From the very moment you feel your little one begin to kick in your tummy to the moment they run in their first sports day, we’re very aware that children love to move! Pulling themself up to standing and taking those tentative first steps, it’s amazing to see how their bodies change and adapt. Movement provides a plethora of essential feedback which develops the child as a whole. In the first years of childhood roughly 90% of the neural pathways in the brain will be set for life. This comes from movement. As soon as a child is able to move, receiving information through their 8 senses (yes 8 senses! More to come on that…!) they begin to create the building blocks for later higher level learning.
Movement at The Fern Club is at the heart of everything we love. From the very smallest fine motor skills to weight bearing and beyond. We love knowing that each movement experience is setting the child up for learning later in life. We want to step away from the pressures of formal learning and focus on the whole child, on their whole brain experiences. The more your child is able to move and experience their surroundings, the more synapses fire in their wonderful brains creating connections ready for higher level thinking.
Forget learning to read and write, that will come. How’s about encouraging moving in different planes? How’s about using the brain-body connection to be creative? How’s about helping their core muscles strengthen? What we need to remember is that movement is essential for learning. Don’t believe me? Check out these studies which categorically prove that:
– Why Young Kids Learn through Movement: Click Here
– Movement and Learning: Click Here
– The Whole Child Learning – Vestibular Systems : Click Here
If your child has a weak core, how will they maintain an upright position at school in their chair? If they have low muscle tone in their arms, how will they hold their pen correctly and for longer periods in order to learn to write?