Matters of the heart

Children do better in school thanks to "heart computer"

Marco Visscher | June 2005 issue

A whirlpool. That’s what 11-year-old fifth-grader Bart Hazelhof thinks about when he wants to calm down. If Bart concentrates on the image of a whirlpool, his restless thoughts (about an argument, an upcoming test or an exciting game) fade into the background. Since a HeartMath program was installed on a computer in his classroom at the Laurentius school in the Dutch city of Delft, Bart can see the effect of his whirlpool for himself. With an optical sensor placed on his finger, the screen shows in sharp detail how calm Bart really is: a bar turns red when he’s distracted, green when he’s focused and blue when he’s in between. After a HeartMath exercise lasting a few minutes he says: “Ok, now I feel recharged.”

The introduction of the HeartMath’s “Heart Brain Learning” program in the classroom has produced spectacular results: the children’s performance has improved enormously. And that’s not surprising, says their teacher Michèle Mosch. “When children aren’t stressed, but relaxed, they learn more easily.” Bart mainly notices the difference with math. In a short period of time he made major strides—and he believes the “heart computer” is the reason why.

Not only do boisterous children calm down, the exercises help the quieter children loosen up a bit. In short, children feel better in their skin, says Mosch, who has had the computer in her classroom for 18 months. Her students spend around 10 minutes a week on it. “Conflicts and arguments are more effectively resolved,” Mosch says, “children take one another more into account.” The school administration has recently verified that absenteeism is markedly lower than it was. Mosch suspects this is due to the effect of the HeartMath equipment.

The Laurentius school, which focuses on children with learning and behavioural disabilities, is not the only school that is using the HeartMath technology. Throughout Europe, North America and some countries in Asia and Latin America, schools—from elementary to special education and high schools—are using the program. Everywhere it is used, students’ reading and math skills are improving, they are calmer and less affected by stress and fear of failure. “This should be required,” Mosch believes, “for all elementary schools. It will be a tremendous help to education.”

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