Tools for Schools: Toolbox Components

The Tools for Schools Mission:
Less stress and greater success for all teachers and students

Imagine...
Your students have just come in to the classroom to begin their day. The bell has rung, and a few of the students are having trouble settling down. "Let's close our eyes and relax our faces," you announce. You instruct them to breathe in slowly and deeply, and as they breathe out, to whisper the word "peace." The kids begin to experience their own sense of peace first, then as a group that feeling of peace is "sent" around your classroom, through the rest of the school, and finally throughout the world. What a powerful way to begin your day!
Peace Breath is a blue Calm and Quiet Pose Card.

Tools for Schools Package includes:

• Pose Card Tool Box: Each easy-to-use card features one or more photographs of children in the pose. The back of each card includes Pose Instructions as well as Fun Tips for Curriculum Integration with activity ideas adaptable for any grade level.

• Tack-On Mat: The portable sticky mat hangs on the classroom wall for displaying Pose Cards and creating pose sequences for all students to see.

• YogaKids: Educating the Whole Child Through Yoga: by Marsha Wenig, founder of YogaKids. Consider this practical book a resource for deeper information about yoga for children.

• Fitness Fun Tunes CD: This CD features 10 original songs perfect for addressing the musical-rhythmic intelligence. Some work well with a particular pose (for example "Rocking Horse" and "Take 5") and others are useful for more general purposes.

• YogaKids DVDs: Produced by Gaiam, a lifestyle company. Volume 1: The Original, Volume 2: ABCs, and Volume 3: Silly to Calm. See actual children demonstrating many of the poses included in the Tools for Schools Pose Cards, as well as many other poses you can use in creative ways in your classroom.

Imagine all the ways to use YogaKids Tools for Schools in your classroom...
The Teacher's Manual is packed full of specific ideas like these for using yoga throughout the school day.

• Three-Ring Binder:

  • Teacher's Manual: The Manual guides you through the mission, foundation, and structure of Tools for Schools, and the use of all the other components. It also includes some useful appendices.

  • Lesson Plans: These ten Lesson Plans integrate yoga and movement with curriculum areas, and make strong use of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence. Each Lesson Plan begins with a complete yoga Pose Sequence including breath work, poses and relaxation. The Pose Sequences are followed by several optional Curriculum Integration activities.

  • Om@Home Pages: This interactive component encourages students to bring their yoga skills home. Reproducible handouts guide the students and their families to use these valuable "Tools" in everyday situations.

  • Posters: The "Shine Bright" poster illustrates a well-known sequence of poses called the Sun Salutation. The second poster is for use in establishing your classroom's "Take 5 Zone."

  • Assessment Tools: Simple questionnaires for students and their parents, and the power of a research team at Purdue University and Indiana University Schools of Education, combine to provide you with concrete measurement of the effectiveness of the Tools for Schools program.

  • Professional Training: 6 hours of hands on instruction is provided by a Certified YogaKids Trainer assuring you a high level of understanding and confidence in applying the Tools for Schools methods to the standards and curriculum you teach every day.

Imagine...
Todays lesson plan is on the rainforest ecosystem. Students move into an open area to learn about the rainforests qualities through movement and yoga. You pull out the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, and explore the book through yoga poses. Students become the fauna of the rainforest understory as they slither like snakes, flap like flamingos and float like butterflies. In 30 minutes, the students have learned about the ecosystem, the interdependence of all living things, and much more. Their most urgent question is: When can we do that again?
The Great Kapok Tree and associated poses are featured in Lesson Plan 9: Nurture Nature.

Program Components Available Online at YogaKids.com

• Online Teacher Support: Log on to the online Forum and see how other schools are using the program, post questions for other users, and share your ideas and success stories. The Forum is monitored by YogaKids Trainers, who also answer questions, provide input and suggest additional resources.

• Pose of the Week Club: Enroll online at the YogaKids website, and you will receive weekly emails with a pose photo, description and instructions, and tips for parents and teachers.

• Certified YogaKids Facilitators & Trainers: YogaKids International can connect you with a CYKF or YKT in your area for additional services.