Branch News

Welcome back! we are already in week 3 of the term. thanks for all that have already paid their fees. If you have not yet please do so or we will have to change the name of our company because I cannot afford to pay over my royalties to headoffice. Karen is doing well according to her husband and I will keep you up to date, in the meantime Christine is enjoying you all and cannot stop speaking about how she enjoys giving class to you all ...

May we together have a superb Term 3 with lots to learn!

Lindi

Please read through the following article -

Gross Motor

The movement of the large muscles of the body

Gross Motor Skills are closely linked

to self image and good posture.

A child’s muscle development is apparent from the time he is born. Watch a baby waving his arms and stretching his legs.

At first the actions are quite undisciplined, but gradually he learns to control and coordinate his body. Soon he will be reaching, stretching, grabbing, pulling, pushing, crawling and later walking.

Crawling

Crawling involves many complicated movements of the body – the hands move alternately to the legs. The crawling movement also involves thought patterns which eventually help the child cross the midline of the body and in so doing, enable him to use both the left and right sides of the brain simultaneously.

Actions such as walking, running,

hopping and jumping strengthen

the child’s muscles and develop

agility and self confidence.

Movement is the basis of learning

·         With each new movement he performs, the child discovers new things.

·         He becomes aware of his body parts and his physical abilities and limitations.

·         He begins to understand that his body has 2 planes : left and right and top and bottom.

·         He learns he can move each side of his body independently of the other.

·         He realises that he prefers to use one side of the body. This is called ‘establishing dominance.

Establishing Dominance

·         Most people choose to use their right or left hand for activities such as throwing, cutting, eating, writing etc.

·         Most people prefer to hop on, or kick with either the left or right foot.

·         Most people will always choose one eye when looking through a telescope or a magnifying glass.

Space, distance and speed

The space around us forms an extension of our bodies. Once the child has established an awareness of his body, he learns to judge space and distance.

A child who has a poor understanding of space and distance is usually clumsy. He bumps into things in his path and knocks objects over.

When catching a bean bag or ball, he needs to be able to estimate just how far to stretch his hands.

When kicking a ball, he needs to know where the ball is in relation to his feet.

The child also needs to be able to control the speed of his movements. If the ball is far away from him, he needs to run fast to catch it.

If he is balancing on a row of bricks, he needs to walk slowly and carefully.

Space is related to an understanding of words such as : far, near, under, over, inside, outside, between, behind etc.

Speed is related to an understanding of words and phrases such as : fast, quick, slow, still, hurry-up, don’t rush and take your time.

Balance

When a child is able to control both sides of the body while sitting, standing, bending, walking, jumping, hopping or skipping, he has developed the skill of balancing.

He learns to perform basic action in a fluid agile manner.

For most children, gross motor activities are enjoyable – they help to get rid of excess energy, relieve tension and exercise the muscles.

Gross motor activities help the child to develop a strong and healthy body.

Integrated Muscle coordination

Combining different parts of the body while moving is an important part of Gross Motor Development.

Hand – hand coordination

·         Clapping hands

·         Dough play

·         Construction toys

Eye – foot coordination

·         Kicking a ball

·         Balancing on a row of bricks

·         Jumping onto, into, over or out of an object

Foot – foot coordination

·         Balancing – placing one foot in front of the other

·         Pushing the pedals of a toy car

·         Kicking while swimming

Eye – hand – foot coordination

·         Throwing, catching or hitting an object while running or walking

·         Running while balancing an object – egg and spoon race

All these skills require some understanding of space, position, direction and distance. It would be very difficult to kick a ball if you did not know where it was, or how close it was to your foot.

Low Muscle Tone

Low Muscle Tone is a weakness of the muscles. A child with this condition is usually unable to perform normal every day activities in a well coordinated manner. Low muscle tone is a condition which, in this computer and television age, is unfortunately becoming more prevalent.

A child who has poor gross motor skills may experience some of the problems listed below :

1.      Physical Problems

·         Often causes physical injury to himself due to clumsiness and poorly coordinated movements.

·         May have problems in crossing the midline of his body – this often leads to learning problems

·         Is usually unfit and tires easily.

2.      Emotional problems

·         Is afraid to venture into the unknown

·         Lacks confidence

·         Is afraid to explore and learn new things

·         Is seldom chosen for team games

·         Often becomes a ‘loner’ and does not make friends easily

·         Often lacks the ability to persevere and may give up in the middle of a task

3.      Posture

·         A child who has poor posture does not walk or sit up straight. This often causes concentration problems in school and back problems at a later stage.

4.      Laterality

·         Does not have equal control over both sides of the body

5.      Dominance

·         Is usually late to establish a dominant side

6.      Poor Fine Motor Skills

·         May have difficulty in cutting, writing, threading and doing jigsaw puzzles

7.      Language Skills

·         May have poor communication skills

8.      Spatial Skills

·         Because he has not had the opportunity to learn by exploring and investigating, his experience of space and distance will be limited. He will also find it difficult to judge length and height

·         He may struggle to set his work out neatly on paper and will possibly experience reversal problems when reading and writing letters and numbers. Her will find sequencing activities such as reading and spelling difficult. Problems in the area of mathematics are very often related to poor spatial skills.

Please complete online survey and get a small gift from Head office to show our appreciation for supporting us.

Class times

For more information on age groups please go to in class and for tips on your toddler go to top tips