February/March 2008

What's CORE with the CORE in VISION? by Cindy Harvey

In the last newsletter we gave you "What's CORE with the CORE on the Floor" and promised in this edition to give you the same for VISION. Here are several S.M.A.R.T. CORE vision activities and the five most important things to remember for quality eye exercises.

BASIC VISION (exercises pupillary reflex and encourages focusing)

• Light ON for one second, OFF for five seconds, for 25 times.
• Room should be as dark as possible, using a 75 - 100 watt bulb.
• Students are up close and facing forward towards the light (don't need to look directly at the light).
• Students take off their glasses (can hold in their lap or have teacher hold).
• Excellent place to integrate ANY academics - introduce new things as INPUT, review content as INPUT, practice content as OUTPUT.

THUMBKINS (enhances eye teaming skills)

• Hold arm out horizontal with thumb up, level with nose, looking at thumb. (Can also be done using a pencil or pencil with a topper.)
• Slowly move thumb towards nose (teacher can slowly count "In, 2, 3, 4, 5" to help kids go slow). Then slowly move thumb back out all the way (teacher can count   "Out, 2, 3, 4, 5" to help kids go slow).
• If child sees 2 thumbs, they go back to where they see just one thumb - that is the point at which they stop and go back out (over time they should be able to get their thumb in closer and closer without seeing 2 thumbs).
• Great to do before a reading time in the classroom. Finger puppets can make it more exciting.
• Do at least 6 at a sitting (8-10 is recommended).

WAGON WHEELS OR MAZES (for smooth eye movements and eye-hand coordination)

• Child stands at the middle of the maze/wheel with the center about nose height.
• Trace covering the left eye, then the right eye, then with both eyes.
• Child keeps head straight and traces with one finger, staying ON the lines. (May have children alternate from dominant to non-dominant hand.)
• 2 minutes minimum (3-5 minutes a day recommended)
• SLOW IS GOOD!

VISUAL PURSUITS (for smooth eye movements and eye-hand coordination)

• Teacher faces child/children and makes large, full-arm, slow movements with pencil, puppet on a stick, or any interesting item to watch.
• Move it in a circle, then horizontally, vertically, and diagonally - 2 times each direction.
• Children cover one eye, then the other eye, then watch with both eyes - 2 rounds each.
• Children keep their head still, following the object only with their eye(s).
• SLOW IS GOOD!

PEG ARC (to enhance saccadic eye movements and eye teaming)

• Child holds peg arc horizontal to the floor, with chin in the groove.
• Child leap frogs the golf tees from one hole to the next - all around the peg arc and up the center. (For young children or those with extreme difficulty seeing the holes on either end without moving their head, you can block the end 2-3 holes on each side - duct tape, paper, etc.)
• Child holds head still, only moving eyes (sitting or standing with head against a wall helps).
• Hand placement does not matter - may switch hands or go in or outside the arc.
• 2 minutes minimum (may have child set a timer to try to beat or see how far they can get).

SCANNING GAMES (to enhance saccadic eye movements and eye-hand coordination)

• Present the child with long lines of letters, numbers, spelling words, etc. (size of letters and number of rows appropriate for the age level)
• Can use regular sheets of paper, long strips of paper, the white board, wipe-off paper, etc.
• Child draws a continuous line under the content - when they see whatever content you told them to look for, they circle it when they see it (e.g., circle all the b's, all the 5's, all the "said" words)
• The pencil or marker never leaves the paper for each row - continuous line under, counter clockwise circle around the content they are looking for.
• A great activity to integrate academic content!

NEAR-FAR FOCUS (to enhance ability to change focus from near to far or far to near)

• Have the child hold their thumb, pencil, or small object in front of their nose about 4-6 inches from their face. Easy to do whole group.
• Child covers one eye and follows teacher's directions to look quickly at items across the room (e.g., clock, map, picture, etc.) and then back to their pencil/thumb.
• Repeat for 10 cycles, or 20 changes. Discuss to check if focusing is clear.
• Repeat entire 10/20 cycle again with child covering their other eye.
• As children gain speed and fluidity, have them move the pencil/thumb closer to their face.

** Do not do this activity with both eyes open (the ONLY activity involving eyes covered that does not do it with both eyes).

** For an individual exercise, try the Near/Far Focus charts with letters, pictures, symbols, etc. - CG p. 168-171 (may be different pages in older versions).