It’s fascinating how much our physical bodies affect our brains. Neuromotor development in the classroom is crucial because a child’s physical maturity directly impacts their ability to learn. We’re talking about essential skills like sitting still, focusing their attention, holding a pencil correctly, and controlling those eye movements needed for reading!
However, the simple acts of sitting, focusing, and writing are surprisingly complex. A child needs all the right physical building blocks in place. Think about it: they must engage their core muscles to sit up straight, maintain balance, coordinate their arm and hand movements, be able to cross the body’s midline, hold the pencil just right with control, and track letters with their eyes. If any of these skills are immature, learning becomes a challenge. We rely on these, and other neuromotor skills, not just for learning but to reach our full potential in life.
This staff meeting staff provides opportunities for staff to consider how the school’s curriculum improves neuromotor development in pupils to ensure they are physically ready to learn.
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Premium subscribers can access a training module entitled Best start in life part 2: the 3 prime areas. In this video, based on Ofsted’s research review of early years education, there is a section about physical development which you may find informative. This section begins 13 minutes and 4 seconds into the video.
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