Mary Lea Crawley founded Mindful Kids after teaching college English for five years and directing Social and Emotional (SEL) learning programs at a mid-size Episcopal church for eight years. She is a Mindful Schools Certified Educator and has been teaching mindfulness to adults and kids for six years. She earned a Master of Arts in Writing from the University of San Francisco and is a licensed teacher in the state of New Jersey.
As an experienced curriculum writer and teacher, Mary Lea enhances the Mindful Schools curricula for her own classes and supplements it with weekly handouts she uses as visual aids.
Mindful Kids offers in-school programs:
- In-class mindfulness lessons for students in Grades PreK – 12
- Teachers Professional Development Classes in Mindfulness
- Self-Respect with Mindfulness for Anti-Bullying Programs
- Brain-Fit 101 for Teens
- Mindfulness and meditation in-school clubs
Mindful Kids In-School Programs for Students include:
- Eight weeks of in-class mindfulness lessons for students (30 minutes a session)
- A one-hour teacher professional development class
- A 60- to 90-minute Mindful Parenting presentation for school parents
- Fifteen-minute start-up sessions with teachers, individually or in small groups
- One mindfulness bell for each classroom
- A mindfulness workbook that can be copied, for each student, to reinforce lesson topics
- Each lesson builds on prior learning. Lesson topics include: Why Mindfulness, Present-Moment Attention, “Calm Down” Breathing and Meditation, Body Awareness, Cultivating Compassion, Handling Test Anxiety, Managing Emotions, Navigating Negative Thinking and Mindful Walking
- Color handouts that illustrate each lesson
- Games, hands-on practice and weekly check-ins reinforce content
Mary Lea can modify the length and frequency of the classes to suit the needs of individual organizations. Mindful education is most effective when it’s taught on a regular basis, over a period of eight weeks.