Teachers in the Northland are learning a new curriculum that's designed to correct or prevent learning disabilities in students.
SMART Training looks at kids through a developmental, rather than chronological, standpoint.
SMART stands for Stimulating Maturity through Accelerated Readiness Training.
The program emphasizes the connection between physical movement and mental learning.
The three day conference examines age appropriate brain development as well as the impact of reflex and nutrition on learning.
The SMART curriculum's goal is to get every student, who may have slipped behind, back on track.
"What is more common is that the ten-year-old doesn't have the skills of the eight-year-old, so we actually take them back to a much lower level and get them fundamental skills or brain stem skills like balance, tactile input, stipular input, visual input, auditory input that they may have missed, so that they have those readiness skills and they're ready to learn at a ten-year-old level."
Program leaders say the SMART Readiness Program was developed as a response to an increase in child learning disabilities.
The conference is hosted by the Minnesota Learning Resource Center.
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