Get a Grip on Your Child’s Perceptual-Motor Development

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Submitted by Kids ‘R’ Kids of Atlanta, GA. Kids ‘R’ Kids proudly offers numerous schools in the greater Atlanta area ready to give you a tour! To find a location near you please visit www.kidsrkidsatlanta.com.

Running, jumping, hopping, and throwing, you’ve probably found that your three-year-old child loves to do all of these at the same time. Even though she isn’t ready to qualify for the Olympic games, she wants your attention and applause all day long. She says, “Watch me! Watch me!” and you say, “Good job, honey!” after she completes a three-inch high jump or a six-inch long jump. That’s far!

But childcare experts will tell you that this is more than just “play”, these natural activities are an important part of developing your child’s perceptual-motor skills.

You’re probably wondering, what’s perceptual-motor development? When childcare and early learning experts speak of perception and perceptual development, they are referring to the brain’s ability to interpret information received through the five senses: sound, sight, taste, smell and touch.

In many activities, a child’s muscles must work in conjunction with his or her physical perception of the world around him. The ability to combine motor activity with perception is referred to as perceptual motor skill, like hand-eye coordination. Perceptual-motor skills play an important part in later school-related activities such as reading, writing and arithmetic as well as sports.

It’s wise to focus on developing your child’s perceptual-motor skills since many of them are established during the early childhood years. This is why it’s important to work on your child’s fine-motor skills like finger dexterity, and gross-motor skills during this particular period of their lives.

You, your daycare, infant childcare experts, preschool, or early childhood learning centers have probably noticed over the past few months that your child’s fine-motor skills are definitely getting better. For example, she can now pick up very small objects with her fingers; but she is still somewhat awkward in the way she accomplishes the task.

Parents and childcare providers can tell many stories of three-yearolds who love to stack objects on top of one another. In fact, they can sometimes build remarkably tall towers. In building these towers, they are improving their visual and fine-motor skills.

However, your child still hasn’t grasp that the largest objects must go on the bottom, and that the whole tower may come crashing down when they try to put the larger block on top.

At this age your child is also improving their walking, running, jumping, and throwing, also known as gross-motor skills.

Researchers and childcare professionals have found that three-year-olds have a higher activity level than at any other age in their life cycle. They run, fall, roll, get up and then run some more, their unstoppable. Even though we all may find it a bit tiring at times, remember that it’s this spurt of energy that’s teaching them how to maneuver their bodies through the world at large.


 

Kids ‘R’ Kids believes that happy, loved, connected children are destined for success in every facet of their lives. Our most cherished principle, “Hug First, Then Teach,” defines every aspect of who we are at Kids ‘R’ Kids. When it comes to teaching, Kids ‘R’Kids understands the importance of involving families with their child’s developmental milestones and accomplishments. We hope you will drop by for a tour at one of our many locations in the Atlanta area. You will find a list of our numerous locations a www.kidsrkidsatlanta.com.

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