The Extra Lesson

The Extra Lesson: Movement, Drawing and Painting Exercises to Help Children with Difficulties in Writing, Reading and Arithmetic

This revised and expanded 6th edition of this bestseller, The Extra Lesson, provides careful and thorough instructions for remedial drawing, painting, and movement exercises developed by Audrey E. McAllen, the author of Sleep: An Unobserved Element in Education and Teaching Children Handwriting.

The learning difficulties experienced by students struggling with writing, reading, and arithmetic are addressed and mediated by the activities described in the book. Elementary and high school age students can discover a new connection to who they are and to their tasks and thus overcome obstacles to learning

Topics covered in this book include:

• The Development of Movement in the First Seven Years
• Children with Writing, Reading, and Arithmetic Problems
• Assessment Exercises: Procedures, Interpretations, Recommendations
• Exercises: Exercises to Develop Body Geography; Exercises to Develop Spatial Orientation; Exercises for Supporting Further Integration of Early Movement Patterns, Midlines, and Will Senses; Exercises to Support Eye Movement Development; Exercises for Developing Sense of Rhythm with Harmonization of Body Space and Breathing; Exercises for Establishing Dominance on the Right or Left Side of the Body; Stretching and Lifting Exercises in Relation to the Three Dimensions of Space; Drawing Exercises; Painting Exercises
• Development of Reading through a Living Relationship to Writing
• Arithmetic
• Structure and Timing of Lessons
• Reassessment: Monitoring Progress
• Using the Exercises for Classes or Groups

About the Author

Audrey McAllen is an English Waldorf teacher who has spent a lifetime developing ways to help children who have learning difficulties. She based her work on study of Rudolf Steiner’s indications regarding spiritual aspects of human development and on her observation of and practical work with many children.