LTRP Note: Posted for informational and research purposes.
By Elizabeth Harrington
The Washington Beacon
The Department of Education is spending upwards of $2.5 million to bring a mindfulness intervention to kindergarteners in Chicago, where kids can go to “calm spots” in the corner to watch nature videos.
The National Institutes of Health has spent over $100 million studying the New Age meditation technique, but it is not the only federal agency pouring federal funding into mindfulness. The Education Department has introduced a “Calm Classroom” program into 3,000 schools through its Investing in Innovation fund, costing taxpayers $2,513,093.
“Mindfulness is a secular, psychological mode involving non-judgmental focus on present-moment sensations, and has been shown to have a number of benefits to well-being,” the grant abstract for the project states. “Our project offers an innovative approach not only because mindfulness is unique relative to traditional social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, but also because of added elements designed to replenish children’s focus directly back into the content of school, including always-available ways to take very brief ‘brain breaks.’” Click here to continue reading.
Related Information:
The New Age, Occultism, and Our Children in Public Schools
Contemplative Spiritual Formation in Mennonite Sunday School Curriculum
A “Common Core” For a Global Community by Berit Kjos
