Learning, whether in the classroom or elsewhere, is based on a strong foundation of sensory and motor skills.
These skills can be developed through simple everyday activities, where your child has the opportunity to develop their physical and emotional awareness.
Time spent developing these skills early on will pay massive dividends in the long run, not only in the classroom, but throughout life. No digital devices, no flash cards, just games and other activities using their bodies, that you can do at home together.
Sense of Balance
A well-developed sense of balance will help your child to listen, sit up straight, focus and pay attention, listen, sit still and take their eyes away from the horizon to read a page of text. Reading difficulties, such as dyslexia, are often linked to immaturities in the sense of balance.
Sense of Vision
Good visual skills are essential for classroom learning, such as reading and writing. Your child’s eyes need to be able to work together as a team, and interpret the written symbols on the page.
Listening (Auditory Processing)
You know your child can hear, but how well can they listen? Can they tune out background sounds and focus on the teacher’s voice?
Memory
A good memory is essential for learning to read, to be able to memorise those small sounds with in words, and follow instructions.
Gross Motor Skills (the big muscles)
Strong leg, arm, tummy and back muscles will help your child to maintain a good posture for learning, to sit still and focus in the classroom
Fine Motor Skills (the smaller muscles)
These little muscles develop after the bigger muscles, and will help your child hold a pencil and maintain focus while moving their eyes together across a page of writing.
Hand-eye Coordination
Your child’s eyes need to be able to work together and follow their hand movements in order to be able to write neatly and legibly and catch a ball
Sense of Touch
Our sense of touch helps us to connect to others, and also ourselves. It is an important sense for forming relationships, developing an awareness of feelings, empathy (noticing how others might be feeling)
Communication Skills
Good communication skills help with forming friendships, bringing thought to words, especially in creative writing tasks, and making meaning from written texts.
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About Rosalind
Since 2005 I have been helping children with learning and behavioural challenges such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD and other sensory processing difficulties. I use an holistic, or whole child approach combining counselling with a development movement program, known as The Extra Lesson. This program addresses underlying immaturities in early development that are contributing to their learning and behavioural challenges. Sessions are available in person at Moruya South Head.
