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Small
Boys, Fine Motor Skills,
Perception & Handwriting |
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Help, I can't get my son to sit still long enough to learn some fine motor skills! This is one of the most common problems seen, in fact about 70% of older children treated are boys who have developed problems with their fine motor skills but have found these skills vital once they get into higher grades. Well it's totally understandable, quite frankly they would rather be out kicking a ball around than inside writing or drawing! |
Timing is everything - we have structured the Get Ready For School program so little boys can burn off some of that energy before they settle down to focus on the "finer" things! The first section of the program deals with a gross motor skill, for example pretending to be a bear, this enforces a gross motor skill in a really fun way. The child is then asked to "bear walk" over to where they will work on their fine motor skills.
We suggest you let your little boy burn off some energy outside, then, when he's on the wane, start the program. We have kept the lessons short, 1 hour divided into 15 minute sections for gross motor, fine motor, visual perception and school skills, so they don't get bored. So, if you're really struggling to hold his attention for an hour, break the program down into 15 minutes sessions.
We encourage you to reward your child after he has finished each day's program with a sticker or some other surprise, before he "bear walks" off to do something else!
The Get Ready For School program focuses on developing or improving the following skills for school:
Handwriting
foundation skills required
Posture & Balance - to provide a basis for adequate arm & hand control
Grasp Strength & Finger Control - appropriate grip on a writing tool
Ocular Motor Control - eyes & hand moving together
Visual Perception & Memory - choosing the difference between 2 pictures
Memory - ability to recall correctly
Spatial Organisation
Attention
Following Instructions
Interfering
factors which affect children's fine motor development
Low muscle tone & poor joint stability
Poor arm strength
Poor motor planning
Poor postural development
Inability to isolate individual finger movements
Poor grip & pinch strength
Poor fine motor co-ordination
Inefficient bilateral hand use
Foundation
skills for cutting out
Postural control
Close & open hand
Doing hand / helping hand
Isolate fingers
Eye-hand co-ordination
Put movements together
Stablise
Activities
to develop fine motor skills
Arm strength
Hand strength
Bilateral Hand Use
Pre Writing
Pre Scissor Skills
Visual
Perception - Understanding What We Are Looking At
Discrimination - What's the difference?
Figure Ground - Where is it?
Spatial Relations - Which way is it facing?
Visual Memory - What was it?
Visual Closure - What would it be?
And remember although early intervention is the key, so is having fun while learning!
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Let's have some fun!
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or have your child take the |
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