FAQ
How does Bee Happy Mindfulness cultivate a climate of well-being?
“Well-being is the experience of health, happiness, and prosperity. It includes having good mental health, high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose, and the ability to manage stress. More generally, well-being is just feeling well” (Davis, 2019). Bee Happy Mindfulness believes that all children should be able to feel well, physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. We foster a climate of well-being through our education programs based in neuroscience, mindful practices, and social and emotional learning (SEL). Bee Happy Mindfulness uses practices that are rooted in kindness, optimism, and awareness, within a trauma-informed and culturally responsive framework.
How does Bee Happy Mindfulness integrate nature and the environment into its lessons?
Bee Happy Mindfulness believes in the importance of connecting students to the environment through outdoor education and nature-based activities. When schools have access to outdoor learning areas, Bee Happy Mindfulness build connections with those environments by getting students involved in mindful awareness activities outside the classroom. If schools have limited access to natural environments, Bee Happy Mindfulness will bring nature into the classroom. Every introductory lesson begins with planting seeds in the classroom to help demonstrate the concept of resilience and what it means to thrive. We plant seeds of kindness, optimism, and awareness and observe how the seeds grow and change when given water, sunlight, and care. We promote mindful action initiatives such as the planting of Koa Gardens in schools and the co-creation of mindful spaces within each educational setting.
How does Bee Happy Mindfulness support brain-based learning?
“Our brains are built to learn and relearn. As a result of the experiences we have and the lives we live, our brains are constantly reorganizing pathways, forging new connections between brain regions, and even creating new brain cells. In other words, our experiences are constantly changing our brains. This ability to adapt as a result of experience is known as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity gives us enormous potential for growth. We have the ability to change the way we think and behave at any point in our lives. Because we change through our experiences, the more we use a skill or thought process, the stronger, easier, and more fluent it becomes” (Kempermann, 2002). Bee Happy Mindfulness explicitly teaches children and educators about neuroplasticity, empowering learners to understand, and thereby adopt a growth mindset.
How does Bee Happy Mindfulness meet the varied needs of students?
We understand that children learn best when they are interested in a topic or activity. We also understand that children learn in different ways, using different modalities. Bee Happy Mindfulness uses a tailored approach, offering a variety of ways to understand an SEL concept. The THRIVE TIME framework includes movement, games, partner work, journal writing, creative exploration, outdoor learning, STEAM challenges, and meditation activities. We incorporate differentiated instruction into our lesson plans.
Many parents ask, how are you going to teach my child mindfulness when they cannot sit still? Bee Happy Mindfulness is fun and interactive, catering to the varied needs of the youth we are working with. We use mindful movement within every lesson because we know that it increases a readiness to learn. Our lessons are active. While mindfulness is often portrayed as stillness and silence, we understand that mindfulness can also be embodied in activity. We encourage and celebrate various expressions of mindfulness.