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Browse below for articles on Non Violent Communication, Early Childhood Development, Health and other issues close to our hearts. These articles are written by Dance Out Loud and/or friends of DOL. |
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| Articles |
Perceptual Motor Efficiency
The Triple Bottom Line
Get a Better Immune System
Perceptual-Motor efficiency and all that jazz
If you've read our mission statement, you might know that we are interested
in Arts Education in and of itself and as a vehicle for child development,
individual expression, community building and changing the world. Not a
small endeavor, by any means. But let's begin with the most important part:
why music and movement for preschoolers? If you're like me, the answer is
obvious, but you still want the stats to back it up.
We have come up with a simple explanation of what it is and why it's
important developmentally. To simplify, perceptual-motor efficiency is the
means by which a child uses their body to get feedback from the world
around them in order to develop motor skills, cognitive abilities and abstract
thinking.
Basically this means that when children move, and make decisions about
how they move, they form connections in their brains and bodies which last a
lifetime.
Perceptual motor efficiency is defined for K-8 students by national and state
education agencies as having certain abilities such as hopping on one foot,
catching a ball, or turning around without falling (unless, of course, the fall is
on purpose).
At this time there are no national standards for early childhood education,
but existing standards can be applied to preschoolers by using the lens of
appropriate application for their age group. (And the NAEYC is working on
national standards, as well.)
For instance, one way that we know whether toddlers are on track
developmentally is through the use of the ASQ developed by early childhood
educators at the University of Oregon. Click here to read more of this article.
So what about children who cannot perform certain tasks? Does this mean
that their cognitive abilities will be limited? Not necessarily. One reason for
diagnosing physical challenges early is