Home
>
Parenting
>
Promoting Your Childs Motor Development

Promoting Your Childs Motor Development

Assuming there are no serious motor problems present, what can you, as an involved parent, do to help promote your child's motor development? To help ensure she becomes a competent, confident mover who enjoys and therefore takes part in physical activity? The answer is: Plenty!

Practice is one of the most important factors involved in achieving higher levels of skill performance. But one of the most important factors involved in practice is that it not feel like practice!

It's simple, really: All you have to do is play with your child. It should be noncompetitive play, with no pressure whatsoever, and your child should never guess you're trying to "improve" him.

Following are some other general tips to keep in mind:

* Keep the sessions short. It's better to have shorter, more frequent sessions than to wear your child out with a few that seem never-ending.

* Build on skills in a logical order (walking before running; jumping before hopping, etc.). Remember, too, that performing a skill in a stationary environment precedes performing it in a moving environment. An example is catching a ball tossed to oneself versus catching one hit by a bat.

* If you're using equipment (for instance, a bat and ball), be sure it's child-sized. Equipment meant for adults can seriously stack the odds against a child.

* Keep a progression in mind for equipment, too. For instance, if you're working on catching, start with something simple and nonthreatening that allows for maximum success, like a chiffon scarf. Then work your way up from there, perhaps with a balloon, followed by a small beach ball and then increasingly smaller (soft, easily grasped) balls.

* Children need to work on a skill as a whole before attempting its smaller parts. For example, a child needs to feel comfortable with a vertical jump as a whole before she can begin to concentrate on toe-ball-heel landings or the role her arms can play in achieving greater height.

* Be sure your child is dressed in clothing that allows for maximum movement and the possibility of dirtying.

* Whenever possible, demonstrate a skill yourself so your child has an opportunity to see what it should look like. Children need to employ as many senses in the learning process as possible.

Children also need feedback as they practice their motor skills ? and the most important thing you can remember is to keep it neutral and encouraging. We too often believe we need to tell children what they've done wrong ? so they can fix it. But if you do need to make corrections, keep the "sandwich" approach in mind. First, compliment the child on something she's done right. Then suggest a way to eliminate the error. Finally, end with something positive, even if it's to reiterate the first point.

To be truly helpful to a child, we must avoid "moralizing" with our feedback. A jump isn't "good" or "bad." A jump is either high or low, light or heavy. If we use the former descriptors ? or use such general terms as "good job," "good girl/boy," or "I liked that jump" ? we aren't really telling the child anything. He has no idea what was "good" about what he did. But if we describe what we've seen ("You landed very lightly from your jump, with your knees bent. That helps keep your knees from getting hurt."), we not only provide vocabulary for what he's done; we provide useful specifics as well.

Finally, when providing feedback, make sure you give it in small amounts. Young children can generally absorb only one bit of information at a time. So, if your child is practicing his long jump and you're instructing him to "swing your arms out and up and extend your knees and hips on takeoff; then bring your arms back down and bend your knees in preparation for landing," he'll likely miss most ? if not all ? of the information!

Rae Pica is a children's physical activity specialist and author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Rae speaks to parent and education groups throughout North America. To visit her and to read more articles, go to http://www.movingandlearning.com.

post construction cleaning Deerfield ..

In The News:

OpenAI announced upgrades for its ChatGPT Images platform on Tuesday, saying the program can now make more precise edits and produce images more quickly.

Chrome for Android now turns web articles into AI-powered podcast conversations. Get hands-free browsing with Google Gemini's natural audio summaries.

LastPass faces $1.6 million fine from U.K. regulators after 2022 data breach exposed 1.6 million users. Password manager failed proper security controls.

Petco disclosed a data breach exposing customer Social Security numbers, financial account details, and driver's license information due to a software error.

Baseball teams can now analyze complete swing mechanics in normal training environments using Theia's markerless AI system that processes standard high-speed footage.

Smart home hacking fears overblown? Expert reveals real cybersecurity risks and simple protection tips to keep your connected devices safe from hackers.

MIT develops needle-free glucose monitor using light technology. Revolutionary device could replace painful finger pricks for diabetes management.

The ClickFix campaign disguises malware as legitimate Windows updates, using steganography to hide shellcode in PNG files and bypass security detection systems.

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Promoting Your Childs Motor Development

Parenting