Meet the Midlines
Coordinated Movement
Young children are in charge of one of the most complex machines ever created: the human body. With all its moving parts, it’s no wonder they’re a bit clumsy. But nature has a plan for smoothing out all that movement. Meet the Midlines.
Defining Coordination
Being well coordinated means the ability to move different parts of the body independently or together with ease and at will. This includes different parts moving in different ways at the same time (e.g. dancing). Or one or more parts remaining still while other parts of the body are active (e.g. scootering).
What are the Midlines?
The midlines are an efficiency strategy employed by the brain to manage all those moving parts.
Invisible to the eye, imagine the body divided by three lines. One midline is drawn down the center, separating left from right. The second midline separates top to bottom. The third, front to back.
This grid-like system is a slow natural process that helps your child learn to isolate individual body parts for independent movement. (Think rubbing your tummy while patting your head!)
Much More Than Coordination
But here’s the real genius of the midlines. While the body and brain work together to master complex movement, all of that physical stimulation is building and strengthening millions of neural pathways across the midline of the brain. This super-charges the brain’s processing speed and power, unlocking deep reasoning and problem solving, imagination, creativity, and invention.
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Fully realized coordinated movement takes all of the early years to achieve, from birth to 7+. So yes, in the meantime, they’re a bit clumsy. But don’t worry. That’s just the midlines figuring it out.
Farmer Gates
The farmer needs our help to coordinate the farm animals using just our arms and legs.
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And there's more...
