Zone'in Workshops

Titles:	Foundation Series Workshops   Day One – Sensory Processing; Motor Development   1)     Harnessing Energy: Sensory Tools and Techniques for Responsible Learning 2)     Back to Basics: Printing Skills – The Forgotten Foundation of Literacy   Day Two – Attachment and Addictions; Technology Balance   3)     A Cracked Foundation: How Virtual Parenting is Destroying Our Children 4)     Mixed Signals: Connection to Technology is Disconnecting Child Development   Day Three – Attention and Learning; Successful School Design   5)     Why Can’t Children Sit Still: Movement and Nature Enhance Attention and Learning 6)     Diminishing Returns: Increasing Profits in the Classroom
Provider:	Zone’in Programs Inc.
Activity Type:	Live
AOTA CEUs:	2.1 (21 Contact Hours)
Description:	Day One   Harnessing Energy: Sensory Tools and Techniques for Responsible Learning   Harnessing Energy raises awareness regarding the reasons why Today’s Children are unable to pay attention and learn.  For learning to take place, children are required to process and integrate incoming sensory information from their environment.  This sensation is in the form of energy, and energy from the environment “primes” the body for leaning.  Children who overuse technology, experience body energy that is either charged or zoned out, limiting learning.  Teachers, parents and therapists will experience use of sensory tools and techniques to enable children to self-regulate their energy bodies, to enhance attention and improve learning skill.   Harnessing Energy Handouts   Sensory Observations and Strategies form Zone’in Concept Zone’in Recommended Tools and Techniques   Back to Basics: Printing Skills – The Forgotten Foundation of Literacy   If a child can’t print, they are essentially illiterate.  Children who can’t remember how to make their letters and numbers, or who have poor letter recognition, are delayed in spelling, math, sentence composition, socials, and science. Visual memory attained during letter production impacts on visual recognition necessary for reading.  These often bright children are left behind with labels of ‘learning disabled’, when they really just need to learn to print.  Poor foundation skills at school entry, teachers spending 14 minutes per day average printing instruction, and non-standardized teaching and evaluation methods, all limit achievement of this integral skill.  If we’re still doing it, we’d better be teaching it!   Back to Basics Handouts   Fine Motor Observations and Strategies form Foundation Scale for Grades K-6 Printing Basics Guide   Day Two   A Cracked Foundation: How Virtual Parenting is Destroying Our Children   As parents connect more and more to technology, they are disconnecting from their children at a rapid pace. The result is an unprecedented escalation of attachment disorders, posing new and challenging behaviors for teachers and therapists. Disconnection from self, other, nature and spirit are resulting in child mental health and behavior disorders that are readily being diagnosed and medicated. As attachment disorders can be a causal factor for addictions, and child technology use patterns follow that of the parents, many of today’s “detached’ families have complex addictions that the health and education professionals are only beginning to detect, much less treat. As 15% of children are now diagnosed with a mental illness, it is imperative for all people who work with children to understand healthy attachment formation, and be able to instruct parents to optimize critical factors for healthy child development and learning. As the dining room table is increasing being replaced by the big screen, and family conversation becomes non-existent, the foundations for child development and finally beginning to crack.   A Cracked Foundation Handouts   Attachment Questionnaire Technology Addiction Questionnaire Critical Factors for Child Development Graphic   Mixed Signals: Connection to Technology is Disconnecting Child Development 1 in 3 of children entering the school systems are developmentally delayed, 1 in 3 are obese, and 1 in 6 have a diagnosed mental illness. As the “gap” widens, printing, reading and math literacy become unachievable for many children. Child behavior diagnoses escalate as child aggression creates significant classroom management issues. Why? Elementary aged children use an average 7.5 hours per day of entertainment technology, with over 75% of children allowed technology in their bedrooms. Sedentary, neglected, isolated and overstimulated, the new millennium child can no longer pay attention or learn. Children with technology addictions are increasingly referred to pediatric therapists to treat associated conditions such as tantrums, poor socialization, delayed core stability and motor coordination, and sensory dysregulation. Often misdiagnosed as a behavior disorder or mental illness, these children’s primary condition of technology addiction is not being recognized and treated. Schools are creating Virtual Classrooms, and homes are creating Virtual Families, further alienating children from essential human connection and attachment that is the basis for all learning. Children are our future, yet choices made today raise the question: are the ways in which we are raising and educating our children with technology sustainable? Mixed Signals Handouts Technology Screening Tool Technology Guidelines for Professionals Ten Steps to Unplug Children from Technology Unplug’in Brochure for Parents   Day Three   Why Can’t Children Sit Still: Movement and Nature Enhance Attention and Learning   Nature designed children’s bodies to move, touch and connect for adequate physical, mental and cognitive development.  Attention restorative environments such as “green space” have been shown to significantly reduce ADHD symptoms, yet school and community fears of litigation have dramatically changed how children access outdoor movement and play. Resources that used to go toward playgrounds are now being diverted toward updating schools with technology.  Children are physically moving less, and as a result are not getting the necessary motor and sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems, resulting in low postural tone, poor coordination and fluctuating arousal states – important components for printing, reading and paying attention to learn.   Why Can’t Children Sit Still Handouts   Child Development and Nature Directives Schools Operating Safely – Child Behavior Management Policy Building Foundations/Virtual Futures Diagram   Diminishing Returns: Increasing Profits in the Classroom   Adhd, autism, developmental delay, developmental coordination disorder, learning disability, sensory processing disorder, reactive attachment disorder, depression, anxiety, technology addictions…today’s students are different! Technology overuse is resulting in disabilities that the health and education systems are only beginning to detect, much less understand. Printing, reading and attention delays are the norm, with an ever widening gap in developmental level and consequent skill performance. With a ranking of 15th on the world stage for literacy, Canadian and U.S. schools are faced with making crucial decisions regarding changes to not only classroom, gym and playground environments, but also to curriculum programming, teacher education, as well as revisions to school policies and structures. The educational empire is on the decline, as returns on investments in education of children continue to diminish. Diminishing Returns raises awareness regarding the diversity of today’s student population, and offers specific and immediate solutions that parents, teachers, principals and government can implement in order to adequately address this growing concern.   Diminishing Returns Handouts   Productivity Designs for Classroom, Gym and Playgrounds Productivity Measurement Tool Zone’in Classroom and Gym Stations
Learning Objectives:	Day One   Harnessing Energy: Sensory Tools and Techniques for Responsible Learning ·         Identify critical factors for healthy development, and strategies to promote achievement of foundation skills. ·         Evaluate sensory processing in children, and apply relevant sensory interventions. ·         Relate current technology research to child development, and initiate technology reduction strategies. ·         Apply the Zone’in Program concepts, tools and techniques to Harness Energy and get Zone’in to Learn.   Back to Basics: Printing Skills – The Forgotten Foundation of Literacy ·         Relate current fine motor development and literacy research, to printing and reading problems. ·         Evaluate developmental skill level, and apply early interventions for attaining foundation skills for literacy. ·         Assess 13 specific areas of fine motor impairment, and apply developmentally relevant strategies. ·         Apply the Move’in Program concepts, tools and techniques to improve printing and reading skill. Day Two A Cracked Foundation: How Virtual Parenting is Destroying Our Children ·         Define healthy attachment and identify three types of attachment disorders. ·         Identify four critical factors for healthy child development and attachment formation. ·         Evaluate the impact of technology on attachment and addictions. ·         Apply techniques to improve attachment in home, clinic, daycare/preschool and school-based settings.   Mixed Signals: Connection to Technology is Disconnecting Child Development ·         Relate current technology research to child physical, mental, social and academic impairments. ·         Explore the effects of media violence and cyberbullying on child aggression behavior. ·         Recognize parent, teacher, therapist and physician trends to diagnose and medicate child behavior. ·         Implement balanced technology management and apply clinic, school and home reduction strategies.   Day Three   Why Can’t Children Sit Still: Movement and Nature Enhance Attention and Learning Identify critical neurobiological factors important for attention and learning ability. Evaluate current research on the impact of movement, play and nature on attention and learning. Recognize how fear of litigation and safety concerns might limit achieving critical factors for development and learning. Apply movement and nature initiatives in school, home and community to enhance attention and learning.   Diminishing Returns: Increasing Profits in the Classroom Evaluate how school environments, policies and teaching styles limit child development, learning and achieving literacy. Define productivity and literacy, and review measurement techniques. Identify restructuring plans for classrooms, gyms and playgrounds to improve productivity and enhance academic performance. Create realistic initiatives to achieve success for every child.
Content Focus:	  Occupational Therapy Process: Evaluation   Occupational Therapy Process: Intervention   Occupational Therapy Process: Outcomes
Content Level:	Intermediate
Target Audience:	OT, PT, SLP, teachers
Keywords:	Sensory Processing, Motor Development, Attachment and Addictions, Technology Balance, Attention and Learning, Successful School Design
Instructor: Location/Date:     Course Contact:	Cris Rowan, BScOT, BScBi, SIPT Phoenix, Arizona / January 21-23, 2013 Vancouver, British Columbia / February 18-20, 2013 Winnipeg, Manitoba / March 18-20, 2013 San Francisco, California / April 15-17, 2013 Cris Rowan crowan@zonein.ca 1-888-8zonein.ca
Full Price:	$175 - one day, $300 - two days, $450 – three days
Additional Info.:	SPEAKER INFORMATION: A frequent guest on CBC radio, TV, and featured in CBC TV’s Doc Zone documentary “Are We Digital Dummies”, Cris Rowan speaks passionately about how technology is eroding children’s foundations for development and learning. Cris Rowan is a pediatric occupational therapist who has witnessed dramatic changes how children play, resulting in rising levels of obesity, developmental delay and mental disorders. Cris has first-hand understanding and knowledge of how technology has caused profound changes in a child’s development, behavior and their ability to learn. Cris has Bachelor of Science degrees in Occupational Therapy and Biology, and is a SIPT certified sensory integration specialist.  Cris is a member in good standing with the BC College of Occupational Therapists, and an approved provider with the American Occupational Therapy Association and Autism Community Training. For the past fifteen years, Cris has specialized in pediatric rehabilitation, working for over a decade in the Sunshine Coast School District in British Columbia.                                   Cris is CEO of Zone’in Programs Inc. offering products, workshops and training to improve child health and enhance academic performance. Cris designed Zone’in, Move’in, Unplug’in and Live’in educational products for elementary children to address the rise in developmental delays, behavior disorders, and technology overuse. Cris has performed over 200 Foundation Series Workshops on topics such as sensory integration and attention, motor development and literacy, attachment formation and addictions, early intervention, technology overuse, media literacy programs, and school environmental design for the 21st century for teachers, parents and health professionals throughout North America.  Cris has recently created Zone’in Training Programs to train other pediatric occupational therapists to deliver these integral workshops in their own community.  Cris is an expert reviewer for the Canadian Family Physician Journal, authors the monthly Zone’in Child Development Series Newsletter and is author of the following initiatives: Unplug – Don’t Drug, Creating Sustainable Futures Program, and Linking Corporations to Community.  Cris is author of her new comprehensive and research referenced book Virtual Child – The terrifying truth about what technology is doing to children.
Provider Website:	www.zonein.ca