WHO WE ARE
At the Mindfulness Education Exchange, we teach mindfulness skills to young children through hands-on practice, highly-engaging storytelling, and interactive games and movement activities. Our innovative approach is grounded in current and ongoing research.
OUR PROJECT
We need your support! We are raising funds to offer free mindfulness training to preschoolers and their teachers in high-poverty areas in Tucson, Arizona.
Students will get to enjoy these creative mindfulness classes, while at the same time improving such valuable social-emotional skills as focus, emotion regulation, resilience, self-control, and interpersonal awareness.
WHY IS SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IMPORTANT?
Social-emotional learning is foundational. For any cognitive learning to occur on a given school day, a child must first feel a certain level of security, confidence, and peace. Yet these feelings can be eroded by generational poverty--especially when it is accompanied by trauma and a lack of safety--tipping children, families, and communities toward a whole host of additional challenges.
MINDFULNESS: A KEY TO SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING!
Mindfulness training is a powerful toolbox of concrete skills and strategies that support the building of confidence, resilience, perseverance, and inner strength — which, ultimately, can help young children develop into adults who reach their full potential as powerful, effective, caring, and engaged citizens.
HOW DOES MINDFULNESS WORK?
Mindfulness is noticing what is happening in the present moment, both inside of us and around us. It helps children develop self-regulation, which has dramatic impacts on their ability to manage their attention (focus), emotions (e.g. self-soothing), impulsivity, and relationships (e.g. developing empathy and communication skills).
RESEARCH & OUR PILOT PROJECT:
Research has shown that when children learn these essential social-emotional skills at a very young age, they can overcome many of the obstacles commonly experienced by children in poverty.
Now, with your support, we want to expand this program at that preschool while offering it to other preschools with similar populations, to benefit as many children as possible.
WHAT NEXT?
While we create, teach, and expand our preschool mindfulness program, we will also be developing curricular materials and trainings that will benefit children, teachers, and schools across the United States and, perhaps, the world!
WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS
Our vision is that all children have the skills and support they need to become happy, healthy, and compassionate adults.
At the same time, we see the high levels of stress and lack of resources faced by children living in poverty. Such poverty ultimately affects everyone, and here in Tucson, Arizona, we have one of the highest poverty rates among all western cities our size.
The causes and conditions behind societal poverty are vast and complex, and our project will not single-handedly bring these obstacles to an end. Yet with your donations, we can make a significant difference for a significant number of children, families, and communities.
Thank you for supporting this vision!
