Extra Lesson™

The Extra Lesson™ is a remediation program that incorporates movement, speech, drawing and painting exercises to help individuals with difficulties in writing, reading and mathematics as well as behavioral difficulties. Developed over thirty years ago by Waldorf school educator Audrey McAllen in England, the Extra Lesson™ is an assessment plus a series of movement, speech, drawing, and painting exercises. The premise is that difficulties in reading, writing, and math could be due to inadequate spatial orientation, poor body geography and to sensory integration challenges, including retained early movement patterns. These difficulties may arise from a missed stage in the first seven years of development or from numerous other factors.

Initial Assessment

The assessment is a sequence of exercises and drawings which takes approximately one hour in the office setting. It helps determine if a missed developmental stage such as crawling or midline integration has impacted academic, behavioral and motor skill development.The follow up interview with the parent or individual to review neurodevelopmental history includes questions about:

• prenatal/birth history (including any birth stress)
• crawling, walking, and speaking milestones
• movement activities that are preferred or avoided
• sensitivities to food, clothing and the environment
• learning styles
• childhood illnesses, accidents, bumps and falls

Recommendations will include home activities, supportive therapies such as Craniosacral, referrals to other professionals, and the Extra Lesson™. This is a program of individualized sessions done weekly or twice weekly in the office to help a person work through hindrances so that she may learn with greater ease and confidence.

Duration of Services

Extra Lesson™ sessions occur once or twice a week for one hour each time, often in a series of twelve sessions. Taking a break between series is recommended; school vacations provide such breaks. A person with a mild challenge in handwriting, math or reading may require only one series of twelve sessions while a person with more moderate challenges in several areas may require ongoing Extra Lesson™
for a year or more. It takes a year for the physical body to fully incorporate major changes; therefore a year or more of intervention should be expected for most individuals.