REBUILDING EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMMON UNTAPPED SKILLS

How many “flavors of the month” have you been trained in over the years? And how many of those flavors have you passed onto your own staff? 

After years of attending trainings on whatever the flavor of the month was, it became increasingly apparent that education is cyclical. Rebrand any flavor and it can be sold as something new and exciting. But what does the research tell us? In John Hattie’s Visible Thinking, we are challenged to rethink what we do and why we do it. Consider the following . . 

 

John Hattie's visible learning correlates showing the least to most effective strategies

We would like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce ourselves, our business Rebuilding Educational Foundations, and our core program, REFocus (Rebuilding Educational Foundations of Common Untapped Skills). 

With over 35 years of experience in all levels of education both in schools and at the state and national levels we knew it was time to create a program using tried and true methods that increase student achievement. At the core of our REFocus program, we know that purposeful movement is often overlooked in the attempt to meet rigorous academic criteria. Research has shown that adding purposeful movement into the classroom and home is extremely beneficial for everyone and especially for young developing learners. For success in the classroom, we must REFocus our efforts to address missing skills that are the foundation for academic, behavioral and social success. 

Research shows that adding purposeful movement will: 

  • Assist children who lag behind developmentally 
  • Release stress and trauma
  • Develop social interaction/cooperation 
  • Positively impact emotional growth 
  • Advance cognitive processing 
  • Elevate concentration 
  • Raise test scores 
  • Improve academic ability 

But the question is how? How can we ask our teachers to add one more thing to their already busy schedules? Easy. We build it into their days so instead of adding on that flavor of the month, we provide them a 5-minute daily activity, tied to curriculum, that naturally flows into lesson plans. Our REFocus program provides training, student standardized pre- and post-screening, useable data for teachers and administration, a year-round activity calendar with motor activities and curriculum tie-ins, school/classroom support, parent access to the 365-day calendar so they can participate at home on weekends and holidays, and ongoing teacher support. Even better, our consultants complete all of the testing for you, and based on your results, we provide targeted ongoing support for an entire year so the program becomes ingrained into everyday thinking and planning. 

Going back to Hattie’s results, we would like to point out that the blue indicators of success in school have been woven purposefully and meticulously into the REFocus program in order to assure success for your students. 

If you know, as we do, your students will benefit from adding daily, purposeful movement into the classroom and home, we would be pleased to discuss our program with you. We provide a variety of options to best meet your district’s needs, whether you have one school or hundreds of schools. Please contact us at (517) 548-9088 or info@REF4schools.com. We welcome the opportunity to work with your team. We are looking forward to hearing more about your district! 

Let us be the REF for your schools!