Help Children of Incarcerated Parents Thrive

Building bonds

In our work with children of the incarcerated, it is so gratifying to see the growth of trust and cooperation among the kids in the program. As they work together and have fun in our dance classes, these children are developing the social-emotional skills and resilience to counterbalance whatever instability they may feel at home. This in turn can help them to overcome challenges in school. We can see that they are building bonds with each other and their instructors. Through positive reinforcement from MindLeaps teachers, the children experience a sense of achievement and gain self-esteem in the mastering of dance moves. Plus, the dance classes are a great focus for their energy!

The newest cohort of ten and eleven-year-olds will begin our program in the Bronx on July 10. An alumni group will also begin summer session classes on that date.

Individual attention and care

For MindLeaps, it is essential to address the unique needs of each child and build relationships with the children as individuals.

8-year-old Skylar is a delightful girl in our program in the Bronx. Though Skylar really liked dance class, her teachers soon noticed that she could become overwhelmed and agitated amid the noise and activity of the classroom. In fact, she has auditory sensory issues that can push her to cry, breathe heavily and become worked up, on the verge of nausea. MindLeaps teachers saw that the music, action, and energy of the other kids in dance class could sometimes be overstimulating for her, driving her almost to the level of a panic attack. One instructor began to work individually with Skylar so she could learn to recognize when she needed to take a break from class and self-regulate before her anxiety got out of control.

Skylar and her MindLeaps instructor worked together on a calming exercise. Skylar would hold out her hand and her teacher would run her fingers over Skylar’s fingertips, as they breathed to a count of five. Switching roles, Skylar then ran her fingers over her teacher’s fingertips, again breathing to a count of five. This exercise really helped Skylar focus on something she could physically touch, as she learned to control her breathing and calm down before her emotions escalated too far.

It has been so rewarding to see how these moments working closely with Skylar have paid off. One day, when she was on the verge of a meltdown, Skylar came on her own to her teacher saying, “I need to breathe.” She had learned to recognize when her emotions had been triggered, and when she needed a moment to herself to calm down, to self-regulate, before spiraling out of control. Enabling self-reliance is one of the key goals of MindLeaps, and Skylar was acquiring the tools to help herself going forward!