This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Building a Reading Brain.
. . .
A story of supporting change in movement patterns
I was working with Simon, age eight. This was his first Brain Gym session, and I had invited him to do some movement activities with me.
We got to the Cross Crawl and he consistently brought his elbow down to his same-side knee: right elbow to right knee, left elbow to left knee—over and over.
I did not correct him. After a few moments, I just invited him to notice. 
The Cross Crawl
I said, “Simon, can you see how I’m moving?” I was slowly bringing my elbow to my “other side” knee, back and forth.
We both kept moving, but Simon was now paying attention to what I was doing. He came to a full stop and continued looking at me, and then actually looked down at his own legs.
I could almost see the “Oh! I get it!” light bulb switching on over his head—then he raised his right knee and brought his left elbow over to it, followed by left knee and right elbow. Back and forth.
He continued for some time, with relatively smooth Cross Crawl interspersed with momentary relapses into the one-sided movement—typical for the learning process. But by the time we were finished, Simon was pretty smoothly Cross Crawling. He was incredibly pleased with himself!
How did this come about?
I simply modeled the Cross Crawl, and invited Simon to notice what I was doing.
Then he noticed what he was doing. And he self-corrected.
I honored the amount of time this required.
Key take-aways:
1. This is what learning looks like.
2. It’s impossible to change something we haven’t noticed for ourselves.
When I do see that some guidance would be helpful, it’s never as an intrusion—it’s an offer—and always with permission.
I ask: “Would you like to see an easier way to do this?” or “May I help you figure that out?” or “Would you like me to show you how this pattern goes?” We work as a team.
It's so incredibly wonderful to share Brain Gym this way! And when kids get it on their own, they really get it!
Warm regards,
Photograph Copyright© Kathy Riley Brown
And--Yes, you see me adding in my middle name, Riley, in my signature. It feels right to use my full name, Kathy Riley Brown, in future writing projects. And maybe even a new website. Stay tuned!
