Practical implications for physical education teachers are drawn after a review of research on perceptual motor training programs for elementary school children. Three categories of theorists are identified: those who emphasize the intellectual involvement of the child in motoric functioning; those who stress development of perceptual motor bases…

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.…

For some time now, classroom teachers have encouraged quiet manners and docile servitude of children who attend school. There is evidence to support the notion that this type of environment is not necessarily the best for maximizing the learning potential of all children. A variety of research efforts indicate that American black children and…

This inquiry demonstrated how the educational assumptions underlying the Montessori Method can be applied to constructing educational objectives and evaluating programs for culturally disadvantaged children. Initially, it was shown how these assumptions concentrate upon significant areas of human development. Then, information about…

The kindergarten Learning to Learn Program was designed to help children acquire flexible strategies for dealing with challenges and problems. The pupils in both experimental and control groups were from a low income black neighborhood. The program was organized around a carefully planned sequence of language and mathematical games and game-like…

A scheme is presented for the development of perception and learning in which a hierarchy of skills begins with innate response systems and progresses through gross motor activities to more specialized motor systems represented by eye-hand coordination. The next stage of development, the control of ocular muscles, is discussed and the development…

This guide is being used in the Individualized Motor-Perceptual Study to determine whether working directly with kindergarten children to improve performance on motor-perceptual tasks will affect reading ability at the end of grades one, two, and three. The 5-year project involves six schools. In this guide, there are tips for teaching, suggested…

Professional workers can assist parents of retarded infants by (1) helping them to recognize and cope with their feelings of guilt and despair, and (2) establishing a home program of exercises to allay the infant's inertia. Such exercises have been demonstrated by numerous investigators to be of positive value in improvement of motor performance.…

The purpose of this investigation was to describe the relationship of perceptual-motor abilities as measured on the Purdue Perceptual-Motor Survey (PMS) to reading. All children who came to the University of Georgia Reading Clinic and who met the criteria of age, grade, and intelligence range were administered the PMS. The obtained scores on the…

This experimental study has three aims: (1) to give a detailed description of imitative behavior as it develops during the first six months of life; (2) to compare imitative responses perceived through visual, kinesthetic and auditory modalities; and (3) to describe and explain the regulating mechanisms and processes present in the early…

The procedures, analyses, results, and discussion of a project which compared three methods of physical education programing for 96 emotionally disturbed children (6 to 14 years of age) in an 8-week summer camp program held during two summers are presented. The first year's program is seen to have served as a field test, with the most reliable…

The purpose of this guide to behavioral objectives is to assist elementary school teachers (grades kindergarten through six) in functioning more effectively in the area of language arts. The major areas of instruction include: motor skills; listening skills; reading skills; writing skills; grammar skills; study skills; personal communication and…

An evaluation of research in the area of perceptual training suggests procedures for teachers to follow until more definitive information is obtained. First, educators should build their programs on broadly-based but accurate classifications of perceptual skills. They should also be aware of the theoretical assumptions which influence perceptual…

The manual details a behavioral and developmental assessment procedure, treatment techniques and method of planning home training programs for mentally retarded children. Focus is on normal preschool development up through 5 years of age. Aims are to help the child function at maximum level by providing practical suggestions to parents for…

Presented is a curriculum guide for preschool programs serving both handicapped and nonhandicapped children. It is explained that the guide is intended to suggest classroom activities which will strengthen existing skills and encourage development of new skills. The guide presents information on objectives, materials and procedures for the…