Partner with the Mind Moves Institute to strengthen the foundation phase of your school.
Playing alone helps children socially by fostering independence, encouraging creativity and imagination, and preventing boredom as they create their own fun. When kids play in groups, they discover different roles, how to be with others, follow rules, negotiate and cooperate as a team to get along with others in the real world. They also learn how to make friends and communicate, both by talking and through actions. Group play isn’t just fun; it teaches impulse-control, problem-solving, and independence that stay with them throughout their lives.
During this PLAY course, we aim to delve beneath the surface of play, examining its driving forces. Given its universal nature, play undoubtedly holds profound significance for human development, and that’s what we aim to uncover.
Victoria and Melodie will delve into Groos’ impulses to sense and move as seen through the perspective of the Russian neurophysiologist, Nikolai Bernstein.
Dr Victoria Efimova is the head of two centres in Saint-Petersburg, Russia: the Prognoz Neurological Clinic and the Logoprognoz Children’s Center. She is also a professor at the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, where she teaches about how children develop and learn. At first, she qualified as a speech therapist, but now she focuses on understanding how our bodies and minds work together. Victoria is a knowledgeable speaker with a heart for children and that is why she has written many easy-to-understand books and articles for both experts and parents.
Dr Melodie de Jager founded the Mind Moves Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. She qualified as a pre-school teacher, but now she focuses on how movement can change our brains and bodies, especially for learning. Parents, teachers, and therapists find her work useful because Melodie explains tough science in a simple way. She has written many books and articles that have been translated into different languages. Even though she’s warm and friendly, Melodie’s talks are based on solid science, which makes her respected by parents and professionals.
Partner with the Mind Moves Institute to strengthen the foundation phase of your school.