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Brain Gym is a nonprofit organization promoting a series of exercises claimed to improve academic performance. The 26 Brain Gym activities are claimed to improve eye teaming (binocular vision), spatial and listening skills, hand–eye coordination, and whole-body flexibility, and by doing this manipulate the brain, improving learning and recall of information. Numerous books have been written describing research and case studies in which use of the Brain Gym activities has benefited specific populations, including children recovering from burn injuries and those diagnosed with autism.〔"Numerous books have been written, including: * Dustow, Jennifer (2009). Do Bilateral Exercises Decrease Off-Task Behavior in Preschoolers with a Diagnosis under the Autism Spectrum within a Classroom Environment? Lambert Academic Publishing * Formosa, Pamela (2009). ‘''Fraid Not: Empowering Kids with Learning Differences''. iuniverse. * Hannaford, Carla (1995; 2005). ''Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head''. Great River Books. * Hornbeak, Denise (2007). ''The SuperConfitelligent Child: Loving to Learn through Movement and Play''. Peak Producers. * Koester Freeman, Cecilia (1998; 2010). ''I Am the Child: Using Brain Gym with Children Who Have Special Needs.'' Movement Based Learning. * Masgutova, Svetlana, and Pamela Curlee (2007). ''Trauma Recovery: You Are a Winner; A New Choice through Natural Developmental Movements.'' 1st World Publishing.〕 The Brain Gym activities have been incorporated into many educational, sports, business, and seniors programs throughout the world. They are also widely used in British state schools. The program has been criticised as pseudoscience for the lack of references in some of the theories used in the 1994 ''Brain Gym: Teacher's Edition'' (revised in 2010) and for the absence of peer-reviewed research that performing the activities has a direct effect on academic performance. == History == What became the Brain Gym program began with Paul Dennison's work as a public school teacher and reading specialist in the 1960s, researching more effective ways to help children and adults with learning difficulties. At that time, he worked in East Los Angeles with the innovative educator Dr. Constance Amsden, Director of the Malabar Reading Project for Mexican-American Students, which focused on the development of individual sensory modalities (visual, auditory, and tactile skills) for reading instruction. In the early 1970s, Dennison observed that challenged readers at his learning centers had less access to whole-body movement and postural awareness than more adept readers. He realized that some learners used one-sided motions (such as handwriting) at the expense of the non-dominant side, rather than in coordination with it. Seeing that even successful classroom learners were often tense from using primarily one-sided motions, he sought simple ways to teach both coordination and differentiation of movement in the classroom.〔''Switching On: The Whole-Brain Answer to Dyslexia,'' 1981.〕 In 1975, at the University of Southern California, Paul received the Phi Delta Kappa award for Outstanding Research; he was granted a Doctorate in Education for his research in beginning reading achievement and its relationship to cognitive development and silent speech (thinking) skills.〔 His familiarity with research from behavioral optometry and sensorimotor training that showed the effects of movement upon learning " . . . led him to extrapolate this information into quick, simple, task-specific movements.〔Brain Gym: Teacher’s Edition 1996 (p. "A Message to Parents and Educators")〕" In the early 1980s, Dr. Dennison began a teaching and writing partnership with Gail Hargrove, later to become Gail Dennison. They call their field of study, which they founded during this period, "Educational Kinesiology" (Edu-K). They define Edu-K as "learning through movement". The Dennisons say that Edu-K draws from the educational philosophy of Jean Piaget and the sensory-integration works of educators Maria Montessori, Anna Jean Ayres and pediatrician Arnold Gesell, as well as the work of movement pioneers F.M. Alexander and Moshe Feldenkrais. In its emphasis on active learning, Edu-K further embodies elements from the educational philosophy of John Holt (''How Children Fail''), Jerome Bruner (the spiral curriculum), and Carl Rogers (student-centered learning). Since the mid 1980s, the Dennisons have also drawn from the work of Howard Gardner and Thomas Armstrong on multiple intelligences (Visioncircles Teacher's manual, 1986) and, more recently, Armstrong's work on neurodiversity. Some of the specific Brain Gym activities that the program uses have been, according to the Brain Gym International website, developed from Paul Dennison's "knowledge of the relationship of movement to perception, and the impact of these on fine motor and academic skills." Others are adapted from movements he learned during his training as a marathon runner, his study of vision training (learned from developmental optometrists with whom he shared referrals in the 1960s), his study of Jin Shin Jitsu (a form of acupressure), and his study of Touch for Health (a form of kinesiology developed for laypeople by chiropractor John Thie).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dennison, Paul E. and Gail E. Dennison. Brain Gym®: Teacher's Edition. )〕 The Dennisons present their program under its current name in their books, e.g. ''Brain Gym: Simple Activities for Whole Brain Learning'' (1986), ''Brain Gym and Me: Reclaiming the Pleasure of Learning'' (2006) and ''Brain Gym: Teacher’s Edition'', 1987, 1996, and 2010. The Brain Gym activities are now used in more than 87 countries; the Edu-K works have been translated into more than 40 languages.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brain Gym」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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