Young children seem to love cats – they are furry, cuddly and cute. Pete the Cat books and Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat offer wonderful opportunities for literacy with a cat theme. If you are looking to extend cat picture books to practice visual motor, fine motor, and gross motor skills here are 6 […]
As technology and screens take a stronger hold on our children’s lives every day, it is important to analyze the relationship between screen time and fine motor skills in preschoolers. Teachers and therapists continue to report that when they observe young children, motor skill development is lacking. Some hypothesize that this is due to an […]
Are you wondering how to teach a child to write his name? Where do you even begin? You might think you pick up a pencil and just get started. Actually, there are many precursor skills that children need to learn before writing their name. Some of the best suggestions on how to teach a child […]
Do you struggle to manage behaviors in preschoolers? The academic expectations in preschool continue to advance leaving some children to “act out” or have trouble following the school routine. Perhaps you have tried behavior interventions like reward charts or positive behavior supports but nothing seems to make a difference. Considering that self-regulation skills and behavior […]
Many preschool classrooms have children sign in each day by writing their first name. For some students this is achievable but for many it encourages poor handwriting habits. During the early preschool years, children are not developmentally ready to form letters. This FREE preschool sign-in sheet is developmentally appropriate for the early preschool years to […]
For the past two months, we asked professionals and parents questions about screen time and young children in order to determine if today’s children are physically ready for school. Children’s readiness for school, according to the National Education Goals Panel, consists of the following elements: physical health and motor development, social and emotional development, approaches […]
School-based occupational and physical therapists frequently recommend and educate PreK teachers on the benefits of motor skill activities throughout the day. An important question to answer is how often should preK students have movement groups? A systemic research review was conducted on exploring the relationship between fundamental motor skill interventions and physical activity levels in […]
Motor Skill Interventions versus Play-Based Lessons for Preschoolers Preschools provide many opportunities for play and motor skill development. Recent research attempted to answer the question regarding the outcomes of motor skill interventions versus play-based lessons for preschoolers. The study participants included 149 Hispanic pre-K children from low socioeconomic status. All of the children were evaluated […]
Motor Overflow in Preschool Children When observing preschoolers complete complex motor tasks, you may observe an increase in motor activation displayed as extraneous movements in body parts not actively involved in the current task. These extraneous movements are sometimes called motor overflow, mirror movements or associated movements. Perceptual and Motor Skills published research examining what […]
Early Childhood Education Journal published research on 68 preschool children (34 low socioeconomic (SES) background and 34 typically developing) to compare the motor skill performance using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 (PDMS-2). Standard scores from each subtest (i.e., stationary, locomotion, object manipulation, grasping, and visual-motor integration) and three quotient scores were calculated for all the […]