Can you say ooommm…?
Kiderific Nursery School at 1621 Pilgrim Avenue has begun offering monthly yoga classes for children in its educational program. The yoga program is designed to fit in with topics and themes that are in the school’s curriculum.
The children, ages two-and-a-half to four-years-old, will take part in classes that last about 30 minutes and occur at different times so all the students in the school can participate.
“We did a trial of the yoga program over the summer, to see if it was something that we wanted to do,” said lead instructor and owner Jessica Anderson. “The children really responded to it well, so we decided to include it in our program.”
At one recent yoga class, the children mimicked the movements of different animals they learned about in the classroom. The classes take place in an open area, where the children lay on mats in various positions, much like in adult yoga classes.
Anderson said that the program is part of the school’s mission to teach each youngster by playing into each individual child’s strengths.
“At Kiderific, we try to teach every individual child,” Anderson said. “We are trying to reach children who learn through movement, in a kinesthetic way.”
Anderson said that in addition to being a fun way to learn through movement, the yoga exercise is also a stress release for the children, who often are learning to read and write sooner than most youngsters their age.
“It is amazing, that while learning how to read in pre-K and kindergarten, how many children are stressed,” Anderson said. “We are fortunate that we have outside play space where the children can go and get physical exercise. The yoga classes complements their outside play.”
Anderson added that many nursery schools in Manhattan are adding yoga to their educational programs, and it was something that she wanted to bring to the Bronx.
Certified yoga instructor Jennifer Gentile, who is also a parent of a child at Kiderific, teaches the classes.
For more information on Kiderific, call (718) 518-7170.
