experiences and start their school learning with an ideal "mental palate" is now being explored. Music and body exercises (stretching, yoga, Tai Chi) are being used to bring children, through their different senses, to a state of mind where they can be in touch with more of themselves. "Quiet Time" can be defined as a time when children can approach their inner selves through guided imagery, meditation, and reflective reading and writing.
So many of our children in New Haven, Connecticut come to school with extensive external stresses and traumas. Activating their brains and inner motivation, so that they can receive the most from learning experiences, is very difficult. The Rationale section for this unit will start with a brief survey of the research that has been done on the negative elements in the environment of some of our most "at risk" children and how these elements affect the children's intelligence, testing, and school performance. A short overview of current research on intelligence will follow. Aspects of newer thinking concerning intelligence will be discussed, especially Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Model and Sternberg's Triarchic Intelligence Model. New Western models of intelligence will be compared with Eastern models of the mind, and how these two models together might lead to a broader understanding of how a child develops will be explored. If these two models are connected and used to help students access their "inner selves," we might create a better environment for all kinds of learning. For example, enhancing Gardner's intra-personal intelligence in children through "Quiet Time" techniques, and reading and writing extension activities, might give children a better internal environment for learning in more traditional arenas such as reading, decoding, and comprehension. Finally, the current research on how meditation affects brain integration and function will be discussed.
Current model programs in schools that employ inner disciplines, such as meditation, music, guided imagery, yoga, and reflective reading and writing, will be explored. These models have been used successfully and their effect on learning and intelligence is promising. Several different pilot projects in private and public schools will be discussed.
The concrete Curriculum Unit Plan will involve formulating a developmentally appropriate practice that can be taught with K-12 students and used in public schools, specifically a 4/5-grade curriculum. This unit can be used and modified according to the developmental needs of each child. The unit will be based on a combination of different methods and techniques, with an emphasis on the groundbreaking work of the Progressive School of Long Island, a private school in New York. Their approach will be modified to make it appropriate for a public school setting. The unit can be piloted with a small, diverse group of students; or a grade level, and expanded later. This unit will include character building, literature-based activities, high order thinking activities, and subtle aesthetic comprehensive arts activities.