The importance of learning new movement skills is shown in relation to learning folk dances. Folk dancing not only improves physical skills, but also results in an understanding and appreciation of the richness of other cultures. (JN)

The physical educator or teacher-coach needs to be able to analyze body movement, understand movement patterns, and be aware of factors which affect performance. Types of body movement analyses include kinematic analysis and kinetic analysis. Factors affecting skill performance fall into physiological, psycho-sociological, and environmental…

A comprehensive activity program requires a conceptual framework to guide appropriate curriculum design. An understanding of motor development and of the ways physical settings interact with the learning child are essential to program construction. (JN)

The shaping of human motor development is demonstrated by the orderly sequence of events which occur throughout the individual's development process. Muscular strength and proficiency in gross motor skills improve with advancing chronological age throughout childhood and adolescence, with sex differences in performance tending to favor males. (JN)

Children have a need and a right to active, movement-oriented play. With the aid of an imaginative parent, such play can assist in the maturation of a child's cognitive ability and serve as a means of developing basic motor skills. (LH)

Discusses the renaissance of motor skill acquisition studies that are affording new insights into the processes by which infants and children learn to control their bodies. The article explains how studies are now focusing less on how children perform and more on how the components cooperate to produce stability or engender change, thus making…

Movement is essential to the physical and cognitive development of young children. Developmentally appropriate dance and movement activities at preschools and elementary schools in Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska are described, along with connections between movement and literacy and numeracy instruction. (SV)

This article presents an interview with a mother using a new mobility curriculum with her 4-year-old daughter with cerebral palsy. The physical supports or prompts used in the MOVE curriculum are designed to facilitate the use of mobility skills, not to replace them. An overview of the curriculum is provided. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article presents an example of two boys who have received a list of diagnoses including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism, Asperger's syndrome, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and clinical depression. Both boys received a variety of interventions ranging from behavior modification plans to counseling and medication,…

The research and literature on how to handle biting has remained consistent over the last 20 years. Most publications and seasoned professionals focus on intervention and tell us to attend to the child who was bitten, reinforce the idea of "using our words" with the biter, and be consistent in the use of separation, redirection, and…

This paper outlines the kinesiological foundations of the motor behavior subdisciplines of motor learning and motor control. After defining the components of motor behavior, the paper addresses the undergraduate major and core knowledge by examining several classic textbooks in motor learning and control, as well as a number of contemporary…

Technology tools that are used to help apply standards and benchmarks motivate physical educators to use new methods of teaching, and create new ways to provide students with direct formative feedback, the number one motivator for students. Direct formative feedback refers to verbal communication between the teacher and/or parent and student. The…

A new approach to elementary school physical education is called "movement education." Movement education uses problem-solving, guided-discovery, and exploratory methods, with the effect of individualizing learning in physical education. The concepts involved in movement education include body awareness and skills, the space in which the body…

Based on the SEFAM (Supporting Extended Family Members) program, the manual is intended to help organize a program for fathers of handicapped young children. A program for fathers and infants focuses on unique father concerns and resources. The first chapter further explores reasons for father programs while the second describes program components…

The article describes a programmatic approach that measured the qualitative dimensions and performance of functional movement in 43 infants and young children with delayed motor development (ages 4 weeks to 5 years). Procedures involved selection of posture and movement intervention targets, baseline assessments, intervention sequences,…