Motor Learning Skills : Motor Skills

To address fine and gross motor skills for a Somali 18 month old boy I would develop a home program intervention to address his developmental motor delay. Children at the second year of their life are typically mastering and exploring objects. This includes copying and imitating simple action; gross motor activities such as throwing, kicking, and catching; and ideational

ROM-range of motion (Sited from Acquiring Medical Language by Steven L. Jones and Andrew Cavanagh)

Physical development in children is an important area and is usually expected to happen automatically as they grow. The important areas are gross motor skills,

Physical activity encourages children and young people to develop all their physical skills and to practice the skills that they already have. Your role in supporting a child’s physical development will be to ensure that the child has a wide variety of experiences of being in a safe environment. Any setting should offer a wide range of equipment that can be used both indoors and out. It is considered important that children are given opportunities to develop their gross motor skills indoors as well as outdoors. Such opportunities may be provided by designated areas such as soft play area or by activities such as drama.

5.2 fine motor skills by holding a bowl and spoon and start to mix the bowl with the spoon

There were many opportunities to observe Jackie’s physical and motor development. There are two types of motor development, fine and gross motor. Fine motor is described as “skills that require control of the small muscles of the body. Developing control of the hands and fingers enables the 3-year old to hold a crayon using her fingers rather than her fist, to build a tower of blocks, and to use scissors to cut paper ” (Levine and Munsch, 2016, p.255). Jackie demonstrated her fine motor skills while painting with a paintbrush, placing blocks into holes, and using her fingers to take a hat off. While painting using a paint brush Jackie used a fist grip. This means “When using a pencil or crayon, a young child will hold the item

If a child’s motor skills are not developed then he/she could face problems with writing, handling equipment and other motor skills. Sequence of development also guides professional at what rate an individual development is expected. If a milestone is not achieved, then they have to identify the causes of delays. In learning environment professionals can device an individual support plan to help the child develop and reach full potentials.

At a young age, without realizing it, I was developing my manual dexterity skills. Whether it was making lanyard and string bracelets for my friends at camp, drawing or painting to the Bob Ross instructional videos on YouTube, I always took great pride in my finished product. While in school, after various tryouts, I was asked to participate in travel basketball. Working as a team member not only helped me on the court and in developing my hand and eye coordination, but also in the work experience at Plainview Oral where teamwork is crucial when assisting with a

Children develop gross motor skills at different age norms which are affected by their culture and can vary (Berger, 2014). In order to gain information, we need to educate and understand this development, we have to conduct research. We are looking for new information and theories. Although surveys are a great way to collect a large amount of data the information gained is only as sound as the subject. This is why we need other avenues for research, and we need parental support to make that happen.

While there are many ways that a person can specialize in the field of occupational therapy, one of the profession’s draws exists in the potential for variety and diversity. The goal of occupational therapy is to provide therapies and alternatives that allow clients to return to the things that they need to be able to do, and the things they want to be able to do. This is obviously a broad definition, and one that can be achieved in various groups, and through various methods. Occupational therapists can specialize in hand therapy, stroke rehabilitation, driving, community mobility, low vision patients, pediatrics, or geriatrics. In any of these specialties, a therapist can address their patient’s daily living activities, leisure, work, education, or social participation. An increased ability to participate in any of these activities can be facilitated through a variety of treatments: splinting, modalities, adaptive equipment, task modification, environmental modification, or activities centered on desired occupations.

So many children this day in age, are sat in front of a television or a tablet and expected to keep quiet. Children are built to explore, move, and learn from their experiences, and this cannot happen when a child is inside, being distracted by technology. No matter how busy parents are, they should find at least thirty minutes a day to go outside and play with their children. If the weather does not permit outside play, then playing games inside is always a great alternative. Parents should be encouraging their children to develop the motor skills that they are going to need in order to succeed in school and later in life. Many parents encourage the development of their children’s gross motor skills by involving them in sports, dance, or gymnastics. These programs are great for not only teaching children how to be good at something they love, but they also encourage children to develop their motor skills. If parents find that they cannot afford programs such as these, they can focus on providing multiple opportunities for play. For example, one day they could go to the park or they could go over the neighbor’s house to play. Ultimately, the best thing that parents can do to encourage the development of their children’s motor skills is to allow them to play as much as possible and to allow them to try new activities, even if they are

During the early childhood period, environments should be organized to promote motor development. During toddlerhood the environment should be organized to allow the toddler space to explore and move. Confining the child to a limited space such as a playpen could result in a delay in their large motor skills. (Charlesworth, 2004) The environment for the preschooler should be conducive to learning these skills. Adequate outdoor play time should be allotted for the children to have the opportunity to run, jump, throw balls, and other activities to strengthen the large muscles.

Motor skills involve movement of muscle in the body (John, 2009). These are larger movements such as crawling, running, and jumping (John, 2009). Most of the gross motor development occurs during childhood (John, 2009). Gross motor skills have two principals that determent how a child will regularly develop (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). Head to toe development this means the upper parts of the body will develop before the lower parts of the body (John, 2009). Children develop these skills throughout play (John, 2009). A tree year old Toddler can be very active therefore participating in activity that require movement, coordination, and balance can be beneficial to help a toddler to develop their motor skills (Jan, Beth & Melissa, 2012). A 3 year old child can throw a ball but catching it is more difficult. They start walking with good posture similar to an adult; they can also walk backwards (Jan, Beth & Melissa, 2012). A 3 year old can run which required strength and balance, during running they should be able to rotate their trunk and swing their arms (John, 2009). By the age of 3 a child walks up and down stairs alternating their feet without support which is possible because their balance has increase (John, 2009). A 3 year old child also learns to jump from a step and learn to jump forward (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). They start hopping at the age of 3 ½ and also can stand on one foot (Center of diseases Control and Prevention, 2016). Skipping requires sequencing and rhythm which makes it more difficult this include step and hop patterns.

Fine motor skills refer to the ‘small muscles’ in the hands. Proper development of these muscles is crucial for children to succeed academically in writing and self help skills. According to the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC), “Fine motor skills form an important foundation for the acquisition of many other skills, including literacy, numeracy, self-help and the ability to perform many everyday tasks” (2008). Children start to develop motor skills from birth, and the ways in which children’s muscles develop will later affect their motor function. Caretakers often look for the typical milestones that infants develop; however, infants acquire development at different rates benefiting child growth. From birth through the early grades (preschool to second grade) children are constantly using their fine motor skills to eat, dress themselves, and in social settings such as school. These skills link to infancy development and are factors in knowing how well children will succeed. The following sub-topics address fine motor development and the importance of occupational therapy interventions:

A weakness in my learning strategy is that I don’t study regularly. So, I cram up everything the day before a test or two days before a test. To tell you the truth I don’t even have a learning strategy. The topic I am going to choose to help my problem is minimizing distractions because, in my opinion, this is what makes me not study regularly. The “Success by Design” states that to not have distractions while studying one should look for a place where you won’t be distracted, a secluded place with a working environment. While studying one should turn off one’s cell phone and do not sit in a place where one is going to get to relax to work.