This study presents some highlights of what research tells the practitioner about the motor learning of children. Major emphasis is on motor learning in relation to the physical and motor characteristics of the child's maturation and development. In the first three sections of the study, general ideas concerning motor learning are discussed.…

The goals of the HOPE (Health and Optimum Physical Education) project are described in this document as follows: to design and field test a model program in elementary physical education that would measurably improve children in fitness, motor skills, and knowledge and understanding of physical education and would contribute to improvement in…

Explains how teachers can initiate mapping experiences with young children by providing motor experiences inside and outside the classroom. Experiences should be followed by work with three-dimensional models, then with two-dimensional paper, and finally with lines. (Author)

This article identifies possible causes of handwriting difficulties and suggests activities to facilitate the development of hand muscles and handwriting skills. It discusses handwriting readiness, wrist stability, hand development activities, pencil grasp, hand dominance, eye-hand coordination, basic strokes, general readiness skills, writing…

Accompanied by a descriptive text, this illustrated guide to movement education for grades one through six provides drawings and examples of movement exercises using balls, wands, ropes, balance beams, ladders, and boxes. The objective is to stimulate awareness of the body as a wholly integrated being. The picture series offers a selection of…

Sensory and motor experiences are essential in childhood and are the foundation for all higher level learning and skill acquisition. This paper examines how young children make sense of sensory experiences, focusing on infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. It also looks at the importance of creating an environment rich in…

This book is written for physical educators and classroom teachers of elementary school children. It is divided into five parts. Part one presents background information for developing a child-centered program and explores the educational potential of movement experiences. Part two introduces a six-step model designed to provide a sound…

This report of the 1972 Distinguished Achievement Award Entry from the University of Wisconsin describes the Children's Motor Development Program which is designed to give student teachers experience in elementary physical education methods through volunteer laboratory training. After a review of the development of the program, the following…

A model for predicting organized youth sport participation readiness has four predictive components: sport-related fundamental motor skill development; sport-specific knowledge; motivation; and socialization. Physical maturation is also important. The model emphasizes the importance of preparing children for successful participation through…

This book provides the motor development knowledge base and program planning procedures for developing the elementary physical education program. Part one is an overview of the motor development knowledge base and includes chapters on growth, how exercise affects children, motor skill development, how children learn motor skills, and psychosocial…

This collection of articles deals with the importance of physical education to a child's development. The first article, "Directions and Thrust," examines three aspects of elementary physical education which became particularly important in the 1960's: movement education, perceptual-motor development programs, and the multidisciplinary approach.…

Motor behavior, motor performance, and motor learning are discussed at length within the context of infant and child development. Individual chapters focus on the following: the sensory-motor behavior of infants; analysis of selected perceptual-motor programs; beginnings of movement in infants; gross motor attributes in early childhood; visual…

This article comments on two studies (EC 629 876) that investigated the validity of a set of 15 general growth outcomes (GGOs) for identifying young children with disabilities. It discusses concerns relating to whether the research is sufficiently meritorious to result in a valid measure of growth outcomes suitable for national use. (Contains 4…

This response to comments on two studies (EC 629 876) that investigated the validity of a set of 15 general growth outcomes (GGOs) for identifying young children with disabilities, discusses the GGOs as a way for educators to provide a quick effective reading of a child's status and growth within a developmental area. (Contains 8 references.) (CR)

In all of his published work, Jean Piaget never abandoned his original theoretical framework for the understanding of human development. This framework insists that intelligence is essentially a biological phenomenon; its development is best understood as the development of a sophisticated and highly successful adaptation device. This device…