Assessing children's movement competence (MC) offers numerous benefits for academics, practitioners, clinicians and children, allowing individuals to meet children's developmental needs and improve their MC. Yet, there is concern that currently available assessment tools only provide a single plane (fundamental movement skills) perspective of a…

Some of the characteristics and behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as difficulty with social interactions and sensory integration, make physical education instruction difficult. Children with ASD also encounter movement difficulties, such as motor-planning and anticipatory deficits. One way to enhance the ability of…

This paper seeks to foster a discussion on whether experiments with robots can inform theory in infant motor development and specifically (1) how the interactions among the parts of a system, including the nervous and musculoskeletal systems and the forces acting on the body, induce organizational changes in the whole, and (2) how exploratory…

Although significant attention has been given to promoting physical activity among children, little attention has been given to the developmental process of how children learn to move or to the changing role that motor skill development plays in children's physical activity levels as they grow. In order to successfully address the obesity…

A theoretical frame of rhythm in skilled performance phenomena is presented, arguing that a motor system can produce movements that realize given time scales. Skilled movement is teleological; its timing is an internal schedule of target motor events arranged by the motor system for economy and expressiveness. (Author/CM)

Bruner's (1973) review of infant skill development is updated and extended by (a) placing it in the context of recent motor learning research; (b) discussing the concept of efference in its most recent conceptualization; and (c) explicating certain implicit themes relevant to a theory of infant motor intelligence. (ED)

Factor structures of various eye-hand coordination tasks were examined for children, ages 4-1/2 to 8-1/2. Theoretical models of skilled action development are discussed. (ST)

A sample adapted physical education program designed for a specific student's needs is described. (JMF)

This paper focuses on physical education for students in preschool (3 to 5 years) and primary grades K-2 (5 to 7 years). It describes developmentally appropriate practices as a set of indicators for high quality play and motor skills programs for all children, including children with special needs. The paper also describes and recommends an…

The Alaska Model for Early Childhood Education is an attempt to bring major ideas into focus for neighborhood programs. Suggested specifications for staff, facilities, equipment, activities, and parent involvement are presented. Sections deal with: (1) needs, objectives and activities; (2) child development activities and environments--physical…