Education Applications: Performance

After-School Programs

• Facts at a Glance
• Who Needs HeartMath Research-Based Programs?
• How HeartMath Promotes Social and Emotional Learning
• IHM Research Publications and Articles Related to SEL
• Products and Programs for SEL/After-School Programs
• A Story Illustrating How IHM Enhances SEL
• Funding Tips for After-School Programs

Most children are at school about six to seven hours each day. After that, the educational system no longer is in charge of them, and in the case of a great number of American youths, either is anyone else.

In the nations’ more than 105,000 public schools, many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year for after-school programs and extracurricular activities – school clubs, competitive and casual athletics, community service efforts and a wide range of other activities. Besides school districts, there are many government and private efforts to encourage and support these activities. A survey several years ago showed 9 of every 10 Americans believe children should have access to after-school programs. (Though two-thirds lamented that it was difficult to find such programs locally.)

A Place for Social and Emotional Learning

After-school programs, which long have been part of the American educational scene, can serve as ideal settings for what has come to be known as social and emotional learning (SEL), in which children learn to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, form good decision-making and relationship skills and avoid negative behavior. Children have the opportunity to engage with teachers, leaders, peers and sometimes other family members in after-school programs. Such programs offer a more relaxed and less structured environment for teachers and other leaders to introduce games, projects and guided activities that can enhance children’s understanding and development of social and emotional competencies.

The critical role of emotional learning, or emotional intelligence in the development of children, their future behavior and the quality of their educational experience has been explored extensively in the past two decades by researchers at the Institute of HeartMath and elsewhere. Daniel Goleman, founder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, argues that this area of human intelligence is as important, if not more so, than the domain of the mind in determining success in life.

Facts at a Glance: Children who experience social and emotional learning: Behaviors Participate more in school Demonstrate more pro-social behavior Have fewer absences Show less aggression and disruptive behavior Are more likely to work out their own ways of learning Attitudes: Feel a stronger sense of community Have higher motivation and aspirations Better understand consequences of behavior Cope better with stressors Have a more positive attitude toward learning

Who Needs HeartMath Research-Based Programs?

• Leaders and teachers of after-school programs
• Children who participate in after-school programs
• Parents of students

How HeartMath Promotes Social and Emotional Learning

Exploring human emotions, especially those that are positive and intentionally experienced, is a major area of focus at the HeartMath Research Center. Researchers are continually exploring how our emotions affect our psychophysiology – mental, emotional and physical health and well-being.

HeartMath has conducted scientifically controlled studies that have revealed there are pronounced beneficial changes in the patterns of activity in the autonomic nervous, immune and hormonal systems and the brain and heart when we experience emotions such as appreciation, love, care and compassion. There are indications these physiological changes may help explain the connection between positive emotions, improved health and increased longevity. IHM researchers have shown that the heart plays an important role in the generation and perception of emotion.

Consider this excerpt from HeartMath’s Science of the Heart: "Because emotions exert such a powerful influence on cognitive activity, at IHM we have discovered that intervening at the emotional level is often the most efficient way to initiate change in mental patterns and processes. Our research demonstrates that the application of tools and techniques designed to increase coherence in the emotional system can often bring the mind into greater coherence as well." It goes on to explain how your intelligent heart plays a key role in creating "coherence" – an optimal state of balance and well-being – between emotions and the brain.

HeartSmarts – grades 3-5

If, as research has shown over the last two decades, balanced emotions are an important component of successful learning and our overall health and well-being, then making sure children achieve them at an early age should be the goal of every parent and teacher and society in general. In fact, social and emotional learning has gained thousands of proponents in recent years, including mainstream educators, school administrators, counselors, psychologists and experts in other fields who view it as increasingly essential in the education of children in an increasingly complex world.

The IHM Development Division has designed programs, services, tools and technology that teach children to recognize and manage their emotions. HeartMath’s highly acclaimed HeartSmarts^® program employs research that shows: "Young children are naturally heart-centered and eager learners of new social and emotional skills and information. These capacities will serve them well not only in their academic work, but also in their personal development and relationships as they grow up in our technologically advanced world."

At the core of HeartSmarts, as the name implies, is the heart, which not only influences our emotions, as well as all of our bodies’ systems, but also possesses an intelligence that routinely acts in our behalf – when our thoughts don’t get in the way. HeartSmarts teaches children how heart qualities can help them settle their emotions; do better in school and enjoy being there; get along better with other children, teachers and family members; and even have more fun at play.

Here are three excerpts from the HeartSmarts program that illustrate some of its focus: Exploring Emotions Every day we experience a range of emotions – some positive, others negative – all of them with a message. They are what make life matter; they connect us to others, motivate us, make meaning of our experience. Emotions affect our behavior and how we interact with others. They are like "inner weather" that influences how we perceive and respond to life’s challenges and opportunities. Instead of reacting to stressful situations, we have the power to choose to respond in a way that is more beneficial for us and others. Getting in Sync Stressful situations and thoughts affect us both emotionally and physically. Notice what we’re feeling, the thoughts we have, our bodies’ reaction and what we say or do. What is stressful is not necessarily the situation itself but how we react to it. Stress affects us in many ways, including how we learn and perform. Feeling stressed out and blaming or criticizing ourselves and others makes life difficult. We can interrupt the stress cycle. Listening with Your Heart Listening is giving others our undivided attention. When we listen with our eyes, ears and heart, it allows us to hear other people’s words and sense what is important to them. We show our respect and caring by checking to see if we understand their meaning before sharing our own thoughts. Successful conversations are like a game of catch: We take turns speaking and listening. By speaking and listening heart to heart, people discover how they’re the same and how they are different.

IHM Research Publications and Articles Related to SEL

• The Impact of an Emotional Self-Management Skills Course on Psychosocial Functioning & Autonomic Recovery to Stress in Middle School Children: In this independent study using HeartMath training, "Students’ leadership and communication skills improved, and harmful behavior problems decreased. They felt more supported by their families and friends, more comfortable with their teachers and showed increased compassion with their peers. The children also felt more comfortable with themselves, were more assertive and independent in their decision-making, more resistant to the demands of peer pressure, and better able to manage their stress, anger and negative internal self-talk." Read the abstract.
• Science of the Heart: Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance: The science behind the HeartMath System: This comprehensive, insightful document compiles years of cutting-edge research at IHM and will you greater insight into the role of heart in human activities, how emotional imbalance and stress affects us, the importance of learning to achieve heart-rhythm coherence and much more. We’ve put together a special article to give you a preview of this 70-page document. Learn more at Science of the Heart.

Products and Programs for SEL/After-School Programs

• HeartSmarts^®: Ideal for a wide range of after-school program applications. Children learn about their emotions and how emotions impact all aspects of life in games and activities that are simple, visual, and heart-centered. The program’s multimedia format, which includes posters, a flip chart, power points, and much more, provides lessons and skill-building activities that enrich after-school programs and can enhance any activities. Go to: HeartSmarts.
• emWave^® Desktop for Mac and PC: Providing children hands-on understanding is one of the best and most engaging ways to teach them about the link between their emotions and their ability to self-regulate how they feel. After a busy day of school, practicing on this interactive software learning system can calm the internal chaos that often leads to behavioral challenges. When children shift from the structure of school into after-school programs, a few minutes spent with the emWave Desktop for Mac and PC program has been proven to go a long way toward effective emotion-management learning. Go to: emWave Desktop for Mac and PC.

A Story Illustrating How IHM Enhances SEL

A Soccer Camp Story^†

A sports coach, Sharon, taught HeartSmarts to a group of children at an upstate New York soccer camp and recalls how a difficult situation transformed into a valuable learning experience.

"Two teams had to kick the soccer ball in a specific and very challenging pattern. After a few minutes, all I heard were moans and groans: ‘This is too hard!’ ‘I can’t do this!’ ‘Get out of my way!’ ‘You’re doing it wrong!’ One team even ganged up on a teammate and blamed him for throwing everything off."

Sharon blew the whistle and asked the kids to talk about what they were feeling. One after another, they expressed frustration, anger and disappointment. Even though it was supposed to be fun, they weren’t having.

The coach didn’t miss a beat: "This is a great time to shift our attitudes. Heart focus, heart breathing, heart feeling."

The change was amazing. Instead of blaming each other, they took on a new attitude. Everyone began to cooperate more. Team members, who first blamed one boy, apologized and shared the responsibility for their performance. Instead of focusing on their mistakes, the members of each team came up with a new and better way to play the game.

† From "Sharing What You Know," one of the module booklets in the HeartSmarts program.

Funding Tips for After-School Programs: Click here for links to information about a variety of federal, state and private educational funding sources for schools and districts interested in purchasing programs and products from the Institute of HeartMath. Click here for information about the IHM Heart-Based Education Sponsorship Fund and to learn how you can apply to be a recipient.