Why Motor Skills Matter


Book Description

Why Motor Skills Matter shows how children use their senses and bodies to explore their environments and what we can do to protect and strengthen this critical pathway for their development, health, and learning.




Advanced Analysis of Motor Development


Book Description

Advanced Analysis of Motor Development explores how research is conducted in testing major issues and questions in motor development. It also looks at the evolution of research in the field, its current status, and possible future directions. This text is one of the few to examine motor development models and theories analytically while providing a context for advanced students in motor development so they can understand current and classic research in the field. Traditionally, graduate study in motor development has been approached through a compilation of readings from various sources. This text meets the need for in-depth study in a more cohesive manner by presenting parallels and highlighting relationships among research studies that independent readings might not provide. In addition, Advanced Analysis of Motor Development builds a foundation in the theories and approaches in the field and demonstrates how they drive contemporary research in motor development. A valuable text for graduate students beginning their own research projects or making the transition from student to researcher, this text focuses on examining and interpreting research in the field. Respected researchers Haywood, Roberton, and Getchell explain the history and evolution of the field and articulate key research issues. As they examine each of the main models and theories that have influenced the field, they share how motor development research can be applied to the fields of physical education, special education, physical therapy, and rehabilitation sciences. With its emphasis on critical inquiry, Advanced Analysis of Motor Development will help students examine important topics and questions in the field in a more sophisticated manner. They will learn to analyze research methods and results as they deepen their understanding of developmental phenomena. For each category of movement skills covered (posture and balance, foot locomotion, ballistic skills, and manipulative skills), the authors first offer a survey of the pertinent research and then present an in-depth discussion of the landmark studies. In analyzing these studies, students will come to appreciate the detail of research and begin to explore possibilities for their own future research. Throughout the text, special elements help students focus on analysis. Tips for Novice Researchers sidebars highlight issues and questions raised by research and offer suggestions for further exploration and study. Comparative tables detail the differences in the purpose, methods, and results of key studies to help students understand not only what the studies found but also the relevance of those findings. With Advanced Analysis of Motor Development, readers will discover how research focusing on the major issues and central questions in motor development is produced and begin to conceptualize their own research. Readers will encounter the most important models and theories; dissect some of the seminal and recent articles that test these models and theories; and examine issues such as nature and nurture, discontinuity and continuity, and progression and regression. Advanced Analysis of Motor Development will guide students to a deeper understanding of research in life span motor development and enable them to examine how the complexities of motor development can be addressed in their respective professions.




Visible Learning in Early Childhood


Book Description

Make learning visible in the early years Early childhood is a uniquely sensitive time, when young learners are rapidly developing across multiple domains, including language and literacy, mathematics, and motor skills. Knowing which teaching strategies work best and when can have a significant impact on a child’s development and future success. Visible Learning in Early Childhood investigates the critical years between ages 3 and 6 and, backed by evidence from the Visible Learning® research, explores seven core strategies for learning success: working together as evaluators, setting high expectations, measuring learning with explicit success criteria, establishing developmentally appropriate levels of learning, viewing mistakes as opportunities, continually seeking feedback, and balancing surface, deep, and transfer learning. The authors unpack the symbiotic relationship between these seven tenets through Authentic examples of diverse learners and settings Voices of master teachers from the US, UK, and Australia Multiple assessment and differentiation strategies Multidisciplinary approaches depicting mathematics, literacy, art and music, social-emotional learning, and more Using the Visible Learning research, teachers partner with children to encourage high expectations, developmentally appropriate practices, the right level of challenge, and a focus on explicit success criteria. Get started today and watch your young learners thrive!




Social Skills Matter!, Grades PK - 2


Book Description

Help your students learn how to communicate effectively, make good choices, and practice appropriate behavior with Social Skills Matter! This book includes reproducible mini-books for children to assemble, color, read, and make their own. Each mini-book focuses on a different facet of important social skills including cooperative play, learning about feelings, communication, school-day behavior, manners, and behavior management. Mastery of these essential social skills can be a factor in determining a child’s future success, social acceptance, and happiness. Key Education products are intended to engage and educate young and special learners, as well as assist teachers in building a strong and developmentally appropriate curriculum for these children.




Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8


Book Description

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.




Functional Movement Development Across the Life Span


Book Description

Providing a solid foundation in the normal development of functional movement, Functional Movement Development Across the Life Span, 3rd Edition helps you recognize and understand movement disorders and effectively manage patients with abnormal motor function. It begins with coverage of basic theory, motor development and motor control, and evaluation of function, then discusses the body systems contributing to functional movement, and defines functional movement outcomes in terms of age, vital functions, posture and balance, locomotion, prehension, and health and illness. This edition includes more clinical examples and applications, and updates data relating to typical performance on standardized tests of balance. Written by physical therapy experts Donna J. Cech and Suzanne "Tink" Martin, this book provides evidence-based information and tools you need to understand functional movement and manage patients' functional skills throughout the life span. - Over 200 illustrations, tables, and special features clarify developmental concepts, address clinical implications, and summarize key points relating to clinical practice. - A focus on evidence-based information covers development changes across the life span and how they impact function. - A logical, easy-to-read format includes 15 chapters organized into three units covering basics, body systems, and age-related functional outcomes respectively. - Expanded integration of ICF (International Classification of Function) aligns learning and critical thinking with current health care models. - Additional clinical examples help you apply developmental information to clinical practice. - Expanded content on assessment of function now includes discussion of participation level standardized assessments and assessments of quality-of-life scales. - More concise information on the normal anatomy and physiology of each body system allows a sharper focus on development changes across the lifespan and how they impact function.




Human Motor Control


Book Description

Human Motor Control is a elementary introduction to the field of motor control, stressing psychological, physiological, and computational approaches. Human Motor Control cuts across all disciplines which are defined with respect to movement: physical education, dance, physical therapy, robotics, and so on. The book is organized around major activity areas. - A comprehensive presentation of the major problems and topics in human motor control - Incorporates applications of work that lie outside traditional sports or physical education teaching




Parenting Matters


Book Description

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.




The First 20 Hours


Book Description

Forget the 10,000 hour rule— what if it’s possible to learn the basics of any new skill in 20 hours or less? Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What’s on your list? What’s holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills—time you don’t have and effort you can’t spare? Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy? To make matters worse, the early hours of prac­ticing something new are always the most frustrating. That’s why it’s difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It’s so much easier to watch TV or surf the web . . . In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition— how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct com­plex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By complet­ing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well. Kaufman personally field-tested the meth­ods in this book. You’ll have a front row seat as he develops a personal yoga practice, writes his own web-based computer programs, teaches himself to touch type on a nonstandard key­board, explores the oldest and most complex board game in history, picks up the ukulele, and learns how to windsurf. Here are a few of the sim­ple techniques he teaches: Define your target performance level: Fig­ure out what your desired level of skill looks like, what you’re trying to achieve, and what you’ll be able to do when you’re done. The more specific, the better. Deconstruct the skill: Most of the things we think of as skills are actually bundles of smaller subskills. If you break down the subcompo­nents, it’s easier to figure out which ones are most important and practice those first. Eliminate barriers to practice: Removing common distractions and unnecessary effort makes it much easier to sit down and focus on deliberate practice. Create fast feedback loops: Getting accu­rate, real-time information about how well you’re performing during practice makes it much easier to improve. Whether you want to paint a portrait, launch a start-up, fly an airplane, or juggle flaming chain­saws, The First 20 Hours will help you pick up the basics of any skill in record time . . . and have more fun along the way.




Early Intervention Games


Book Description

A resource of fun games for parents or teachers to help young children learn social and motor skills Barbara Sher, an expert occupational therapist and teacher, has written a handy resource filled with games to play with young children who have Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or other sensory processing disorders (SPD). The games are designed to help children feel comfortable in social situations and teach other basic lessons including beginning and end, spatial relationships, hand-eye coordination, and more. Games can also be used in regular classrooms to encourage inclusion. A collection of fun, simple games that can improve the lives of children with ASD or other SPDs. Games can be played by parents or teachers and with individual children or groups. Games are designed to make children more comfortable in social situations and to develop motor and language skills Also included are a variety of interactive games to play in water, whether in a backyard kiddie pool, community swimming pool, or lake All the games are easy-to-do, utilizing common, inexpensive materials, and include several variations and modifications