Fall Fun and Fine Motor Skills
10/10/2020
We have been having so much fun in the Beluga class as we have been learning about fall this week! We began our study of leaves with a leaf hunt around the PNA parking lot and then through the woods. As we walked, we talked about the things we could notice with our senses: the sight of the different colors of leaves and grasses, the damp and slightly sour smells of the woods, hearing crunch of the dry leaves, and the feeling different textures of the leaves. The children loved being outdoors for an extra long recess, and so did the teachers! Our math focus this week has been “sorting by attribute”. We used acrylic leaves and other fall items to practice this important skill, as we talked about color, shape, size and other features. This quickly became a very popular center! There have been several literacy skills which we have been focusing on this week. The children have enjoyed clapping the number of syllables in different words (hippopotamus has 5!!). We have also spent a good deal of time matching uppercase and lowercase letter “buddies”, listening for the beginning sounds in words, and we have read MANY books about fall and leaves. In the Nursery Rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard” we learned what a cupboard was, and what it means when it says that it was “bare”? As teachers, we try to make all of our activities engaging and (hopefully) fun, however, the activities we choose are almost always carefully selected to accomplish underlying developmental or educational purposes. For example, there is an unbelievable number of fall activities which can be done in a preschool setting, but we specifically chose many of our activities this week with the goal of helping to strengthen the children’s fine motor skills. Fine motor skills aren’t specific learning skills like reading or math, but they are very important for many school-related tasks as well as many important life skills! These include:
Fine motor skills utilize the small muscles of the fingers and hands, and they involve strength, fine motor control, and dexterity. The strength and coordination of these muscles will significantly influence the ability of a child to properly grip a writing instrument in order to properly form letters. A child who uses a palmar (closed fist) grip rather than a tripod grip (or if their tripod grip isn’t well-formed), will end up moving the writing tool by moving his shoulder and entire arm. The improper fist grasp requires extra effort, which in turn creates fatigue in the arm and hand. A child who uses a closed fist grasp will tire easily and struggle with the task of writing. So in order to build strength in this area, these are some of fun things we did this week: Improving fine motor skills will help prepare children for an increasing amount of writing in their school career. The trick is to make it as fun as possible, so they don’t even know they’re doing something that’s good for them!
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Melissa SmithMs. Smith has a degree in Early Childhood Education and has taught kindergarten for many years. Alaska has been home to Ms. Smith for 28 years, and she can't imagine living anywhere else! She has four children, a dog and two cats. She loves reading, camping, gardening, and genealogy! Archives
April 2021
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