In our primary school classrooms, we, teachers, are each day the conductors of a wonderfully heterogeneous ensemble. Each student is a unique instrument, with their own rhythm, their own tone, and their own way of learning. Some grasp concepts with disconcerting ease, while others need more time, different approaches, or struggle with difficulties that we do not always know how to name. Managing this diversity is both the heart of our profession and our greatest challenge. How can we ensure that every child, regardless of their profile and needs, can not only keep up but also thrive?
The answer, we are convinced at Dynseo, is not solely found in textbooks or exercise sheets. It lies in a more holistic understanding of the child, an approach that recognizes the inseparable link between body and mind. A child is not a brain that we fill with knowledge, sitting quietly in a chair. They are a being in full development, whose body needs to move for their mind to awaken, focus, and learn.
It is with this conviction, and drawing on feedback from many education and health professionals, that we have developed our tools. Today, we want to talk to you about how we conceive learning and well-being at school, through the alliance of our COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE applications, and our training program designed to equip you to face DYS disorders. Our goal is not to offer you a miracle solution, but to share with you concrete tools and a pedagogical philosophy that places movement and inclusion at the center of the success of all students.
For a long time, physical activity at school has been confined to the playground or Physical Education (PE) hours. These moments are essential, but we believe that movement has a much more fundamental role to play on a daily basis, directly within the classroom. It is not the opposite of intellectual learning; it is its fuel.
The brain in action: how physical activity prepares for learning
When we ask a student to remain seated and focused for long periods, we sometimes struggle against their own biology. A child's brain, and even that of an adult, needs movement to function optimally. A short session of physical activity, even just a few minutes, has direct and beneficial neurochemical effects:
- Oxygenation of the brain: Physical effort increases heart rate and blood circulation, bringing more oxygen and nutrients to brain cells. A better-irrigated brain is a more alert and efficient brain.
- Release of neurotransmitters: Moving stimulates the production of dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. These "molecules of happiness" and motivation play a crucial role in mood regulation, stress reduction, and improved attention capacities.
- Creation of new connections: Physical activity promotes neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to create and reorganize neural connections, a process at the very heart of memorization and learning.
Integrating movement in the classroom is therefore not a waste of time, but a direct investment in our students' cognitive availability.
Going beyond the traditional view of PE
Traditional PE is often focused on performance, competition, and learning specific sports techniques. While this approach has its merits, it can also leave aside students who are less comfortable with their bodies, less coordinated, or simply less competitive. Our vision, through a tool like COCO BOUGE, is to offer a complementary alternative: "adapted sports" in the classroom. It is not about replacing PE, but using movement as a daily pedagogical tool, accessible to all, without complex equipment and without performance pressure. This is the idea of "active breaks": short sequences of playful movements to reactivate the body and mind between two more sedentary activities.
COCO BOUGE: Adapted sports as an inclusion tool in the classroom
In light of the fact that not all students benefit equally from traditional physical activities, we created COCO BOUGE. It is an application for physical activities and relaxation, designed to be used directly in the classroom, projected on a digital board or tablet, and guided by our little character, Coco. The goal is simple: to get children moving in a fun, structured, and above all, inclusive way.
A solution for all student profiles
One of the main challenges of physical activity in school is to adapt to the diversity of bodies and abilities. COCO BOUGE was developed with this concern in mind. We made sure that every child could participate and feel valued.
- Varied and non-competitive activities: The proposed exercises cover a wide spectrum: animal yoga, mime, coordination exercises, balance, relaxation... The emphasis is on the pleasure of moving and body awareness, rather than comparison or performance.
- Progressive levels of difficulty: Each activity can be adapted. The teacher has the control to choose the intensity and complexity of the movements, thus allowing for a challenge suited to each class group.
- Clear visual and auditory guidance: Coco demonstrates on screen, and the vocal instructions are simple and encouraging. This dual guidance is particularly useful for students who have difficulties with comprehension or information processing.
COCO BOUGE thus transforms movement into a universal language where everyone can find their place, whether one is a great athlete or a more reserved child.
How does it work in the classroom?
Imagine the scene. It is 10:30 AM, after a long math session. The restlessness rises, eyes wander, concentration wanes. Instead of raising your voice, you launch COCO BOUGE on the digital board. In five minutes, guided by Coco, the students perform a few yoga poses, mimic a crab's walk, and finish with some deep breaths. The energy is channeled, bodies have relaxed, and minds are refreshed. The students are now ready to tackle the French lesson with renewed attention. This is the power of a well-executed active break.
Inclusion through play: the case of students with specific needs
For students with learning disabilities, such as DYS disorders, the approach of COCO BOUGE proves particularly relevant.
- For a student with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD): These active breaks provide a structured outlet for their need to move, allowing them to better concentrate during the calm periods that follow.
- For a dyspraxic student: Coordination, gesture planning, and body awareness exercises, presented in a playful and repetitive manner, can help improve their motor skills without the stigma of a rehabilitation session.
- For an anxious student or one having difficulty managing their emotions: The relaxation and guided breathing modules are valuable tools for learning to calm the nervous system and return to a state of calm.
By offering an activity where everyone participates together, without judgment, COCO BOUGE helps strengthen group cohesion and improve the self-esteem of the most vulnerable students.
The body-mind alliance: Combining COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE
If movement prepares the ground for learning, cognitive stimulation is its cultivation. That is why our ecosystem does not stop at COCO BOUGE. Its twin, COCO PENSE, is entirely dedicated to training cognitive functions. The real magic happens when the two are combined.
COCO PENSE: Stimulating cognitive functions
COCO PENSE is our program of brain games designed for children from kindergarten to the end of primary school. Each game targets specific cognitive skills, which are the foundations of all school learning:
- Working memory
- Attention and concentration
- Logical reasoning
- Spatial awareness
- Language and vocabulary
Presented in a fun and engaging format, these exercises allow for targeted work on these essential skills, while adapting to each child's level through intelligent algorithms.
The winning duo: an example of a pedagogical sequence
The articulation between COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE allows for the creation of dynamic and complete learning sequences. Using these two tools is a bit like orchestrating a workout for the brain: you start with a warm-up, follow with the main effort, and finish with a cool-down.
Here is a typical sequence we could imagine in a second-grade classroom:
- Concentration phase (10 min): We start with a COCO PENSE game targeting visual attention, such as a "spot the difference" game or an exercise to find the intruder. The goal is to mobilize the students' concentration on a specific task.
- Active break (5 min): Just after this attentional effort, we launch a COCO BOUGE session. For example, a dynamic sequence of "Simon says" version Coco to release tensions and re-oxygenate the brain.
- Memorization phase (10 min): The brain is now alert and available. This is the ideal moment to propose a COCO PENSE game focused on working memory, such as a sound "Memory" or a logical sequence to reproduce.
In this configuration, COCO BOUGE is not just a simple break, but a strategic bridge that optimizes cognitive conditions for the next activity. We "reset" the child's attention system to make them more receptive.
Identifying and supporting DYS disorders: our commitment beyond the applications
Providing digital tools is part of our mission. But we know that the most powerful tool in a classroom remains the teacher. An informed, trained, and confident teacher is key to spotting difficulties and implementing necessary adaptations. That is why we have developed a specific training: "Identifying and supporting DYS disorders in primary school."
The key role of the teacher: first observer
As a teacher, you are on the front line. You spend hours each day with your students and are the first to notice warning signs: a student who systematically reverses letters, who has very difficult handwriting, who struggles to understand the logic of numbers, or who seems "clumsy" in a recurring manner. However, it is not always easy to distinguish between a temporary difficulty and a structural disorder. Without the right keys for interpretation, one might miss an early diagnosis or, conversely, worry unnecessarily.
Our training: keys to understanding and acting
Our training, available online, has been designed to give you these keys. Our goal is not to make you speech therapists or psychomotor therapists, but to equip you to:
- Understand: Demystify what dyslexia, dysorthographia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and ADHD are. Know their concrete manifestations in the classroom.
- Identify: Learn to spot relevant warning signs and know how to guide families to the appropriate health professionals.
- Support: Discover and learn to implement simple and effective pedagogical strategies and adjustments to help these students daily in your classroom. This ranges from adapting materials (font, line spacing) to how to give instructions or structure an assessment.
This training is designed to be pragmatic, filled with concrete examples and tools directly applicable in your classroom practice.
How training and our tools complement each other
The training gives you the "why" and "how" theoretically, while our COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE applications offer you the practical "what." After completing our training, you will better understand how a COCO PENSE game that works on phonological awareness is a valuable ally for a dyslexic student, or why COCO BOUGE coordination exercises can support a dyspraxic student. The tools then take on their full meaning and become targeted levers for a differentiated and inclusive pedagogy that you master.
Towards a pedagogy of well-being and success for all
Ultimately, our ambition is to contribute to a school where every student feels competent, recognized, and safe to learn. The reasoned integration of movement, playful cognitive stimulation, and teacher training are the three pillars of this vision.
The impact on the classroom climate
When students have regular opportunities to move positively and non-competitively, when cognitive activities are presented as fun challenges rather than chores, and when students with specific needs receive appropriate support, the entire classroom climate is transformed. We observe less tension, more mutual support, and a more positive collective energy directed towards learning.
Autonomy and self-confidence: the silent victories
For a struggling student, every success, even small, is an essential victory. Succeeding at a level in a COCO PENSE game, managing to hold a yoga pose in COCO BOUGE, are experiences that nourish self-esteem. They prove to them that they are capable, that they can progress. Gradually, this confidence gained in the playful context of our applications can transfer to more formal learning. It is by sowing these small seeds of success that we help students build a positive image of themselves as learners.
Our approach at Dynseo is to support you, the teachers, in your essential mission. With tools like COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE, we offer you resources to animate your classroom and respond to the diversity of your students. With our training on DYS disorders, we aim to give you the confidence and skills to leave no one behind. Because we are convinced that it is by taking care of both bodies and minds, and by equipping those at the heart of the educational reactor, that we will together build a fairer, more dynamic, and more fulfilling school for all.
The article "Adapted sports in primary school: COCO BOUGE for all student profiles" highlights the importance of adapted physical activity to promote learning in children. An interesting complementary approach is the body-mind alliance, which combines COCO PENSE and COCO BOUGE to optimize learning. To delve deeper into this theme, you can consult a relevant article on therapies that can help a child with autism by following this link. This article explores various therapeutic approaches that can be beneficial for children with specific needs, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach in the education and development of children.