Young Yoga Masters

Kids Yoga Teacher Training and Certification

You are here: Home / Archives for Business Development / Teacher Training

Teacher Training

Social Emotional Learning from Inside an Ashram

If you’ve read my bio, you saw that I once lived in an Ashram for six years. The Guru Ram Das Ashram in Toronto to be exact.  It had 16-18 seekers living in one very large house/yoga centre, with more seekers visiting for classes and events every day.

The Ashram was an environment where social and emotional learning opportunities were everywhere, some very beautiful and some not easy.

Living with that many people in a place of spiritual setting, you aspire to be kind and compassionate, but of course there are times when you fall short. Feelings get hurt, toes get stepped on.

After one particularly difficult interaction with another resident, I sought advice from a mentor and senior teacher about moving out and how nice it would be to have my own place. He told me this story:

“They say that if you want to cook your dinner faster, don’t put one potato in a pot to boil, put a bunch of potatoes in the pot. When the potatoes cook together they bump against each other, which helps to soften them up. They cook faster together.”

Then he went on to explain how people are encouraged to do spiritual work together.

Having a spiritual community is challenging but speeds your growth, much like the potatoes getting cooked faster.

How Can a Yogi Grow Spiritually?

It is easy to read spiritual principles and philosophy on your own, but the concepts are more deeply understood when they are put to the test with other people.

In an environment like the Ashram, we emotionally bumped against each other as we worked through our stuff.  However we were committed to, and supported by the yoga and meditation practices that brought us there.

Spiritual teachings enhanced our social and emotional growth.

AND social emotional learning catapulted our spiritual growth!

This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I'm 2nd from the right)
This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I’m 2nd from the right)

Does Social Emotional Learning Enhance Spiritual Growth?

So when I did my last business planning session, I looked long and hard at the direction for my business.  Everything seems to be going online, but was this the right focus for Young Yoga Masters training? Participants receive over 600 pages of printed manuals when they take the 95 Hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training with Young Yoga Masters. It would be possible to turn this material into online courses. Was this the right direction for the training right now?

After much thought, I chose to focus on building community through live training.  I want to pour my energy into powerful, community centered learning opportunities for kids yoga teachers.  I love being with aspiring teachers who care about Kids Yoga the way I do.  I like that we spend time together in a social environment that nurtures growth and community.

Social Emotional Learning 2.0

I feel my penchant for in-person training has helped me understand Social Emotional Learning (SEL) more deeply.

SEL is needed because as our time spent on screens goes up, our time spent in community goes down.

Social and Emotional Learning needs to happen in a social environment.  Live events, meeting cool people, getting challenged by others, puts you in the best position to grow.

Just like how in kids yoga, the games are as much social and emotional as they are physical.

Learning, live and in person, gives you a depth of training that printed and online training can’t match. You engage with mentors, you get exposed to various teaching methodologies, you get to ask questions, and you get asked questions.

During the practicum you interact socially and emotionally with actual children. You learn what works and what to do when things don’t go as planned.

You grow!

Social Emotional Learning with a Yoga Twist

And perhaps most important, in the case of our Kids Yoga Teacher Training, all of this is supported by the wisdom of yoga and meditation.

You learn about kids yoga and you learn about yourself as a social and emotional being.

You get professional growth and personal growth.

Training with others is a social and emotional learning experience that enhances your growth as a yogi.

I’m always super excited before a training weekend or 12 day intensive because it’s a return to the joy and the challenges I felt living in the ashram, the joy and challenges of spiritual community.

My aim is to  create this opportunity with each community that forms in our training.

There will be times when you are challenged because you have left your comfort zone. However, this challenge may give you the best opportunity for spiritual growth. This may be the fastest way to grow as a kids yoga teacher and a yogi.

Social and emotional learning is an essential part of every kids yoga teachers journey.

4 Keys to Teaching Literacy and Language with the Yoga Alphabet

Yog Literacy graphic Young Yoga MastersWhen I introduce the Frog Yoga Alphabet resources to participants Yoga Literacy Certificate of the kids yoga teacher training, I emphasize that the alphabet letters make words, words make sentences and sentences make stories. It’s good thing to remember because it reveals the importance of letter learning but also reminds us that the yoga alphabet can be used in so many more ways than just learning letters.

Since the Yoga Literacy Certificate is coming up this weekend, I decided to look into the latest research around teaching literacy. With that in mind here are some interesting findings which speak to the idea that letters make words and words make stories.   Here are 4 keys to teaching literacy to young learners:

1. A Letter a Day is Better than a Letter a Week

When introducing the alphabet, rather than presenting a letter a week, Ray Reutzel  in his paper Early Literacy Research: Findings Primary‐Grade Teachers Will Want to Know points out it is more effective to introduce a letter every day and then cycle through the alphabet after that. When cycling back, give more attention to more difficult letters:

…this protocol calls for teachers to introduce a new letter or set of letters each day in multiple cycles of repeated practice.  Over time, as the easier letters are mastered, teachers adjust the instruction through pacing and frequency of exposure. All letters are taught explicitly at least once. However, those letters that are harder for children to learn receive more attention and practice.

2. Six Ways Kids Learn Letters More Easily and Quickly

In the same paper above, Reutzel also identified six learning orders in which children learn the alphabet letters and sounds:

  1. Own-name effect – Young children most easily and quickly learn the letters found in their given or first names.
  2. Alphabetic-order effect– Letters at the beginning or end of the alphabet are learned more quickly and easily than those letters ordered in the middle of the alphabet
  3. Letter-frequency effect – The more frequently exposed letters are in printed materials, the more quickly and easily they are learned
  4. Letter-name pronunciation effect – Occurs when a letter’s sound is heard as the letter’s name is pronounced.
  5. Consonant phoneme acquisition order effect – That young children learn consonant letters’ names and sounds easier when they are mastered earlier in children’s oral language development
  6. Distinctive visual features letter-writing effect – The letters of the alphabet are recognized through detection of a smaller set of distinctive visual features. Teaching students to fluently produce this smaller set of distinctive visual features before teaching them how to write all of the alphabet letters has been found to lead to quicker mastery of letter transcription.

3. Self Regulation Helps Literacy

We know that one of the aims of yoga and meditation is improving self-regulation.  A recent study from Michigan State University found that literacy learning improves when combined with activities that improve self regulation. Lead researcher Lori Skibbe says :

Parents need to be aware of how their children can regulate their own behavior based on what’s going on around them. Parents can structure their home environment and routines in ways that support children,” Skibbe said. A full night of sleep, playing games with children and having time without distractions in the background are things you might not think help language and literacy development, but they do.”

4. Kindergarten Language Skills Are Good Predictors of Future Proficiency in Other Subjects

We know that teaching literacy is the foundation of building language skills in children but research from University of Washington found that a child’s language skills in kindergarten predict his or her performance in other areas, including math, reading and social and emotional learning later into their education. Amy Pace, an assistant professor in the UW Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and member of the team that conducting the study found:

Researchers found that of the skills and milestones evaluated – social/emotional, attention, health, reading, math and language – only language skills, when a child entered school, predicted his or her performance both within that subject area and most others (math, reading and social skills) from first through fifth grade. Reading ability in kindergarten predicted reading, math and language skills later on; and math proficiency correlated with math and reading performance over time.

Yoga Literacy Certificate

If you’re interested in yoga tools that help teach literacy and language to kids, the Yoga Literacy Certificate is for you. It includes a lot more than just teaching kids yoga how to use the letters of the alphabet. It also includes partner poses, games and activities for early readers to teens and we take a look at ways of doing yoga with kids while having fun and staying safe. Plus, participants of the kids yoga training learn effective relaxation techniques that help calm kids.

What Great Kids Yoga Plans Do You Have This Summer?

I’m away from home and I’ve been thinking about a family of swans I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago while I was out for a walk.

I just finished teaching a full week of the 95 hour kids yoga teacher certification in New Orleans and I’ve got one more week left. Then I’ll be back home preparing to deliver the 95 hour summer certification in Burlington, Ontario.

yoga swan building nest
Hard at work preparing family home!

Before I left for New Orleans I went for a walk along the lake shore of my hometown and to my utter delight, right smack in the middle of the marina along the pedestrian path, was a swan family building a giant nest!

Mama and Papa swan were hard at work piling branch upon branch making a home for three big eggs. The swans barely noticed us nosey human beings gathering around them (at a distance) pointing and giggling and taking photos. The majestic birds just focused on their nest building preparing to incubate their eggs and expand their family.

The swan is one of the most important symbolic creatures in all of yoga. It represents the breath and the connection of the finite to the Infinite. The symbolic swan can take us from our tiny individual self to our expansive higher Self.

In Sanskrit, a swan is called a hamsa and an accomplished yogi is called a paramahamsa (meaning transcendent swan). A yogi is one who gracefully glides across the ocean of life to liberation from time and space.

In other words, just like the swans I came across along the city lakeshore, being a yogic swan means living in the world with homes and traffic and humans side by side (all that stuff that can sometimes rub us the wrong way) while remaining cheerful and energized and focused on expanding ourselves.

yoga swan incubating eggs
The nest is built and the incubating has begun!

Since swans incubate their eggs for about forty days I’m hoping I’ll get to witness those swan eggs hatch into baby cygnets when I return to Canada to begin the kids yoga teacher training in Burlington. That would be a great summer treat!

That got me wondering, what yoga plans do you have hatching this summer?

If you’ve been incubating the idea of becoming a kids yoga teacher then the Burlington 95 hour, 12 day certification which starts July 23 is a great way to get certified within two weeks. You still have time to take advantage of the early registration discount. The early registration deadline is approaching fast on June 30, 2017.

If you’re already a kids yoga teacher then I’ve got some links below to some earlier posts with ideas for the summer.

I hope you hatch something wonderful this summer!

Avoid this Common Mistake with the Hoberman Sphere (Breathing Ball) in Kids Yoga

It’s said that a picture is worth a thousand words, in kids yoga you could say the same about a good prop.  A good prop becomes your classroom management as it silences conversations and draws kids into your circle. It’s the difference between asking kids to be quiet and quieting them without having to ask.

The breathing ball (also known as the Hoberman Sphere) is a favourite prop of many teachers. When introduced as a tool for calming and connecting to the breath, rather than just a nifty toy, the breathing ball captivates kids attention.

pictures of the Breathing ball, and expanding ball that is also known as a Hoberman sphere
The Breathing Ball, also known as a Hoberman Sphere

3 Breathing Ball Activities

Here are 3 ways to use the Breathing Ball:

  1. Demonstrate Lungs: explain how the lungs expand and contract with the inhale and exhale
  2. Self-Regulation: Leave the breathing ball in the quiet area of your class, on a child’s desk, or on a bedside table for children to use on their own. It’s an engaging tool for self-regulation once children know how to use it.
  3. Children Follow the Ball: The teacher opens and closes the ball, the class breathes to match the pace of the movement.
a kids yoga teacher demonstrates the breath by opening and closing a breathing ball.
Using the breathing ball for the whole class to see.

The Common Mistake

A common mistake teachers make happens in the 3rd activity above.  When you open and close the ball and ask children to breathe along with the movement, make sure you are breathing at a pace suited to the age and lung capacity of the group you’re teaching.

Kids won’t be able to follow a breathing ball that is opened and closed too slowly. It’s not physically possible for little lungs to keep up with adult lungs, especially the lungs of a yoga practitioner.

Consider these Ventilation/Respiration Rates for Children and Adults

Average resting respiratory rates by age are cited on Wikipedia:

  • birth to 6 weeks: 30–40 breaths per minute
  • 6 months: 25–40 breaths per minute
  • 3 years: 20–30 breaths per minute
  • 6 years: 18–25 breaths per minute
  • 10 years: 17–23 breaths per minute
  • Adults: 12-18-breaths per minute
  • Elderly ≥ 65 years old: 12-28 breaths per minute.
  • Elderly ≥ 80 years old: 10-30 breaths per minute.

Children breath faster because their lungs are smaller.

The Breathing Ball is a great attention getter, but you risk creating frustration in children if you don’t choose an age appropriate pace.

children use a breathing ball, opening and closing it wiht their breath to demonstrate the pace of their breathing.
Children set the pace with the Breathing Ball in a Yoga Class

4th Breathing Ball Activity – Ball follows Child’s Breath:

  1. Breathing Ball Follows the Child’s Breath: Instead of starting with #3, try this activity.  Invite a child to sit with you and take a few deep breaths moving their arms and emphasizing their breath. Then the teacher opens and closes the breathing ball to follow the breath of the student, instead of the child following the breathing ball.  When you follow the breath for a few cycles, it can start to change on its own.  Try this exercise for a minute with different children and kids soon see the different breathing rates and how awareness can change the breath.

The breathing ball is a favourite yoga prop for many.  When you learn the various ways to use the Breathing Ball, it becomes imbued with the power to bring calm and peace. And laughter too since kids will find silly ways to use the breathing ball on their own!

3 kids put the breathing ball over their heads and look at ehe camera laughing
Of course, kids will also find new ways to use the breathing ball.

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Each person registered in the Themes and Dreams Kids Yoga Teacher Training Module receives a Breathing Ball and more Breathing Ball activities too!

Kids Yoga Teacher Training and Certification with Young Yoga Masters
Find out about becoming a Certified Kids Yoga Teacher – click the image above

Levels of Certification for Kids Yoga Teachers – Who Gets What?

levels of cert

With news of the ongoing advocacy work of Yoga Alliance to prevent Yoga Teaching from becoming legislated, it is not unreasonable to feel a little confused about what is actually required to teach yoga. At this year’s Yoga Show and Conference in Toronto, the most common question we were asked was: “What training do I need to become a Kids Yoga Teacher?”

Here’s the short answer: yoga training standards are not required or enforced.

A big part of this is thanks to Yoga Alliance’s work to demonstrate that yoga teachers are self-regulated with industry standards. Typically, reputable kids’ yoga instructors will work towards completing the industry standards. However, there are valuable milestones that can be achieved on the way to full certification:

Weekend or Workshop Certificate

Most Kids Yoga Teacher Training gives a certificate of completion at the end of a course, regardless of the length of the training. Young Yoga Masters provides a certificate after each completed 16 hour module, so you can start teaching right away.

Who typically gets this level of Certification?

  • Those already working with children in a school, daycare, or camp typically take a weekend certification course and use the training immediately with the kids they are already teaching.
  • Those who want to test the waters and see if teaching kids’ yoga is right for them.
  • Those on their way to becoming a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher who have chosen a training with a Yoga Alliance registered school

95-Hour Certificate

Yoga Alliance set 95 hours of specialty training in kids’ yoga as the standard for a Registered Children’s Yoga School (RCYS). A RCYS must follow specific training requirements and provide training in various categories to create a well-rounded training. Young Yoga Masters is a Yoga Alliance registered children’s yoga school.

Who typically gets this level of Certification?

  • Those only interested in teaching children, not adults.
  • Those who need insurance for their yoga business (insurance companies usually require more than a weekend of training)
  • Those who need more practical experience teaching kids to feel confident
  • Those teaching yoga to children who want more ideas and more variety to keep kids engaged
  • Those on their way to becoming a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher who have chosen a training with a Yoga Alliance registered school

Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT)

Yoga Alliance’s standard for Registered Children’s Yoga Teachers is:

  • 200 hours Adult Yoga Teacher Training plus
  • 95 Hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training followed by 30 hours of practical experience teaching children.

Who typically gets this level of Certification?

  • Those who want full qualifications to teach yoga to children, qualifications that meet the Yoga Industry standards
  • Those who want to strengthen their yoga teaching foundation beyond the playful approach of kids yoga to areas like alignment and sequencing
  • Those who one day want to be Children’s Yoga Teacher Trainers
Infographic describing different levels of certification
Infographic outlining different levels of certification

So What Training is Right for YOU?

Take a minute to consider where you fit into the information above.

All Yoga teacher training is incredibly valuable, exploring many topics and teaching habits yogis may have not considered or come across in their own practice.

In-depth training explores best pedagogical practice and ethical concerns you should be aware of. For example:

  • It is crucial as an instructor to understand ways of determining when and how to physically assist students and when verbal cues may be more comfortable and appropriate.
  • How will you ask for consent to adjust your students?
  • How can poses be adjusted for those with different abilities?

Expanding Your Network and Building Community

An added benefit of participating in lengthy training with other like-minded individuals translates to an easy entry to the yogic community, or expansion of your existing network. Though this is not a requirement, it is certainly a benefit to training participation.

Your network can be a great resource long after training is complete, whether it be for personal support, finding a sub, hearing about new classes, or professional development.

Training can be a time of tremendous personal growth as well.

In the end the best practices lean towards choosing training registered with Yoga Alliance that will count towards your 95-hour certificate.

There was a time when Yoga Alliance was not responsive to the needs of Yoga Teachers, but that time passed when Yoga Alliance began to advocate on behalf of teachers at the policy level. We are happy to have Registered Adult and Children’s Yoga Schools.

These are just a few of many important questions to consider before taking the lead in a yoga class.

Whether you get a weekend training or full certification will be your choice in the end, and you’ll consider what you are getting and what you won’t get with the training you choose.

What factors are important to you in choosing a Yoga Teacher Training? How will you decide?

When Questions Backfire and Kids Yoga Teachers Mature

Teaching Yoga in the Practicum of the New Orleans Kids Yoga Teacher Certification
Teaching Yoga in the Practicum of the New Orleans Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

If you teach kids yoga you’re bound to have a few awkward moments, it goes with the territory. They sometimes happen when you try to engage kids with questions.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Tips

It’s not unusual to use questions while teaching. The right question at the right time is engaging because kids love to show you what they know. It’s a common kids yoga teacher training tip to mix new ideas with comfortable concepts.

I remember two instances this summer, during our Kids Yoga Teacher Certification, when questions kind of backfired with similar surprising results.

Teaching Anatomy in the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification in New Orleans
Teaching Anatomy in the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification in New Orleans

The first was with a group of young kids in our Anatomy Camp practicum. The student teachers had created wonderful interactive activities to teach the muscles, bones, and organs. It was all going smoothly when one teacher’s planned question began to backfire.

Can you handle a Backfire?

All the kids were sitting crossed legged on the floor giving their full attention to her and her fun props and the unusual voice she was using as she introduced the brain. She followed her lesson plan till she got to the question, how much does the brain weigh?

Now, we had expected children between 5 years and 12 years in the class, but it turned out  those who showed up were mostly 5 years old.

So when the teacher asked her question, I witnessed a tiny wave of concern spread on her face as she realized the kids had no idea of the correct answer.

That kind of question, where the kids are supposed to read the teachers mind, often flop when it comes to getting kids engaged.

Luckily, at five years old, you understood that you are being asked to give a number, so the little ones starting answering. One thousand, five hundred and forty eight, twenty six, it was a fun game even though no one had a clue if their guess was right. No one cared.

The fun was in the guessing, not in answering the question correctly.

Even though the question backfired by not producing the expected result of a correct answer, the kids remained engaged. A big reason was because of the encouraging energy the teacher maintained throughout, a sign of a mature kids yoga teacher. The kids never really knew there was a problem, and after all the numbers, the class moved on as planned.

Questions for Reflection in Kids Yoga

The second time the question kind of backfired happened to me. It was the end a series of six yoga classes in our Certification in Canada. I wanted the new teachers to hear the kids reflect on the six classes we spent with them so I asked how they were feeling at the end of this series.

Warrior Pose Kids Yoga Teacher Certification Toronto Ontario Canada
Warrior Pose – Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

The first child answered, “I loved the class, I’d give it an 11 out of 10!”

What a great response! Then hands shot up and the next child explained they also loved it and gave it 100 out of 10. Wow!

Then the refrain continued until I caught on:

  • I give yoga 1000 out of one.
  • I give yoga a million out of zero.
  • The next child gave yoga a googol out of 10,  explaining a googol is 10 to the 100th power (which is 1 followed by 100 zeros).

There were still a dozen hands in the air waiting to join the game.

I asked, “Who has an answer that isn’t a number?” Eleven hands were gone as quickly as their smiles. A couple kids expressed how good, relaxed, and peaceful they felt.

Smiling, I asked, “Who else wants to say a number.” With a cheer, eleven hands shot back up and happily took turns saying numbers again.

What does it all mean?

Maybe there is a scientist out there who can explain what is going on, but for a kid’s yoga teacher, questions that backfire become lessons in spontaneity. They teach you the joy kids feel playing, especially play without wrong answers.

Group Crescent Moon Pose in Kids Yoga Teacher Certification TorontoFor kids yoga teachers like our graduates this summer, a lot of time goes into developing your teaching skill set. There is a learning curve.

In return for your hard work, you get to experience lessons that cannot be learned with adults.

As my meditation teacher would say, every question contains a quest. Asking children questions, you never know exactly where the quest will lead, but a mature teacher does know there will be playfulness, letting go of outcomes, and joy in the moment.

Aruna
YoungYogaMasters.com

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

Come experience what yoga is like with real children in every Kids Yoga Teacher Modulde.  The next one starts soon in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

See the details of the upcoming courses here:

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School
Click this image for for full details of Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

Young Yoga Masters is a Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School offering Training in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and more.