Hoop games: http://www.learnplayimagine.com/2013/06/gross-motor-activity-hula-hoop-games.html Hoops & obstacle course: http://www.daisykins.co.uk/daisykins-news/energetic-sports-day/ Boy on log: Personal picture by LMS Hello Classmates and Instructor! This activity of building an activity plan that implements the elements of the information processing model of learning brought much reading and contemplation. The age group I focused the activity plan for included toddlers through kindergarten. The activity intends to assist a child in gaining and refining the foundational skills for executive functions such as memory, self-regulation, inhibitory control, attention and concentration. Movement, specifically gross motor and fine motor control, for the young child is a foundation that builds and refines the integration of neurological and cognitive processes in response to the stimuli and information. As I shared in my classroom post: Neuroscience has revealed that the interaction between our brains, the stimuli and the environment shape, grow and develop the neurological pathways of information exchange and use in our brains. Each time stimuli are received they change the architecture of our brains, shape our next perceptions and influence the way new information will be compared, stored and utilized. (Wolfe, 2010) The activity I propose offers the child an opportunity to focus their attention on an active exploration of movement, balance, control and coordination. These skills require the child to engage with intentional choices to move, stop, balance, push, bend and re-balance in each move. The extensions move toward the child designing and implementing patterns and challenges for the movements as they gain mastery of each step from simple movement and demands to complex balance, movement, positioning and repetition. The intrinsic nature of movement for the young child stimulates their interest, engaging the movements in a series of specific movements progressing from simple two-foot balancing toward complex single foot balanced movement reflects the models concept of learning as a continuous growth in a gradual manner with performance as a demonstration of the acquisition of the skill or knowledge. “Attention is a critical component of processing of information in memory” (Whitman, 2011, p. 171). With the demands for attentiveness to coordinating the body, moving or inhibiting movement the young child engages in concentrative efforts, building the focus that regulates the consolidation of information into long term memory. The relevance of the information and integration of the movement directly serves the child and is useful to them. The motor refinement assists the child in gaining control and integration. “Typical infant growth and development proceeds from the head downward and from the center of the body outward” (CMS- Florida State Gov, 2012). Bilateral fine motor movement coordination of the hands is present prior to those of the legs and feet. The rope and hoop activity will support this child in gaining more refined bi-lateral gross motor coordination of their lower body. Fine motor hand and finger coordination is demonstrated through several activities such as using a utensil for scooping, eating, pouring, cutting shapes with scissors, threading beads and tying laces. Activities that support continued refinement of the upper body bi-lateral gross and fine motor control would offer further support for this child to make progress in gaining lower control. Through the continued practice, focus and refinement of the gross and fine motor movements the child will build the skills necessary for application to later skill demands such as planning, concentration, self-regulation, attentional set shifting, inhibitory control and decision making. “Exercise training programs may prove to be simple, yet important, methods of enhancing aspects of children’s mental functioning that are central to cognitive and social development” (Tomporowski, Davis, Miller, & Naglieri, 2008, p. 14) Resources: CMS- Florida State Gov. (2012). Infant Toddler Development Training. Retrieved from Children's Medical Services:http://www.floridahealth.gov/AlternateSites/CMS-kids/providers/early_steps/training/itds/module1/lesson1_3.html Tomporowski, P. D., Davis, C. L., Miller, P. H., & Naglieri, J. A. (2008). Exercise and children’s intelligence, cognition, and academic achievement. Educ Psychol Rev / NIH Public Access, 20(2), 111-131. doi:0.1007/s10648-007-9057-0 Whitman, D. R. (2011). Cognition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Wolfe, P. (2010). Brain matters: Translating research into classroom practice (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD. ![]()
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Laveeta
Passionate about learning; nurturing others as well as my own. ArchivesCategories |