Mindful Movements: A Sensorimotor Curriculum for Preschool Students at Flying Kites in Collaboration with Kenyan Teachers
Authors:
Maryanna Mendenhall, OT/s, Augusta Polhemus, OT, OTD
Abstract:
In 2019, Tufts and Flying Kites (FK), a school in Njabini, Kenya, jointly developed Let’s Breathe!, to teach students skills to manage challenging emotions. The teachers at FK shared that the youngest students at FK would benefit from a simplified program that prepares them for the concepts taught in Let’s Breathe!. In response, this project developed Mindful Movements (MM), a sensorimotor curriculum that provides preschool-aged students at FK with foundational self-regulation skills. Using the Delphi model, the project gathered feedback from a multidisciplinary panel of experts (n=14) on four major themes: FK usage, age-appropriateness, cultural relevance, and trauma sensitivity. Through multiple iterations of MM, feedback was utilized to improve the curriculum. Future steps include piloting MM and developing training on trauma-sensitive care.
Key Words:
Emotional-Regulation, Movement, Trauma