Understanding Young Children’s Motor Development for Active Learning

When

17 Nov 2016 - 18 Nov 2016
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Asia/Singapore

Where

Melbourne
Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC

Event Tag

Perpetual motion describes most young children!  It’s easy to take advantage of 3-8 year olds’ need to move and focus their energy in purposeful physical activity.  Developing an appropriate movement curriculum promotes health and wellness and sets children on the path to becoming active for life.

This workshop will focus on learning the basics of motor development in the early years and what research tells us about the benefits of creating effective movement programs for the preschool and early primary classrooms.  Attendees will engage in mapping long-term goals and writing age-appropriate lesson plans.  The workshop is designed for classroom teachers, particularly teachers in schools lacking large movement spaces, movement specialists, curriculum directors, and administrators.  Participants do not need to be sports enthusiasts to take advantage of this playful and highly engaging workshop!

Objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Extend their understanding of the development of motor skills in young children
  • Deepen their knowledge of learning through movement
  • Understand the importance of young children’s health and wellness issues that impact learning
  • Develop an appreciation for the place of joyful, active learning across the curriculum
  • Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans based on current research
  • Share their learning with other workshop participants
  • Develop a comprehensive list of teacher resources for future planning

Outline
Day 1:

  • Introductions
  • Where are we today?  Where do we want to be?
    • Assessing our own programs
    • Setting individual goals for program design
  • The importance of movement in the early childhood curriculum
    • Research on the health and wellness of young children
    • Development of fine motor and large motor skills
  • The movement continuum
    • Cognition and movement; how the brain supports motor learning
    • Sensory input
    • Motor output
  • Movement program design
    • The environment
    • The curriculum framework
    • Appropriate equipment and materials
    • Setting developmentally appropriate goals
    • Assessments, reflections, adjustments
  • Reflecting on today’s learning and setting the stage for tomorrow

Day 2

  • Overview of the day
  • Questions/discussion based on teacher reflections from Day 1
  • Jumping in:  Designing the movement curriculum
    • Foundational skills
    • Development through playful practice
    • Developing the year-long curriculum map
    • Accommodations for children with special needs
  • Exploring teacher resources
  • Reflecting on today’s learning and workshop evaluation

Trainer’s Profile
Dr. C. Hammett is an elementary school principal in Oregon and adjunct faculty member at Central Oregon Community College, where she teaches a course in children’s literature.  Dr. Hammett holds a Bachelor of Education degree in physical education from the University of Arizona, a Master of Physical Education degree from Portland State University, a Master of Early Childhood Education degree from Western Oregon University, and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Lewis & Clark College.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Hammett has led her elementary school in the implementation of a literature-based reading program, with a high degree of student achievement.  Test scores in reading consistently average 20-25% higher than the State of Oregon’s average.  Her doctoral dissertation researched the use of children’s picture books, during physical education instruction, to promote vocabulary learning of kindergarten and 1st grade students.

Dr. Hammett authored a popular teacher resource book, Movement Activities in Early Childhood (Human Kinetics Publishers) and co-authored a book for early childhood classroom teachers, Read! Move! Learn! (Gryphon House Publishers) that features a wide variety of children’s picture books and lessons for all areas of the curriculum.  As a consultant throughout the United States and Canada, Dr. Hammett has presented seminars on many topics in early childhood education.  Her goal in this work is to engage with workshop participants in an interactive manner to ensure enjoyable, authentic learning.

Methodology
This workshop is engaging, playful, and very interactive.  A collegial collaboration model will give participants hands-on experiences to use in designing a comprehensive movement program.  Slides, handouts, and small group presentations will support this workshop format.

Target Audience
This workshop is of value to preschool, kindergarten and early primary teachers.  Curriculum directors and administrators who attend will gain knowledge in creating developmentally appropriate movement programs for their schools and districts.  Ages 3-8.

Investment
AUD800.00/pax

Other Details
Duration: 2 days, 12 hours
Closing Date: 1 Sep 2016



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