What is Rappin" on the Reflexes?
Sensory Integration in a song? Infant Reflexes in a rap? Fine Motor Coordination in a finger game? While kids move and sing along with Rappin' on the Reflexes, they practice developmental movements that "switch on" the brain, increasing their physical, emotional, social, and academic well-being.
But don't mention that to the kids. They're just having fun.
Rappin' on the Reflexes was created by musician and kinesiologist Eve Kodiak. "Using infant reflex movements in my practice, I was blown away by the efficiency and ease with which old habit patterns could be released and new, more positive ones created. But most of the models I had learned for using the reflexes were were slanted toward practitioners. Rappin' on the Reflexes makes these neurologically directed movement patterns as accessible to everybody, everyday, as children's songs or playground games."
What do you get when you open the box?
The CD contains 23 songs, raps, and movement narrations. The spiral-bound guide, including more than 100 photos, explains and describes each movement game.
Each cut on the CD corresponds to a chapter in the guide, detailing
1. Development. Description and anecdotes about each reflex.
2. Image. How this reflex relates to the images used in the corresponding song and movement game.
3. Helps. What issues does this game address? E.g.: gross and fine coordination, especially handwriting. Or bedwetting, self-comforting, and confidence. Etc.
4. Noticing.Ways to feel the reflex movement in your body.
5. Activity. Specific directions for the movement game.
6. Photos. Children and adults demonstrating the movements.
7. CD Track. The song or rap. Many of the songs include children's voices.
Who is Rappin' for?
Rappin' on the Reflexes has been created for easy use by teachers, parents, practioners, and anyone else who works with children. It can be used informally at home, as part of an office visit, or as school curriculum for increasing academic performance and enhancing social interaction.
Rappin' has been written for all ages. Some songs will appeal most to young children. Others (especially the raps) can move right on into high school and beyond. Says Eve Kodiak, "When I introduce the Rappin' material to adults, I am most often met with delight."
About Infant Reflexes
Infant Reflexes are on the cutting edge of research into education, human development, and the brain. These automatic, instinctual movement patterns are how a baby "knows" to do just about everything: from turning in utero to getting through the birthing canal, from breathing to bonding, from feeding to crawling. Reflexes also trigger specific neurological developments that affect every part of our functoniong: our visual and auditory processing, fine and gross motor coordination, our ability to remember, focus, organize, and communicate information, as well as our sense of emotional well-being. The movement patterns of infant reflexes can unlock seemingly intractable blocks in learning and
development. They can also grease the wheels of an already happy life.
About Eve Kodiak
Eve Kodiak, M.M., is a licensed Brain Gym(R) Consultant. She has also taught, performed, and composed music for most of her life. Trained in Dalcroze, Orff, Music Together, and Suzuki, Ms. Kodiak came to the practice of kinesiology with the understanding of how the combination of music and movement can increase the effectiveness of both. Rappin' on the Reflexes is the first of her collections. The next, Moving With the Masters, combines developmental movement narration with the piano music of Bach, Beethoven, Bartok, Byrd, and Schumann, and will be available before the end of 2004. She is also working on a new piano method for children.
Eve Kodiak gives workshops and lectures internationally on music and kinesiology. She lives and practices in New Hampshire, U.S.A., with her husband, son, and piano. You can reach her on the web at www.evekodiak.com or eve@evekodiak.com.
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