Why does a reading teacher require a pull-up bar?
In this episode of the Orthodox Health Podcast, Angelique Chaverri, M.S.Ed. joins Dr. Michael Christian & John to explore a question modern education often misses: What is the rest of the child doing while we’re asking the brain to learn?
Angelique works with students through Scholé Academy & the Center for Students for Learning Differences. Her approach brings together reading instruction, movement, posture, proprioception, vestibular function, primitive reflexes, cognitive timing, visual tracking, rhythm, & what she calls classical physical education.
We get into why ordinary childhood movement may matter for learning; the relationship between crawling, walking, balance, posture, eye tracking, & reading; what primitive reflexes like ATNR have to do with development; why older models of physical education included hanging, stall bars, health wands, music, rhythm, & self-defense; what modern schooling may have lost by pushing formal academics earlier; & why Angelique believes physical literacy belongs alongside academic literacy.
But underneath all of it is the question Orthodox Health keeps returning to:
What is the body actually for?
Orthodox Christianity never treats the human being as a brain carried around inside an inconvenient body. We pray, fast, stand, kneel, bow, prostrate, sing, work, play, suffer, & worship as embodied persons.
So why would education be different?
Chapters:
0:00 - Coming Up - When We Got Rid of the Horses
00:56 Orthodox Health Intro
2:25 - Why the Body Participates in Learning
7:14 - Homeschooling Led Her to Orthodoxy
10:32 - Body, Mind, Soul & Child Development
17:15 - Why Does a Reading Teacher Require a Pull-Up Bar?
19:33 - Classical Physical Education
24:37 - Phonics, Sight Words & Modern Reading
32:40 - Cognitive Timing, Rhythm & the “Brain Clock”
40:16 - Primitive Reflexes & Neurological Development
43:29 - ATNR & Learning Differences
47:57 - Primitive Reflexes, Martial Arts & Movement
53:43 - Eye Tracking, Reading & Dyslexia
55:49 - Crawling, Walking & Processing Speed
58:19 - Posture & Learning
1:01:20 - Proprioception, Spatial Awareness & Math
1:06:14 - Swedish Stall Bars & Classical PE
1:11:12 - Did We Push Formal Academics Too Early?
1:13:38 - Why Two-Year-Olds Should Move
1:15:13 - Why Age Seven Keeps Showing Up
1:17:03 - Jump Rope & the Scholar-Athlete
1:19:58 - Physical Literacy & What Needs to Change
1:20:52 - Where to Find Angelique
1:21:40 - Orthodox Formation Is Embodied
1:26:20 - Marina Becomes the Longitudinal Case Study
If this conversation made you rethink what learning is supposed to look like, subscribe to the Orthodox Health Podcast, leave your biggest takeaway below, & share this episode with a parent, teacher, homeschool family, or educator who needs to hear it.
Work with Angelique:
Scholé Academy Website & their Learning Differences Center
The Renaissance Video & The Motivation Factor
The Lean Berets - Youtube
Work with Dr. Mike
Signed Copies of Orthodoxy & The Medicine of the Future: OrthodoxHealth.com/book
Order Orthodoxy & the Medicine of the Future on Amazon
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Intro & Outro Music: St. John of Chicago Orthodox Church Choir (Arkansas) - Please support their building fund by buying the whole album here
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