Much of a child’s cognitive development is based on their motor skills, so therefore it is an important and crucial aspect of each child’s overall holistic development.
Motor skills literally help us move and do everything we do with our body. As part of our Sensory Motor Development programme here at Nursery and Little School, we focus on children’s sensory and motor development. This article will look at the importance of motor skills.
Motor skills and development, and motor control begin developing after your child is born and develop as your child grows. The most important years for a child’s motor development is between the ages of 0-3 and 3-6 years of age.
Motor development is about learning to move, control and coordinate the body. As children begin to develop control of their bodies, they begin to explore the world around them.
Motor skills are broken up into two categories: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Mastering both are important for your child’s growth and independence. Within our programme at Nursery and Little School, we focus on developing these skills with your child, to ensure they are being developmentally prepared for academic learning.
Gross motor skills are movements related to large muscles such as legs, arms, and torso and the ability to control these. They involve whole body movements, allowing children to be able to co-ordinate the movement of these muscles, as well as developing their ability to balance and their physical strength.
Gross motor skills are a crucial part of a child’s development during the early years. The development of gross motor skills leads to the development of fine motor skills. It is important to understand that children develop gross motor skills before fine motor skills.
Fine Motor Development is the coordination of small muscle movement with eyes, hands, wrists, and fingers. Fine motor skills are complex. It involves co-ordination between our brains and our muscles. Fine motor skills allow children to manipulate objects. It also involves co-ordination with the hand and the eyes. This is known as hand and eye co-ordination. (Please refer to our hand-eye co-ordination article to learn more)
Fine motor skills are crucial to the development of neural pathways in the brain. Some neurons involved in the processing of motor development are also involved with your childs cognitive development as well. Research has shown that the connection between these two types of neurons can result in greater academic achievement for children.
“The understanding is that the stronger the motor skill development, the stronger the neuron connections which assist children in academic tasks, especially math.” Paula Glass
Research shows that if young children aren’t given the opportunity to participate in activities that cater to developing and extending their gross motor skills, along with activities that develop and extend their fine motor skills, that it hinders a child’s growth physically and academically. The more experiences a child has to develop movement, also improves the child’s cognitive development as well, thus giving them a head start academically.
Our small group time activities and our areas of play that we set up at Nursery and Little School, ensure that we are continually providing opportunities for children to develop and enhance both of these motor skills. Primary teachers have reported back to us about how impressed they are with our Little School children transitioning to school and how well prepared they are.
Want to know more?
Contact us at littleschool.co.nz or lifelearning.co.nz
