This bulletin, which focuses on the role of physical education in the development of children, contains 12 articles. The topics of the articles include a) movement, b) characteristics and examples of good physical education programs, c) safety education, and d) the learning environment. The booklet also includes a selected bibliography on…

This study investigates the relationship of selected measures of proprioception to measures of physical growth, motor performance, and academic achievement in young children. Measures were obtained from 321 boys and girls attending kindergarten and first and second grade. Sample correlation matrices were computed on all variables at each grade…

This report describes the movement characteristics of a three year old boy and girl as they performed a one-handed striking task over a one year period. Observations were made at 4 month intervals as part of a filmed, longitudinal study on the development of motor patterns. The one-handed striking pattern was elicited by asking the children to hit…

This informal survey found that the probability that a person is in the over 45 age group, and is left-handed, is significantly different from the probability in the population as a whole. (MP)

The average female can expect relative improvement in aerobic power similar to that of a male following a period of systematic training. (Author/MJB)

Lists symptoms of developmental difficulties and agencies that offer public services to exceptional children. (SB)

Reviews Greenough, Black, and Wallace's (1987) conceptual framework for understanding the effects of early experience and sensitive periods on development, and illustrates the applicability of their model with recent data on the consequences for animals and human infants of the acquistion of self-produced locomotion. (BN)

The process of competition parallels the stages of play and motor development. Appropriate activities are discussed along with teaching methods. The need to educate students, teachers, and the public about appropriate competition is stressed. (MT)

Excessive physical loading may disrupt normal osseous development and inflict injury. This is particularly applicable to young female gymnasts, for whom the injury rate is astonishingly high at advanced levels of competition. There is a need for a more extensive database using a longitudinal approach. (MT)

This study investigated the relationship between physical growth and performance of three- and four-year-old children (n=4two) on 2 stability or balance tests: the elevated beam and the stabilometer. Physical growth characteristics were concluded to be an integral part of factors influencing young childrens' stability performance. (Author/JMK)

Suggests that the high incidence of anorexia nervosa in adolescent girls may be related to developmental sexual pressure. Symptoms appear with the onset of puberty and are related to physiological and psychological changes. (JAC)

Assessed sexual maturation and sociosexual behaviors in 101 nine- to 11-year-old low and middle income Black children. Data confirmed that girls were more advanced in sexual maturation than boys. Results of a self-report behavior scale indicated sexual behavior was related to physical development in boys but not girls. (JAC)

Investigates the influence of breast-feeding duration on the increase in weight of 365 children from birth to six months in the agro-industrial community of Pradopolis, Brazil. (RH)

Author suggests a framework of physical education activities, but in each of which students compete only against their own best record. (GB)

Describes a physical education program that focuses on the human relations aspect of cooperative living. (GB)