Hooping Mathematics -by Lauren Hofmeyr  
General Benefits
Develops grace, refined co-ordination both physical and mental, exercise in sequencing, increases core muscle strength, increases fitness levels, develops self-esteem, develops the ability to relax body while working, crossing the mid-line, concentration span development, increases arm strength substantially, left-right balance, develops ability to use momentum to ones benefit, hooping is also great for developing spatial awareness and awareness of other peoples spaces. Hooping also provides many opportunities to look at group dynamics as hooping etiquette is akin to respecting another person’s personal space, and celebrating one’s own and one another’s achievements. And.. hooping makes rote learning fun! On body hooping Waist, hips, chest, knees, ankles, neck. Around the waist is easiest to do/requires the least concentration – thus good to begin with when introducing rote learning with hooping. Children like to try other areas though and become fluent with hooping on various parts of their bodies fast. Hooping in both directions is an important rule to maintain. (NOTE: It is not recommended to hoop on the neck for prolonged periods of time.) Hand hooping Various ways to twirl a hoop using the hands and arms.
It is important to ensure hooping is done with each hand to maintain left-right balance, co-ordination and strength. Hoop Dance Putting together sequences of movements - both hand and body. The Clock (prep. for angles, can also talk fractions/parts of a whole stories) Squat with hoop vertical resting on the ground in front of you. Hold hoop with fingertips – both pointer fingers. Left finger is hour hand, right finger is minute finger (Note: teacher may need to work in mirror image.). Make various times on the hoop clock using fingers. This exercise can quite easily develop into an exercise in estimating angles. When working with a few children to one hoop, then you can do exercises in estimating fractions – by holding the hoop together, each placing his/her fingers appropriately spaced. This is a good way to ground these concepts in a concrete way/apply & present their knowledge. More angles + language: Squat within hoop, holding hoop in front of you, but still flat on the ground. Lift hoop using only hand strength. Call instructions – lift hoop to 45’, lift hoop to 90’, Lift hoop to perpendicular to the floor, lift hoop to vertical position, lift hoop to horizontal position,… This exercise is very good for strengthening the hands – (often too challenging for many of the GR1 & 2s). It’s also a good way to ground these concepts in a concrete way/apply & present their knowledge. 2.Holding the hoop in front of you. Teach the language – diameter, circumference, radius by gesturing these. First I got them to place their noses in the centers of their hoops (checking each other to see that they are centered.), then I got the children to gesture these using their noses! Perception, Control, Concentration and Hand Strength More Exercises Counting in sequence: 1.Hoop on any part of the body while counting backwards from: 100, 133, etc. Keep time with hand claps. Alternate rhythms and speeds. Skip Counting: 1.Hoop on any part of body while skip counting/ skip through hoop while skip counting. (Skip counting: e.g. 5,10,15,20,25,…) 2.Change hoop gesture and skip count backwards. (e.g. 100,95,90,85,80,…) Times Tables Talk: 1.Hoop on any part of the body while talking times tables – from 1x…=… upward. 2.Hoop on same part as above but in opposite direction while talking times tables backwards – from 12x…=… down to 1x…=… 3.Hoop on any body part while talking funnel times table – e.g. 1x…=…, 12x…=…, 2x…=…, 11x…=…, etc. Strengthen: 1.Hold hoop in one hand, arm stretched out to the side. Lift hoop up and down 10x. Recite 10 things that need to be committed to memory (can be math related, of geography, science, etc.) - Note: Can do more or less than 10. For the Gr4’s 10 is limit at this stage – provides a great challenge for them! (Added benefits: stamina and will power.) Hand strength (Finger Exercises): 1.Hold hoop over head using only finger tips . 2.Hold hoop over head using only one finger tip from each hand. 3.Stand hoop on ground in front of you. Stretch out so that back is straight, legs are straight and hoop is at arms length, still upright. Hold hoop standing vertical with finger tips. Do not squash hoop – lightness of touch. 4.Sit cross legged in hoop with hoop touching your bottom at the back. Place both hands on ground, fingers splayed, thumbs not touching one another. Skip count – moving from left to right, then back to left, then to right, etc. Baby finger on left hand is your starting point (number 1.) So, e.g. if doing 3xtable: begin on 3 (left middle finger), 6 (right thumb), 9 (right ring finger), 12 (left ring finger), 15 (left thumb), etc. Press each finger onto the ground when counting it. (Notes: Can be done at desks. Can lift fingers/tap on desk/floor/ground. FROM GR 4 UP only.) 5.Stand exact centre of hoop. Crouch down onto haunches. Grasp hoop in front of you with both hands. Lift hoop to 45’, 90’, etc by swiveling hoop in hands. 6.Stand upright, hoop held vertical above the head, arms stretched upwards. Children move around one another – passing close by each other, but not bumping hoops. This exercise is done in silence (ideally) HOOPING IN HOUT BAY - an interview with Lauren Hofmeyr 
Lauren Hofmeyr (of Sonic Weaver Productions) – a local performance artist, avid trick hooper and Montessori teacher joined the Hout Bay Educational Trust Fund and is employed by the trust to work in the ‘Success Centre’ in Kronendal Primary School (the local, mixed race government school) in the middle of this year. For the most part Lauren is focused on assisting those learners who need assistance with Mathematics and English, but she has a lot more up her sleeve.. For the last two weeks Lauren has been working with the entire school, class at a time teaching Hoola Hooping (or “Hooping”) skills as the academic year is finished and the teachers benefit from the extra time to do marking of exam papers and report writing. She is very inspired by what she has been discovering! In her own words: “For a while now I’ve been thinking about the present curriculum and the problems that I’ve been encountering with the children in the Success Centre… And how to integrate circus type skills such as trick hooping, poi play, clowning, juggling etc into the school program in order to utilize the various developmental benefits that each skill has. Large and small motor co-ordination benefits are obvious ones, perhaps less obvious to some are the excellent positive effects play skills have on a person’s self-esteem (which is one of the areas that I have seen in need of attention in many of the children). Kronendal has a wonderful Acting Principle at the moment – Mr Nathan Levendal, we have had many chats about my ideas and he has been behind me all the way so far . We decided that it would be best to start with Oversize (trick) Hoops as they are easiest to teach first co-ordination wise, they are excellent exercise and they are also very appealing to parents – opening the door for much needed family play sessions. Basically, hoops are loads of fun, and excellent developmental & fitness tools! But only through playing with the children for the last 2 weeks did I fully realize the scope of possibility that the hoop contains. I’ve found that I’m able to ‘cover so many bases’ in one 30min session it is great! We are doing stretch exercises, strengthening exercises on left and right sides, drama trust games that incorporate strength and balance, developing listening-response skills, concentration spans, crossing the mid-line & co-ordination from left to right and visa versa, teaching a variety of tricks simple to complex, playing without being shy of the fact or shy of failure… We have also been doing some group work – which has provided a space for children to ‘unpack’ their emotional suitcases and to look at conflict resolution, leadership skills, and team work as well as creativity and lateral thinking. The potential to assist in the area of Mathematics I also find really exciting! In the Success Centre I have found that one of contributors to the children’s often low or over-inflated self-esteems is Mathematics for two reasons that I can see: 1. The present curriculum makes learning maths easily a great and almost impossible task for many due to it’s design (in my opinion) and 2. the learners do not know their times tables properly due to a number of reasons, one of them being that true rote learning is no longer done in our schools, and without knowing their tables off-pat doing calculations takes so very long that some learners give up before they’ve even started! Mathematics is a big deal in school and feeling like one is useless at it is not a positive thing. So I’ve been playing with ideas as they spring up such as skip counting the times tables while skipping with the hoops, counting backwards and forwards while hooping on the hips, developing the learner’s abilities to see and experience patterns and, once the learners of a class reach a certain base-line skills level, I intend developing times tables dances using words (such as “two times two is four”) in conjunction with sequences of movement, initially working with single tables, then mixing them. I’ve also started introducing sound signals that are linked to specific movements – this develops listening response skills. These can be dropped into the space at any time, heightening the learners ability to remain aware and present within a space and conscious of his/her responsibility to the group.” Lauren went on to talk about some of her ideas about Hout Bay Transition Town and the role of the children within it. But that’s a whole other article, we’ll report on that as it happens. Lauren is contributing to the development of a pilot model for consciousness in education of a wholistic nature with Little Oak Mushrooms. How to make your own Hoop For South Africa the best irrigation pipe to use is HDPE class 10, 25mm outside diameter. Get a 20mm coupling to connect the ends together. All this should be available from a local hardware store that stocks irrigation products. Decorating then with insulation tape. Best is Helerman tape or Nitto. Add half a cup of water for extra weight. Or add some gravel for extra sound. | 
