Her research indicated that participatory movement-based activities from SMSMAN's blog

Booker’s inspiration came during her second year, while she was volunteering at the College’s Early Learning Center. She noticed that activities involving movement yielded enthusiastic results among the children, ages 3–5. “Students who weren’t really verbalizing their understanding of concepts would open up and engage more,” she says. “After that, I read an article by a teacher who said she wished she had more resources for her students to engage in movement. So I said, ‘I’m going to do that.’”

Utilizing the Harold F. Johnson Library, Booker Rudolf Booker pored through academic articles and studied concepts such as Laban’s movement analysis and early-childhood-education models from Reggio Emilia and Rudolf Steiner. She then combined what she discovered with interviews with teachers to formulate a practical guide to integrating movement in early-childhood education.

Her research indicated that participatory movement-based activities had significant benefits for children, but, she says, these activities are being phased out and replaced by straightforward academics to satisfy federal performance requirements.

“Taking movement out of educational programs is not helpful to children. Movement enables them to develop motor skills, social competence, spatial awareness, and a deeper understanding of concepts they’re being taught,” she says. “When you process something physically, you can understand it cognitively and it's easier to remember.”