As a parent, you know there is no greater gift you can give your children than a thorough, well-balanced and relevant education. You want them to grow up curious about their world, connected to the wisdom and inspiration of their hearts and comfortable with themselves and others.

The Institute of HeartMath understands that you have wonderful hopes and dreams for your children and we’ve been working for many years to help you achieve them. We have a team of dedicated researchers who’ve explored the physiology of learning extensively and have enlightened the education community about the science behind children’s ability to learn – what helps them and hinders them and how they can get the most out of their learning experience. HeartMath has helped thousands of children around the world realize their maximum learning potential by helping them manage and overcome the anxieties, fears, emotional turbulence and other issues youngsters face today.

Whether your children learn in a traditional classroom setting, are home-schooled or are receiving their education in other ways, HeartMath’s scientifically based and easy-to-use tools, technology and learning programs, tailored for varying age groups, will help them step into their personal "zone of performance," a place where learning is exciting, fun and meaningful. HeartMath takes the dread out test-taking and improves scores and makes homework easier. Equally important, it helps your children feel better about themselves and more confident in their abilities. You’ll notice an immediate improvement in their attitude, behavior and overall well-being.

Students

The Institute of HeartMath understands that emotional stressors such as anxiety, fear, dread and anger, among others, don’t disappear when you put your books down or leave campus for the day. They can be just as pervasive and destructive in your room lying on the bed while reading three chapters for history or writing an English essay at your desk. All that "noise" and mental static from the day’s events, problems you’re having with someone or anxiety over of an impending test keep right on sapping your energy and motivation and blocking recall of stored knowledge you need to do homework.

HeartMath’s home study solutions can ensure that when you’re around the house, where distractions and disruptions can sometimes turn homework into a nuisance and keep you from doing your best work, you’ll know just what to do to get back "in sync" so you’ll get the most out of your efforts.

We all know in our hearts we need to go to school, so wouldn’t it be great if we could transform our educational experience into something to look forward to every day. We can, and an excellent beginning for tackling everything from emotional turbulence to problems getting along with others – boyfriends and girlfriends included – to boredom with school is HeartMath’s highly effective and widely praised TestEdge^® learning program. You can experience this exceptional tool right at your home computer and begin taking charge of your life, doing better on your schoolwork and liking school more than ever before.

Physiology of Learning

TestEdge, like IHM’s other home study solutions, was developed and tested after extensive scientific research into the physiology of learning. Before our development team could come up with materials, tools and technology that would be suitable for home use by students, our research team had to learn how and why they learn so we could determine how to help.

Researchers found there is a measurable physiological state underlying optimal learning and performance. They found that our emotions are calm and our brain, nervous system and other bodily systems function with increased synchronization and harmony when we are in this state. In simple terms, we’re highly in sync – physically, mentally and emotionally. In turn, this facilitates the higher cognitive processes critical for reasoning, creativity and focusing attention – all essential for effective learning, academic achievement and social success. In other words, bridging emotions and academics can lead to student success.

Researchers achieved a major breakthrough when they discovered that heart-rhythm patterns were a highly accurate measure of a person’s mental, emotional and physical states, so they tested person after person to see how their feelings and thoughts affected and reflected these patterns. When someone was angry, anxious, fearful or perhaps fatigued, his or her heart-rhythm patterns were liable to be jagged, erratic or unbalanced, but others who were calm and only feeling emotions such as caring, appreciation or love had patterns that were smooth and balanced. Read more in our Education Research.

HeartMath’s Home Study Solutions

TestEdge^® CD Interactive Learning Program for grades 9-12+ (for Home or Classroom)

This software program teaches your teen to overcome test anxiety and learning blocks and understand how their emotions and attitudes are affecting your schoolwork. If test-taking or learning is stressing them, TestEdge’s heart-based approach to bridging emotions and academics for student success can transform their educational experience. A controlled study, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, found the TestEdge program was highly successful in reducing test anxiety in students who participated in it. This TestEdge program includes five video lessons with actors and flash animations, interactive sessions and a review of key points. Your children will learn on your home computer how to use positive emotions to get "in sync" and stabilize their brain’s electrical activity. This "cortical facilitation" is associated with improved comprehension, memory recall and the ability to solve problems – all skills to enhance academic performance. Go to TestEdge CD for Grades 9-12+.

TestEdge CD Interactive Learning Program for grades 6-8 (for Home or Classroom)

This scientifically researched multimedia software course teaches proven tools and strategies demonstrated to help your children overcome test and performance anxiety, reduce discouragement, learning blocks and memory jammers, boost focus and clarity and promote positive feelings about school and learning. Among the program’s highlights are Getting the Edge – how attitude, motivation and emotion affect performance; Freeze-Frame^®, a powerful tool to use before and during high-stakes tests to lower stress and test anxiety; Getting in Sync – how to get into the optimal physiological state – ‘the zone’ – for learning and test-taking; and Food for Thought – why diet so strongly influences your children’s brain alertness. Go to TestEdge CD Grades 6-8.

The Inside Story: Understanding the Power of Feelings

The Inside Story by Doc Childre and the Institute of HeartMath is a powerful booklet – it can also be downloaded – that helps your teens and young adults understand the connection between their emotions, health, performance and daily lives. The engaging and visually pleasing text is clearly written and full of vital information pertaining to the latest research in neuroscience, emotional physiology and stress. It guides them through key ideas, a series of reflective activities and Freeze-Frame^®, one of the Institute of HeartMath’s most powerful and widely used stress-management tools. This scientifically developed and tested tool promotes healthy behavior and psychological well-being in teens and young adults and reduces emotional turmoil, anger, hostility and depression. It includes illustrations, cartoons, factoids and diagrams. The Inside Story, addresses the National Standards for Health Education in high school. Read more about The Inside Story Booklet. The Inside Story Teacher’s Guide CD and The Inside Story Classroom Program also are available.

Teaching Children to Love: 80 Games & Fun Activities for Raising Balanced Children in Unbalanced Times

This e-Book by HeartMath founder Doc Childre presents new perspectives and building blocks for new levels of intelligence, emotional management, deeper communication and self-security – helping your children feel positive and hopeful. This e-Book includes an explanation of the physiology of heart intelligence, instructions for three of HeartMath’s core techniques and entertaining games and activities to instill them. It gives your children the know-how to deal with challenges and make positive, intelligent choices with the wisdom and emotional balance needed to meet today’s challenges. Each activity is easy to use, has a learning purpose and step-by-step instructions that show age range, time allowance, number of players, location, equipment needed and variations. Teaching Children to Love is for parents, childcare providers, counselors and everyone responsible for loving, educating and caring for children. All games are kid tested and kid approved. Go to Teaching Children to Love.

Teen Self Discovery: Helping Teens Find Balance, Security & Esteem

Doc Childre writes for the teen in everyone in this informative work that helps teens understand and manage their stressful perceptions and reactions to life, making it easier for them to bring about healthy, positive choices. Being heart smart is about taking responsibility for your actions and reactions so you can make your day-to-day life feel more like surfing by riding the waves of emotions instead of letting them engulf you. Your children learn to improve relationships with themselves and others and develop deeper communication through heart understanding and the power of appreciation. Widely used and praised by parents, educators and counselors. Go to Teen Self Discovery.

emWave^® PC/Mac Stress Relief System

A perfect complement to your children’s/students’ home study is the emWave PC/Mac Stress Relief System. They can revitalize their minds, bodies and spirits in the privacy of their homes. They can watch their heart rhythms in real time on the home computer monitor, see how emotions affect them and discover which emotions they can activate to effectively manage stress and emotional conflict and boost vitality. HeartMath’s 19 years of research has shown emotions are reflected in our heart-rhythm patterns. The emWave PC/Mac software program teaches the student how to intentionally shift to a positive emotional state and then watch how shifts in their heart rhythms create physiological responses. Stress will diminish and feelings of well-being and energy will increase. Track progress through user-friendly graphics, play interactive games and experience the Coherence Coach™ and Emotion Visualizer™. For ages 6 and up.

A national study funded by the U.S. Department of Education found that the ability of students to self-activate a positive emotional state was associated with a reduction in test anxiety as well as improvements in test scores on high stakes tests. It’s not surprising that schools and universities around the country are installing emWaves in their computer labs, classrooms, counseling centers and libraries. Go to emWave PC or emWave Mac.

emWave^® Personal Stress Reliever

When your children are at home, poring over schoolwork, there are times when it’s hard to stay on track and remain focused, or maybe they simply would rather be doing almost anything else, despite knowing they need to complete the task at hand. The emWave PSR handheld is ideal at such times. Your child can get up, take a break for a couple minutes, sit at the desk, perhaps in the back yard or elsewhere around the house and use the emWave PSR, which is no bigger than the typical cell phone, to check his/her stress level and make sure the day is stress free. If your children are going somewhere and have to do schoolwork later, no problem. This portable device can be used anywhere to show them how stress is affecting their bodies and how to manage, reverse and prevent its effects. Based on years of scientific research, the emWave PSR uses a patented heart-rate-variability measurement and coherence scoring process. When your children most need to move into "the zone," the emWave PSR, for ages 8 and up, can help them get there fast. Go to emWave PSR.