By: Quinten Schouten
Sherborne Developmental Movement is a method developed by Veronica Sherborne in England. Because I’m excited about Sherborne, I wanted to share my knowledge with the staff and the children in Amor Village. I have been working years with this method in the Netherlands with children with intellectual disabilities of various levels and ages.
I work in small groups with children and tutors and sometimes together with parents as well. In India, I was a volunteer in a home for children with intellectual disabilities. I had the experience there of Sherborne with larger groups. In this group, the bigger children with mild intellectual disability take care for the smaller multiple limited children, all under the guidance of a teacher and a group leader.
During my last visit in the Philippines, I tried to find out if Sherborne Developmental Movement also suits Amor Village. I did five Sherborne Developmental Movement sessions with the children and two workshops (with a theory part and a practical part) with the Staff. The House parents were present, but also the teachers for special education and the psychologist.
Sherborne Developmental Movement is based on the games that a mother and a child naturally do with each other. Such as: cradles, aeroplane, peekaboo, rocking horse on the lap, swaying back and forth and row your boat. These games are a bit changed so they can be done also with larger children. The games are divided into categories to make it possible to use them for specific purposes. There are no materials needed, only some mattresses.
There are games to get more awareness of their own body, games to get more awareness of the surrounding and games to get more awareness of others. The games get more awareness of others are classified into three types, caring games like cradles, sharing games like row the boat and against games like push backwards with the back. Against games make you beware of your own power and the other person.
The games are the resource and not the goal, they are not an exercise in itself but all contribute to more awareness of the body, to others and the space.
There is also no right or wrong at the games. The attitude of the escorts during the Sherborne is important: open, stimulating, peaceful, positive, sensitive and responsive.
We played many games during the activities and workshops. I made drawings from every game so that the children and the staff can remember and repeat when I’m gone again. There are also pictures and video tapes for the staff to look at the exercises.
It was nice to see how much fun the kids and the staff had during the Sherborne games. The best compliment was that one of the Staff members told me she saw a big smile on the face of one boy who didn’t smile before. This child is seriously disabled. Normally this child is in his own little world and gives no reactions on what happens around him.
The staff said Sherborne Developmental Movement fits well with the method of Amor. Sherborne games are now in their weekly schedule.
