How do we get good at something? We practice, practice and practice some more. If we want a child to do well at writing, run well or simply develop gross/fine motor skills; we must allow them to practice daily. Teachers should develop activities that help their students develop motor and self help skills. For instance, my focus child, J.J. needs assistance with developing his self help skills in Toileting. I can implement activiites that allow him to practice pouring, filling, and dumping toys and water in the sensory table. Also he can participate in a game of naming body parts. He can use the Mr. Potatoe Head to identify the parts of the body and/or sing and dance to the song Head Shoulder, Knees and Toes.
Plenty of physical activitiy is important to a child's gross motor development. J.J. will be allowed to run, jump, hop and skip daily. He will be encouraged to climb up and down the slides on the playground and utilize the balance beams. We will play a game of kick ball and soccer.
There are various activities teachers can implement in the classroom to assist students with developing motor and self help skills. For example, teachers can have a center set up for students to play with play dough or cut straps of paper. These simple activities help to build fine motor skills. J.J. will be encouraged to play in the dramatic play center and dress the puppets and dolls. He will get practice with buttoning and unbottoning shirts. This is a self help skill that he needs assistance with. There are various ways teachers can implement activities to assist students with motor and self help skills.
I really like how you mentioned practicing in order to become good at soemthing. I agree completely that teachers must work hard at developing activities that allow children to practice, especially in an area that they are not doing as well in.
ReplyDeleteWorking with J.J. on dressing dolls and puppets is a natural way to teach him how to dress himself. Since this skill is being practiced through play, it doesn't add any pressure on the child to learn how to do this on his own. I also think that a cool idea would be to add dress up clothes of interest to the child in the dramatic play center that he could practice putting on himself. He will be able to button, zip, fasten, ect. clothes on himself. Great way to implement this skill!
ReplyDeleteI like many of the ideas you listed for working at developing gross and fine motor skills. I especially like how you reminded us that as adults we still learn things the same way we did as children-Practice! How true! Remembering this can help us design activities to help children develop the skills they need to become successful learners. It also serves to remind us to have Patience.
ReplyDelete