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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!

Yoga Helps Kids Become Better Athletes

The Last Kids Yoga Class of the School Year

Last week my kids yoga classes ended for the school year where I teach preschoolers.  We had a yoga party with lots of music and games.  One of my goals  was to help the children understand just how much they know about yoga.  I wanted them to feel Yoga Literate.

We stood in a big circle and the kids chose a favorite poses. Each child was doing a different one, some thought of the poses themselves and some took the suggestions from others.

During the relaxation I asked each child to imagine teaching yoga to someone this summer.

The class ended with hugs and they told me who they were going to teach, mostly parents and grandma or grandpa, or a stuffed animal or real pet.  Can’t you just picture a 4 year old showing their dog how to do the downward dog!

The value of Physical Literacy is something I wrote about in my last post.  Physical literacy in having the confidence and competence to move in a variety of poses and environments. Our last class was a demonstration of the children’s Yoga Literacy.

Foundation Movements of Sports and of Yoga

The basic movements for most sports include throwing, kicking, lunging, squatting, jumping, agility, balance, and coordination. Don’t these sound like Yoga moves to you?

Yoga classes with stories and games, balancing, lunging, squatting and core strength, help kids in other sports too.  Yoga games that involve tag, throwing, or kicking also build Physical Literacy.

And other sports build physical literacy for doing yoga. There is no either/or choice.

Yoga moves complement sports moves. Sports moves complement yoga moves.

Kids Yoga skills grows with experience not age

Key to Building Skills in Yoga and Sports

The key to building these skills is knowing that the only way skills grow is through experience.  It doesn’t matter what age you are, if you have never tried an activity, or a similar movement in another activity, you are a beginner.

That’s why Yoga is a wonderful non-competitive activity where kids gain experience without the disappointment of losing, sitting out, or letting a team down because you don’t have the skills…yet.

Kids who do yoga will be better all round athletes.

Being competent in yoga, can make you competent and confident in other sports too.

That’s just one of the big benefits of kids doing yoga!

 

Upcoming Events

Save with Early Registration on Your Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

The deadline for early registration for the Summer Certification program is ending this week.

Complete your 95 Hour Certificate with Young Yoga Master’s Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School training.  Register today:

 

 

Early Registration Ends June 30/15

Take a look at the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification program here:

 Looking for a great Yoga Get Away to deepen your own practice of Adult yoga?

Kundalini Yoga Summer Getaway and Retreat in Ontario Canada August 7 - 9, 2015
Click Picture for Full Details

Yours truly,

Aruna

YoungYogaMasters.com

 

Kids Yoga in Schools – Not My Favorite Location

This is Part Two of the Series on Creative Ways to Get Kids Yoga into Schools. How can kids yoga teachers bring yoga into schools?  Let’s talk!  Check out why its not my favorite location and what these teachers do to bring yoga into schools. Leave a comment to give your opinion, advice, or experience on teaching yoga in schools.

For school teachers, take a look at Part One for ideas to bring yoga into the classroom.

School is Not My Favorite Place for Classes

Over the years, I’ve had many adventures teaching in schools and looking back, many of them had their challenges. First of all, there is a lack of budget in schools, it’s hard to get paid.  You may get passed from one person to another trying to get answers.  If you get a class going, you’ll probably have a lot of children in your classes.  You may also find yourself leading yoga poses in all kinds of strange spots like hallways and beside desks.

As I built my kids yoga teaching business my preference grew for a class in a community centre, daycare, private school or studio.  There were so many obstacles working with schools and their accompanying bureaucracy.

Yet with a little ingenuity, you can get kids yoga into a school and enjoy it.  Many would argue, this is where the kids need it the most!

What Has Worked to Get Kids Yoga in School

Here are a few effective methods that have worked for me and other teachers to get yoga classes in schools:

  • Lunchtime Kids Yoga Class:  One RCYT (Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher) charges $5 per child for her 30 minute lunch time class and has to cap the class at 20 kids.  Her kids attend the school so she gets to see them at lunch. She can make up to $100 per class because they don’t charge her a room rental. It’s a win-win-win for all involved.
here is an empty schoolyard that has lots of space for a children's yoga class
An empty playground, soon to be filled with children.
  • After School Class:  Personally, I’ve taught two ongoing classes by working with the school itself.  One was held in the music room, It was arranged by a member of the parent teacher association so I didn’t pay a room rental. With the help of the parent, we charged per child for a series and collected the payments ourselves. I had to have a staff volunteer to supervise and that ended up being the reason the classes stopped.  We couldn’t find another volunteer when the staff took a year off.
  • Programs Through the School:  My other class was part of a joint school/city run after school program.  It was one of my first kids yoga classes, back in 1999.  I hope this pay rate is out of date because there were 25 kids in the class and I got paid a whopping $22.50 per class!  The children came to the gym after the school bell rang, ate a snack sitting on the floor (they brought their own snack from home), then stayed for the hour yoga class. There was very little admin for the class, I just showed up, signed in, took attendance and taught. Each class usually took me about 2 hours, but I only got paid for one hour.

I admit, the after school class in the gym was the first class I dropped as my business grew.  It was so much work for so little money. At the beginning of my yoga teaching, I ran around teaching 25 classes a week, making ends meet.

That class was also how I learned to get good at teaching kids yoga.  When I could teach 25 kids in one class, I felt confident to teach anywhere. It was a great way to learn on the job.

kids yoga class in the gym school
Teachers in the Summer Certification get experience teaching all kinds of classes.

When I posed the questions about Yoga in Schools on my Facebook Page, I got another great idea:

A Gentle Way to Start the Day

I deliver classes before school (8-8.45 am) as a lovely gentle way to start the day. They are very popular and were requested by parents of children who dread going to school and launching straight into school work.  They were also popular with children who have job share teachers as the hand-over day can be quite difficult.

I charge £3.50 (just over 5 US dollars) per session but don’t need to pay for the space so would maybe charge more if there was a hall charge. I currently don’t have more than 12 children per session so that I can give each one some attention but there is enough for some fun group games.

– Sam from Yoga Tales on Facebook

Getting Your Foot in the Door

The trick to getting into a school is to have a connection, a staff or parent (or be a parent).  You’ve got to get your foot in the door before they close it in your face.

Knowing someone seems to help to get free use of the space.  Otherwise some schools will charge you an hourly rate.  If you pay an hourly rate please leave a comment and let us know the going rates these days at your school classes.

kids in yoga class climb on each other ot make a pyramid
This class took place in the hallway in the basement of the school.

Kids Yoga Classes as Part of Physical Education

I’ve taught a few classes as Part of the Physical Education program paid from from the school budget.  These have always been one or two time classes, not ongoing. I charged between $50 – $150 per class depending on where the school was located. Other teachers I know have charged up to $350 for a one time classroom presentation.

Insight from the National Kids Yoga Conference

In a panel discussion at the National Kids Yoga Conference, I heard yoga teachers who raise funds and collect donations to cover the cost of teaching yoga in schools.

Others volunteer at a school until the school sees the value of the yoga program, then push the school to find a way to fund them.

Still other teachers insist on being paid from the beginning.  By emphasizing the benefits of yoga, the teacher can be paid out of one of the school budgets for character education, phys ed, or professional development.

I’ve found getting paid by the school quite difficult, but learned that Kids Yoga Teachers can be very resourceful!

Be Reliable and They’ll Want You Back!

One thing I know for sure, if you are reliable, and people can find you, you’ll have the best chance of filling your schedule with kids yoga classes.

One of the private school’s where I teach, I’ve gone to for over a decade!  It’s much easier to return to a school rather then to keep finding new classes. If the program is stress-free, they will ask you back and that is good for everybody.

Please leave a comment if you can add to the conversation on yoga in schools.

What happened when you taught in a school and how did it work out?
(post a link to your Facebook Page in the comments too)

Have you had a hard time getting kids yoga into schools?

What are your obstacles?

I suspect there are many teachers who have had challenges getting into schools, and others who have found creative ways to bring yoga to the kids.   I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject and if this is a topic you’d like to hear more about.

Yours truly,

Aruna
Young Yoga Masters.com

Upcoming Events and Children s Yoga Teacher Training

Click Here for Upcoming Dates
Click Here for Upcoming Dates

 

5 Kid’s Yoga Tips from a Certified School Teacher

Janet Williams

Young Yoga Masters interviews Janet Williams, a certified primary/junior teacher and registered yoga instructor about yoga in the classroom.  These 5 Tips give you the  Who, What, When, Where, and Why of kids yoga.  Janet joins the Young Yoga Masters Registered Children’s Yoga School faculty and will share more great tools for yoga in classrooms, studios, and beyond in the What I See, I Can Be Module on Nov. 17 – 18.

Questions 1: Why do Yoga with Kids?

Young Yoga Masters: Janet. You’ve been a school teacher and a yoga instructor for almost 20 years so you know what’s up with yoga in the classroom. What is your experience of the benefit of bringing yoga into the classroom? Give us one of your favorite stories of how children change after doing yoga.

Janet: One of my favorite stories is one I received in an e-mail – unsolicited. Here’s what she wrote me:

As an experienced Supply Teacher, I know that it can be a challenge to get children to listen during Physical Education because of the less structured format and the high excitement level. The first class that I tried “What I See, I Can Be” with, were a notorious Grade 2/3 split. They were known as a difficult class to control and all morning they acted up. When we got to Gym Class, I put on the CD and had the children follow along with the yoga book. The results were amazing! To my delight, the yoga book and CD captured their interest and attention. The children who had been uncooperative all morning settled down and remained settled down for the rest of the day.

This letter from this teacher came right after I wrote my book, and confirmed my mission to bring yoga to children.  She so clearly describes the benefits of bringing yoga into the classroom, to settle kids down and bring them health at the same time.

Question 2: Who can Teach Kid’s Yoga?

Young Yoga Masters: Can anyone bring yoga into the classroom?  A lot of people think you need to be “really into yoga.” Do you?

Yoga Poses for the Classroom

Janet:  No, not at all.  You don’t have to be really into yoga or a yoga teacher to bring yoga to children, although it can help in providing confidence in teaching.  With the right resources and training, you can learn a number of routines that pretty much all kids love, routines that motivate children to do yoga.  I’ve had many people, like one Phys Ed Consultant at a School Board, who didn’t know about yoga but was sold after just one yoga class after seeing how much the kids loved it. Teachers can pick up a few good routines and start with those in the classroom.

Question 3: When to do Yoga with Children?

Young Yoga Masters: Teachers are already overloaded! What can teachers do to get kids doing yoga when they already have so much curriculum to cover?

Janet: Its true, teachers are overloaded. There’s not enough time in the day to do all the things they are expected to do.  So I suggest two things, the first is what I call “2 for 1.”  Any time a teacher can teach two things at once, it is a good thing.

I’ve filled two Teacher Training manuals with 2 for 1 ideas.  So for example, in math, when the kids are learning angles, one child measures the angles of another child’s arms using a protractor.  It is a great physical, hands on, healthy 2 for 1.  I also think it helps kids better remember the lesson.

The second way is for a teacher to bring a Children’s Yoga Teacher into the classroom. This way the teacher can do some prep or marking while they keep an eye on the yoga class.  If they get a kids yoga teacher who knows how to handle children it gives them a break from teaching.  That’s why the practicum is so important in Kids Yoga Teacher Training, so the kids yoga teachers can deliver a good class.

Question 4: Where to hold a Yoga Class at School?

Young Yoga Masters: How can a teacher find space for yoga at school?

Janet is the author the award winning book: What I See, I Can Be

Janet:  Being able to do yoga in the classroom means choosing the right yoga poses. I chose the poses that can be done beside a desk.  Of course when you have a gym or playground you have less restrictions, but when I developed the yoga flow in my book, I made sure all the poses can be done anywhere.

For example, in the worst case scenario, when the desks can’t be moved and there is no carpeted area we just go ahead and do yoga right beside the desk. Even a pose like the final relaxation, we do on the floor beside the desk. Kids don’t care about it, they are all over the playground anyway.  But if the floor is really unsuitable, we just lay our head on the desk.  All 13 yoga poses in my book were very purposefully chosen for classrooms, so kids could do all the yoga beside the desk.

Questions 5:  What gets kids motivated to do yoga?

Young Yoga Masters:  What is the best way to get kids who are new to yoga to give it a try?

Janet: If I’m going into a new class I make sure I go in with visual aids.  As all good teachers know you want children to HEAR the instructions and SEE the instructions.  This helps all the different types of learners. I bring in my book and my poster to every class, so the children can see and do.

Over the weeks I incorporate other props to engage their imagination. This helps them hold each yoga pose for longer times.  Plus I am fully engaged as a teacher, by walking around the room and providing positive feedback to boost their self-confidence and self-esteem.  Yoga is a time to empower children.  Of course I make corrections when the children could potentially hurt themselves, but I encourage the effort that they put in, rather than criticizing them for not being perfect.

One Bonus Tip

Young Yoga Masters:  Do you have one final tip for a new teacher who wants to bring yoga to kids.

Janet has taught children of all ages.

Janet: Kids get bored of stuff very quickly, so as a kid’s yoga teacher you need to have a very large treasure chest of visual aids and props.  Having a lot of training and resources means you have back-up ideas when something isn’t working.

I’ve thought up many ideas on my own, but it was also really nice to just get ideas that work by taking Kids Yoga Teacher Training.  That’s what I want to give teachers in our Registered Children’s Yoga School, so teachers don’t have to come up with everything on their own. That can be exhausting, plus you don’t know if it will work until you try it. So it helps to have experienced mentors to guide you when you’re filling your treasure chest.

Young Yoga Masters: Thank you Janet for these wonderful tips for bringing yoga to children. We highly recommend the What I See, I Can Be Guided Yoga Flow for Children!

Young Yoga Masters is committed to teachers who want to bring yoga to children.  If you have any questions for Janet, please leave them in the comments.

A Challenging Classroom Management Situation – What Would You Do?

That Sweet Child Said What?

Imagine a sunny weekday morning at 9:15 am. You’re in a school teaching a thirty minute yoga class to 23 children ages 2 – 6 years old.  You’ve also got two other teachers in the room to assist during the class.

About 15 minutes into the class everyone is doing a forward bend when a three and a half year old calls out, “Miss Yoga! Look at Mary, she’s not doing the yoga pose.”

It was not unusual for this youngster to point out what the other children in the class are (or are not) doing. The irony that the child  is also not doing the pose is floating meters above their head.

But this child goes a step further to report the infraction and then add, “She’s not doing it, we should throw Mary in the garbage.”

Yikes, that’s definitely not yogic talk.

The Teacher’s Classroom Management Dilemma

How does a teacher discourage or redirect the behaviour they don’t want in yoga class?

In the moment I made my choice to deal with the bold statement, and so did the two other teachers who were in the room.  But the situation stuck with me. I resolved to get more options for the next time something like this happens.  After talking to a few other teachers here are some of the most popular options.

 

Teachers can laugh about sticky classroom management situations and discuss their choices as part of their training.

5 Strategies for Dealing with Inappropriate Classroom Behaviour

  1. Ignore the Negative Behaviour: pretend it didn’t happen, don’t draw attention to it, and focus on the positive things the child is doing. Especially when the child is regularly getting a rise out of the teachers.
  2. Quick Correct: “We don’t say that in this classroom.” Or a simple frown or shaking your head “no” or another gesture to indicate this is not acceptable without disrupting the flow of the class.
  3. Describe Your Feelings and Why This is a Problem:  “I’m upset to hear about throwing a person in the garbage.  We don’t throw people in the garbage.  The garbage is just for things because if you throw things in the garbage it doesn’t hurt them.  If a person is put in the garbage then it may hurt their body and their feelings.  If anyone ever says they are going to throw a person in the garbage, I don’t like it because garbage is not for people. Garbage is just for things.”
  4. Pretend the Child Intended to Do Something Positive: 3 1/2 year old children come from their heart more than their head.  Assume the remark was not meant to hurt someone, but was a poor attempt to get attention and be involved.  You could try a redirect saying: “Lets see if we can get everyone to join in by doing the yoga pose together.”
  5. Accept the Feeling But Stop the Unacceptable Behaviour: Consider responding with,”You really want everyone to do yoga, but the way to do that is to show them how much fun it is. Can you get your legs straight in this yoga pose?”

When a child utters an unacceptable statement, the teacher only has a moment to decide what to do.

It is when things are quiet, when twenty eyes are not watching you, and when you wonder if there is a better approach that a teacher can contemplate other options.

What kind of things do kids say or do that challenge you as a teacher/parent? If a child made this unacceptable statement around you, what response would you choose and why?

Please share your ideas in the comments.

Upcoming Events:

Please check out our upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training.  There are still a few spots left for the summer course in July.

 

5 Tips from Principals for Kids Yoga in Schools

First of all I’d like to welcome all those who have joined Young Yoga Masters (YYM) recently.  I’m so happy you are here because it means more Yoga and Mindfulness for kids. I welcome your comments or questions about the kids yoga tips you find here.

Also thanks to everyone who answered the survey in this blog post.  Your advice and experience on what school Principals need was extremely helpful. It was inspiring to see how many people are already bringing yoga into schools.

We made a great connection with the Principal and VP from a school in Portugal who took some kids yoga back with them.

Today I’m sharing my notes from the International Principals Conference in Toronto.  Since the Conference was in my home town (Toronto, the next Conference is in Australia) we wrangled a group together to share a booth.  Together we created a “Fit Class Kit” which we sold at our booth, but a big part of doing the show was to meet Principals face-to-face to see what they are interested in, what they want, and what their biggest problems are when it comes to kids health.

Here are 5 Tips about Yoga in Schools that came from talking with Principals from all over the world at the International Principals Conference:

5 Tips from Principals for Yoga in Schools

  1. Make Yoga for Kids Easy for Teachers: Principals explained how yoga has to be easy for teachers to teach, especially teachers who don’t do yoga. Their eyes opened up when we showed them some easy tools to lead kids yoga.
    Principals were happy to see the easy references for teaching kids yoga in school.

    Principals particularly liked the Teacher Guides with pictures (as in the picture above) of how to teach each pose found in:

  2. Train other Students to Teach the Yoga:  Principals explained how every school has kids who really like to help.  Well many Principals utilize this energy and encourage teachers to get older kids to lead the younger students in other classes.  Kind of like a peer leadership program.  Principals were interests in a program that would train other students which has led to the creation of our tween leadership program.
  3. Get the Whole School Moving Together:  Some schools meet their health requirements, like the 20 minutes of Daily Physical Activity (DPA) required in my area, by getting the whole school active together.  A number of principals were looking for school wide yoga programs.
  4. Staff Development Training:  we sold many Fit Class Kits, but Principals wanted live training too.  They know that the best professional development is a personal experience.  There were many requests for teacher training programs, both in house and off-site.
  5. Learning On-line: We met Principals from all over the world who took our flyers, but they could not carry back books in their already stuffed luggage.  The On-line training for schools sparked a lot of interest.  Not only is it convenient, it’s also affordable. I leaned Young Yoga Masters is heading in the right direction with the Frog Yoga Alphabet Teacher Training and the Yoga for Boys Teacher Training available on-line.

Principal declares the Yoga Booth “A refreshing new idea!”

Who knew that Principals would have so many great ideas for kids’ yoga!

Thanks to everyone who came by the Children’s Yoga Network booth to discuss kids’ health.  One Principal was kind enough to share her delight that we weren’t the same old boring booths she was expecting!

Children’s yoga was a pleasant surprise for many Principals who don’t think of yoga for children right away, but were happy to learn about it. I was very glad we got the booth to bring kids yoga to the forefront.

I love the internet, blogging, and all that technology does but there’s nothing like face to face time.  We may need a push to step away from the screen and connect in person with others but when I do it I’m always happy I did!