The Ultimate Mindful School Experience
Want your students to gain that winning edge and take it across the finish line ? When it comes to performing on tests, sports, even recitals, being able to maintain calm and focus is essential to successful outcomes. Yet even for many adults, being able to calm oneself down is easier said than done – especially when you’re under pressure to perform.
For a child who’s experienced bullying, a traumatic incident, learning challenges, illness, or emotional instability, life can often feel overwhelming. Sometimes tortuous. Students at all academic levels wrestle with irrational fears and confusing emotions. Contrary to popular wishful thinking, we know that the effects of ongoing pain (mental and emotional), DO follow children into adulthood – where they can really cause damage. What makes sense is for adults to equip children with tools and skills that help them make peace with their inner world. It’s the most important part of a child’s education, because no other subject is going to determine the child’s capacity for happiness and success. This one will. Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness programs can’t compare. It’s time to give k-5 students the most important Whole Child training of their lives.
Emotional Intelligence that Builds Self-Respect & Confidence
Fortunately, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. With our Whole Schools Tapping-2-Happy program, you can easily empower students to perform at their best when it counts the most. At the center of the K-4 program is Maven & the Magic Buttons, an illustrated storybook that demonstrates emotional intelligence while simultaneously empowering kids to easily:
- Perform better on tests and athletics
- Calm themselves down
- Focus and concentrate
- Cooperate and collaborate
- Improve behavior & compliance
- Feel good about themselves
- Transform stressful feelings into confidence
- Resist bullies and bullying
“Magic Buttons” is kid-speak for “EFT Tapping” and mindful “Belly Button Breathing”. These evidence-based strategies are proven to calm the fear center of the brain (the amygdala). Once the amygdala is relaxed, the prefrontal cortex is restored to fuller capacity. Greater confidence, emotional regulation, and “super-learning” states can be enjoyed.
It is very easy for kids to learn and use their Magic Buttons for self-regulation. But because EFT Tapping is visually unusual, children need support and encouragement to practice it when needed. For this reason, it is important to teach everyone in the school, transforming the culture into a Tapping-2-Happy School.
How does Mindfulness compare to Magic Buttons training?
Mindfulness Meditation is currently being taught in many public and private schools. The positive effects of EFT Tapping and “Belly Button Breathing” are quite similar to Mindfulness, however, EFT Tapping and Belly Button Breathing are much easier to learn and practice. Furthermore, they typically produce dramatic results within a few seconds or minutes, whereas the benefits of Mindfulness are developed more slowly, over time.
The essence of Mindfulness Meditation is to become present to the current moment by focusing on breathing for a period of time. In Maven & the Magic Buttons, Belly Button Breathing takes it a step further, by teaching children how to breathe deeply. This important detail expedites results because deep breathing stimulates parasympathetic mode in the nervous system. Chest breathing is shallow, and more likely to trigger or exacerbate the sympathetic “fight or flight” mode of the nervous system.
Whole Schools Tapping 2 Happy supports the whole child in ways that move the whole school forward. The program consists of four phases that build upon each other. Here’s how it works:
Phase 1: Tapping for Teachers & Staff
All teachers and staff must be on board, so students receive consistent support and encouragement to use these skills. Their jobs and lives will become much easier when everyone at school knows about – and uses – the Magic Buttons. Further, if every adult at the school has these tremendous skills at their fingertips, greater harmony will prevail and the principal’s life will become much easier as well.
It is highly recommended that all staff attend this 2.5-hour on-site program. Attendees will experience the beneficial effects of these skills as they learn:
- What’s in it for them, personally and professionally
- How these strategies reduce stress and improve outcomes
- How to use Belly Button Breathing, both personally and on the job
- How to use EFT Tapping, both personally and on the job
- Specific methods for implementing these strategies in their class rooms
Every teacher receives a copy of Maven & the Magic Buttons, and is encouraged to read it to their class once per month for 3 – 4 months, or whenever they need a brush up. For those who want to know more about the science behind these skills, handouts will be provided regarding controlled studies and other online resources.
Phase 2: Teach the Students
Author Mimi Stevens, or another trained teacher from our team, reads Maven & the Magic Buttons to every classroom. The children are then guided and coached to breathe and tap in a way that gives each child a positive, personal experience of the benefits. The classroom teacher will be involved, so that students come to see him or her as their follow-up mentor. Questions will be answered, and mutual support is encouraged among the children. Finally, kids will be informed about a contest and invited to enter a story about their favorite success with EFT over the coming two weeks.
Phase 2 requires two to ten days, depending on the size of the school and the principal’s level of commitment to accommodating the time schedule required. Class size is limited to normal class sizes for the school (no combining classrooms), in order to insure sufficient attention is received by each student. Every student can receive access to the Mobile App, and they can take home their own copy for an extra $8.00 per student.
Phase 2B: Make-Up Sessions for Absentees
There will always be a percentage of students and staff absent on the day they were scheduled to receive the training. This number will be estimated during the planning stage, based on the school’s absenteeism data. Depending on the number of students expected to be absent on any given day, we will plan for 1-3 sessions.
Phase 3: School Community Assembly Hall(s)
As we celebrate our new-found powers, we will also establish a pact among all students and staff, to support each other in using our Magic Buttons, so that we all win. Students are asked to participate in creating a list of reasons to Tap and Breathe, as well as how to support each other, respectfully, when reminders are needed.
Contest: Several students, who submitted their own inspiring and well-written stories, will be brought up to the stage (if desired). Each child who shares their story will win an autographed copy of the book. Another three will be selected at Phase 4. This will serve to reinforce the value and popularity of the techniques. It will also bring students together in co-creating a cohesive and safe environment. The few who did not win, will be guided through a self-acceptance exercise using EFT, demonstrating another use for the Magic Buttons… acknowledging your courage even when you don’t get the prize!
Phase 4: Families Join in the Fun!
All family members are invited to this evening program, where we share the Magic with parents, siblings, grandparents. If that’s not feasible, consider adding my adult version of the class in a separate time slot. This phase is important for the kids to feel comfortable Tapping and Breathing at home. Furthermore, if parents begin using these techniques, we can reduce the likelihood of kids being subjected to destructive experiences at home, including abuse, trauma, neglect, and verbal/physical violence.
Funding the Program:
The standard fee structure starts at only $50 per child for schools of 100 or fewer students. Larger schools pay less per child. Add $8 per child to provide each child with a printed copy of the book. For schools in under served communities, we may be able to arrange Corporate Sponsors and/or non-profit grants and fundraisers to offset up to 90% of the total, based on need.
This program is offered by The OxyGenesis Institute, a non-profit 501c3 United Charitable Program.