Minds in Motion
We have incorporated “Minds in Motion” into the daily Learning Beyond Paper.
What is Minds in Motion and why is it important?
Minds in Motion is an obstacle course of activities that improve a child’s balance, eye-hand coordination and visual skills, all of which play a huge part in a child’s learning processes for school readiness. These simple activities, performed on a regular basis, can help your child in the following ways:
- Ease clumsiness and disorganization
- Improve vision skills for reading
- Improve pre-handwriting skills
- Increase visual tracking (ability to visually follow a moving object)
- Empower children to walk, stand, and sit in a controlled manner
- Increase focusing and attention span
- Improve tone quality of speech
- Expand eye-hand coordination
- Enhance large motor skills (bike riding, ball throwing and catching, jumping, etc.)
We are so excited about bringing Minds In Motion to Growing Kids. Your child’s class will be participating 2 times each day for about 15 minutes. Because the activities include crawling, rolling, balancing, and jumping, it’s important for your child to wear shoes and clothes that allow for a full range of movement. Feel free to stop in to see the different activities in our “Minds In Motion Room”. If you have any questions, please call the office or speak with your child’s teacher.
Belgau, Frank, and Beverley Belgau. A Perceptual Motor and Visual Perception Handbook of Developmental Activities for Schools, Clinics, Parents, and Preschool Programs, Balametrics, Port Washington, WA, 2000.
Cheatum, Billye Ann, PhD. Physical Activities for Improving Children’s Learning and Behavior, A Guide to Sensory Motor Development. Human Kinetics, 2000.
Dennison, Paul E. BRAIN GYM: Simple Activities for Whole Brain Integration. Ventura, CA: EduKinesthitics, Inc., 1986.
Doman, Glenn. How to Teach Your Baby to be Physically Superb. Philadelphia, PA. The Better Baby Press, 1991
Hannaford, Carla. Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head. Arlington, VA: Great Ocean Publishers, 1995
O’Dell, Nancy, PhD. And Patricia Cook, PhD. Stopping Hyperactivity-A New Solution. Garden City Park, NY Avery Publishing Group, 1997