In Carla Hannaford's wonderful book, Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head, she tells the story of Todd, who at 16 years old was unable to read -- until his mother discovered the Dennisons' Brain Gym and its cross-crawl exercise. Within 6 weeks of doing this exercise, which alternates opposite elbow to knee and requires crossing the midline of the body, Todd was reading -- at grade level.
Dr. Hannaford, a neurophysiologist,explains that Todd had everything he needed to able to read in the two hemispheres of his brain; however, the two hemispheres weren't communicating across the corpus callosum, the gray matter that connects them. By doing an exercise that crossed the body's midline, the corpus callosum was engaged and communication enabled.
Thousands of educators across the globe have embraced Brain Gym and its exercises, proclaiming their effectiveness in boosting energy, concentration, and learning. Now along comes a statement from England's Department for Children, Schools and Families, claiming that studies put its success down to nothing more than the 'placebo effect' and the general benefits of breaks and exercise.
The DCSF said: "We are unaware of any sufficiently robust or peer-reviewed evaluation of the approaches it promotes which would allow any clear link between the use of Brain Gym and pupils' learning to be established.We are also aware of a significant body of criticism of the theoretical underpinnings of the programme."
It said that Paul Dennison, the California teacher behind it, had admitted that many of Brain Gym's claims were based on "hunches." Also, officials said Brain Gym had been "criticised as being unscientific in a wide-ranging and authoritative review of research into neuroscience and education."
What do you think? Is Brain Gym pointless? Could Todd's ability to read after six weeks of doing the cross-crawl have been coincidence? What have been your experiences with Brain Gym?