Brain House

The Brain House curriculum provides the 5-6s students with a tool for processing their emotions and physical sensations. They benefit from language and frameworks to help them make sense of and communicate their experiences. The 5-6s are introduced to “the brain house,” a construct that describes the brain in terms of an “upstairs” (responsible for logical, flexible, calm thinking) and a “downstairs” (responsible for keeping us safe and experiencing big feelings), with characters that reside on each level. When our brains are working optimally, messages easily traverse the “staircase” between the upstairs and downstairs brains; when a downstairs character is experiencing a big feeling, however, they can “close the gate” to the staircase, so rational messages from upstairs characters don’t get through. The 5-6s use the “brain house” schema in several, empowering ways: to understand that everyone struggles with emotional regulation; to be able to describe what’s happening to them from a more objective standpoint (e.g., “Angry Alex really made me close my gate”); and to generate specific strategies for keeping their staircases open.