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Inclusivity is a core value of mine and my business Well-Being Adventurers. It is often something that teachers comment on positively in feedback forms. Today I wanted to share with you some ways that Well-Being Adventurers creates an inclusive environment. Representation in Visuals The main resource that I use in my classes are the cards that I use. It is important that these images represent a wide range of children. Representation is crucial because:
Last week, I was teaching in a new school and one of the children was so excited by one of the cards that I used. This was the image:  She said that this was the first time that she had seen 'herself' in a learning resource. How sad and awful is that?
Conscious Language Choices Words and phrases that we use can cause harm or they can build a sense of safety, so considering the words that we use when we are teaching and communicating with children is really important. For me this looks like using neutral language about bodies, avoiding competitive language such as better, harder, best, perfect and avoiding assumptions about children. This also means that I avoid making gender assumptions, this even includes the way that I talk about the images that I use. I use phrases such as “our friend here” or “the child” or “they” rather than he or she. I also consider the language used to describe family structures and prefer to use the phrase “your grown ups” or “the people in your home” as not all of the children I teach have relationships with their parents or necessarily live with their family. Success for Everyone! I make sure that all children can achieve in the classes that I teach. Some ways that I do this include:
Culturally Responsive Themes Not all of my classes have themes, but when I do incorporate a theme, I ensure that: I choose neutral, universal themes such as nature or animals. For example, teaching a ‘winter theme’ rather than Christmas. I also choose not to use Sanskrit terms or say Namaste in my classes. This is because this is not my culture or heritage and using these words doesn’t feel right for me. I also don't refer to what I teach as yoga (but that is a topic for another day!) Emphasis on Self-Paced Learning In my classes the main goal is for children to listen to their bodies and explore poses at their comfort level. There is a focus on making a choice based on what feels like the ‘right’ thing in their bodies now. I often use the phrase “you are the expert of you and your body”. These are some of the ways that I make my classes inclusive. I would love to hear how you do this. If you would like more on this and also to get resources that support your classes to be inclusive, check out Captivate with Cards resource and training bundle. * This is the last week to get the November Special Offer- get the School Yoga Teacher Bundle for FREE when you buy Captivate with Cards training and resource bundle, the offer expires on 30th of November at 11.59pm UK time* If you have any questions about this or anything else, email me at [email protected]
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What is it? Why is it important and how can we achieve it? When I first started teaching kids yoga, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I felt like a kids’ entertainer. Sometimes I felt like my after school classes were more about childcare than actually giving children lifelong skills. If you sometimes feel this way then this is the video for you, I share a key aspect that I started to include that transformed my classes. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with your classes being about fun and being entertained while learning some cool things that we can do with our bodies and minds. But as an educator, this just didn’t feel right for me. I felt like I was teaching random things week to week. I was theming the classes, the kids were having fun, they were learning and remembering things but it felt messy to me and like something was missing. I felt like I didn’t have a direction and like I didn’t know what was coming next. Then it hit me! I needed to draw on my experiences and skills as a primary teacher. One of the key skills that I started to incorporate in my kids classes that made a huge difference was progression. This is also a fundamental element of the Captivate with Cards resource and training. So, what is progression? Progression is improving knowledge, skills and understanding over time. It is the concept that we build upon what we already know bit by bit, block by block- and we deepen our understanding gradually. Progression for each person isn’t linea, we all learn in our own unique way, building on experiences that we have from numerous places. BUT, we can create the learning in our classes in a way that supports learning by making our teaching progressive. Why is progression important in kids’ yoga classes? Progressive learning supports children in the following ways:
Sounds good, but how can we do it? Basically, teach poses progressively. This means, thinking about the order in which you teach poses and movements. Looking at which ones are simpler, teaching those first. Then building on these. If you also teach adults, it is likely that you already do this. Here’s a super quick example. To achieve peacock / dancer pose, there are skills that you need to master first. Balancing, focussing, holding the foot, the alignment of the knee.
juliahankins.thrivecart.com/captivate-with-cards/You can do this yourself by thinking about what it is you teach, and putting that learning into a sequence that makes sense and builds on previous learning.
I have done this by arranging the poses that I teach into four groups that build on each other, this was created by lots of time teaching children and research. If you’d like to save yourself a lot of time you can get access to this yourself and use in your own classes. Check out Captivate with Cards, not only will you receive all of the resources, but you’ll learn how to use these resources in all of your classes. * If you are reading this in November, there is also a special offer on at the moment - if you buy Captivate with Cards you also get the School Yoga Teachers Bundle for FREE! * Is progression important for all kids yoga classes? Most of the work that I do is teaching within curriculum time within schools. In this case it is definitely important to work in this way. Being able to explain the rationale behind what you are teaching is very important in this setting. However, I also think that there are many benefits for using this approach in extra curricular classes, clubs and workshops too. I think it can feel harder to teach in this way in a club setting as there are children of all different ages and sometimes, we can get new children join who have not had the foundation of learning that others would have had. But the process is still the same, it’s basically thinking. What can the children already do? How can I build on that? It might look different in these classes, because you might look at teaching build up poses within the same class rather than over a period of time. I hope that you found this blog thought provoking and helpful. Do you ensure that your classes are progressive? If so, how do you do this? I'd love to know! Is there something you would like me to talk about? Or perhaps you have a question. Email me at [email protected] I'd love to hear from you. Don't forget to make the most of November's special offer by buying Captivate with Cards Training and Resource Bundle and getting the School Yoga Teacher Bundle for free! If you are a children’s yoga teacher or children’s well-being practitioner who would like to work in schools and you are curious about how this might look, then this is the blog for you! In this blog I’m answering some frequently asked questions about my children’s well-being business (Well-Being Adventurers) that works primarily in schools.  If you are reading this blog in November 2024, there is currently a special offer on my e-courses and resource bundles. You can get get the School Yoga Teacher Bundle for FREE when you buy Captivate with Cards training and resource bundle. The trainings included in the School Yoga Teacher Bundle will be going up in price soon as they are being updated and more content will be added. Anyone who gets these now, will also have access to any future upgrades and changes. So it makes sense to get them at the lower cost. I know that the work that I do in schools is so beneficial to not only the children that I teach, but the wider community too as those skills ripple out to teachers, parents and carers. I truly believe that the skills that kids yoga teachers share with children can change the world. If you are here reading this blog, then it is likely that you feel the same. There is a limit to how many children I can reach by myself in schools, which is why I share my knowledge and experience with other well-being practitioners and children's yoga teachers. This is through free content, affordable training workshops, e-courses and resources and highly supportive mentoring. Together we can have a real impact on the future of humanity and I want to help others feel confident and supported enough to do this important work in schools too. In this blog, I’m answering some questions about my work in schools, in the hope that it helps other kids yoga teachers who would like to do this too. Where do you teach?
I live and work in Coventry in the West Midlands/ Warwickshire area of the UK. Most of my work is in this area but I do also travel to deliver specific workshops or training to schools in other areas. What types of schools do you work in? I usually teach in primary schools - although I also occasionally teach in nurseries or secondary schools for specific workshops. So the age range that most of my work is with is from school nursery age up to year 6- so age 3 to 11. What classes do you teach?The goal of my business Well-Being Adventurers is to improve physical, mental and emotional health through movement breathing and relaxation. This means that not all of my lessons are called ‘yoga lessons’. The vast majority of my work is within the school day teaching curriculum lessons. These could be focused on physical well-being in PE lessons, or mental and emotional health focus in PSHE lessons. For a long time, I also taught after school - lunchtime - before school clubs. Although I support other kids yoga teachers to do this, I no longer deliver these types of clubs myself. What does this look like? I teach regular, weekly classes for some schools as part of their PE curriculum- this is my reliable income that I know I can trust! I also deliver ‘well-being days’ which are whole school workshops planned around a specific theme, such as sports day or childrens’ mental health week. If you’d like to know dates that these type of events fit in well with- check out my ‘Special Dates Marketing Plan’ What group sizes do you work with? For the majority of the work that I do in schools, I teach full classes. This is usually up to 30 children. If you teach large groups like this and you struggle with managing the behaviour, or maybe you would like to teach this size of group but you are worried about managing the behaviour, check out the training ‘Tame the Crowd without Being Loud’, before it goes up in price. Or, if you are also interested in resources for your classes, you can get this free (along with lots of other training and resources) when you buy Captivate with Cards in November 2024. I do also teach small groups where I focus on the specific needs of the students. Small group work might consist of helping children deal with anxiety, helping children to grow in confidence or regulate emotions. Who pays you? For most of my work, I am paid by schools directly, but for some of my work (my small groups usually) I am paid by Mind, which is a mental health charity that does fantastic work in the UK. How does working in school work? Most of the time, I set up my mats in the hall, I stay there and the classes come to me on rotation. The timetable is fitted around breaktimes and lunchtimes, sometimes I create the timetable and sometimes the school does this. It really depends on the school's preference. Sometimes, I travel around the school and visit each class in their classroom- for example maybe the hall is out of action and I need to deliver a class based lesson. Or, I may be teaching a class based lesson, for example managing emotions during test times (you can get my free lesson plan for this here) How do you know what to teach? The kids yoga teachers who I mentor often struggle with knowing what to teach in classes that are within the school day. Kids yoga training courses rarely focus on this and it can feel daunting to know what to deliver. It is really important that the content that we deliver is aligned with the school curriculum. This can feel scary and is often a source of concern for those kids yoga teachers who would like to teach in schools. Being a previous school teacher has been a real benefit here, especially as I have been subject leader for both PE and PSHE. This gives me a strong foundation on which to build my lessons. In my own classes I follow objectives set out from the national curriculum. If this is something that you feel you would like support in, you might find Structure for Success a useful resource for you, get in now before the price increases. Or alternatively, you can get it for free with the Captivate with Cards training and resource bundle. As you teach so many children regularly, do you run out of ideas for your classes? In a word, no! I used to. In fact, I used to spend a lot of time planning my lessons each week and sometimes I would really struggle to think of new stuff. Also, trying to remember what each class had already learned with me! Sometimes I’d have loads of ideas and then other times it felt like my mind would go blank! This is why I developed my own progression routeway of poses. This is what is taught in the e-course Captivate with Cards. Using this has meant that I actually now spend very little time planning and I know that what the children learn in my lessons is high quality and builds on prior knowledge. If you’d like to learn more about this check out the training and resource bundle Captivate with Cards get this in November and you will also get free lifetime access to the School Yoga Teacher Bundle too! Do you need lots of resources to teach in schools? Not really no. You obviously need more of each pop if you are teaching larger groups, but I actually can’t remember the last time I bought new props as I use the same favourites over and over. You can get my free guide ‘Top of the Props’ this is where I list my favourite props and how I use them. You may also find the video 'Top Prop Tips' useful, here I give ideas and tips for using props. The e-course Props like a Pro gives a more comprehensive guide into using props to support extend and excite within your classes, you can get this before the price goes up, or, for November, get it for free when you buy Captivate with Cards. What documents do you need in schools? The document side of things can be a source of worry for us kids yoga teachers. We want to get things right and ensure that we have everything in place that we need to teach within schools safely. I have a free video on this which you can watch here. Also, don't miss the free checklist here. If you would like to save yourself some time and stress, you can access my own documents that I use in Well-Being Adventurers here in the Document Bundle again, the price of this will be increasing soon or, for November, you can get this free as part of Captivate with Cards. How can I work with you? If you are looking for some more tailored support, perhaps you’ve been asked to create a timetable for a school workshop and you don’t know where to start, or maybe you are working with a class that is hard to manage, or maybe you are second guessing what you are teaching. Why not book a meeting with me and I can help you with whatever you are struggling with in your kids yoga business. If you have any questions that you’d like me to answer, or, if you have any topic ideas, email me at [email protected]- I love hearing from other kids yoga teachers. If you are on facebook, make sure that you join the community of school yoga teachers. The kids that I teach tell me that one of their favourite parts of the class is the part when they can create. In most of my classes, there will be an element of creation. In fact I usually weave creativity throughout my class plans. Why is creativity important to include in your kids yoga classes? Being creative helps children to problem solve, to think critically, perhaps build social skills (if they are working with others) it also gives them a sense of autonomy, which is so important to children. What does creativity look like in a kids yoga class? Being creative isn’t about how artistic you are. It is the ability to make something new, to imagine something original into existence. There are lots of different ways that this could happen in a kids yoga class. Children are naturally creative and oftentimes, all we need to do is facilitate this and give space and freedom. Here are some examples: Warm up:
Create:
Tips to Support Creativity within your Class Scaffolding This is a term used in education that refers to giving children support to help them achieve. It’s not likely that a teacher would say “Write a story” and give a blank page and no previous support. A teacher may provide lots of different scaffolding to support the child to do the best they can. This might look like giving lots of previous experiences of stories, creating a plan together, having access to that plan, providing language banks, images to represent characters etc. Good education consists of providing children with enough support to enable them to be successful. In my opinion, it should be the same in our yoga classes. In my kids yoga classes, this support looks like:
Here are some photos of visual supports that I use in my classes:
Boundaries and Limits When you give children some structure or boundaries, they often feel like they have freedom within that to explore. Here are some examples:
Meeting individual needs Some children struggle with creating, and may need a little extra support. This might look like:
Over time, you can reduce the level of support that is given- if this is the goal. If you found this useful, I think you would really love the e-course and resources bundle Captivate with Cards. You get lifetime access to all the resources that I’ve mentioned here and many more. You also learn how to use them in all of your classes, find out more here: As a special offer for November, I am including the School Yoga Teacher Bundle (worth £235 -approx. $305) absolutely free as an add on to the Captivate With Cards Training. This is only available for November and won’t be repeated again. As well as the totally amazing Captivate with Cards Course and Resources, you will get instant lifetime access to: Props Like a Pro E-Course: Learn how to use props effectively in your kids yoga classes. Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60) Tame the Crowd without Being Loud E-Course: Learn how to work with large groups. Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60) Structure for Success E-Course: Learn how to structure kids yoga classes effectively in schools. Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60) Yoga Club for Schools E-Course: Learn how to plan and deliver fabulous and fun yoga clubs. Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60) The Document Bundle: Get access to this brilliant resource that is jam packed with sample policies, planning grids, risk assessments examples, letters, and contracts to edit and use. Currently £35 (approx. $45) soon to increase to £47 (approx. $60) Why am I increasing the prices for these courses? Currently the courses each have one long video and notes to accompany it. I’ll be spending some time breaking these into bite size modules and adding extra resources and content in, which will add to the value. When you purchase Captivate with Cards Training and Resource Bundle, you will be able to access all of these training and resources for as long as they are available as courses. So there is no problem if you don’t have the time to visit them now. They will be ready for you when you need them. If you would like over £400 of comprehensive training and resources for less than £200, then make sure to get this offer. 📨Email me with any questions you have about this offer, or anything else! |
From Julia
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