Neveah's Motor and Self-Help Skills

After reading Chapter 7 – Helping Young Children Develop Motor and Self-Help Skill, I began to keep a work samples checklist on Neveah's Self-Care and her Motor Skills and referred to Appendix A on pages 402-409 in our textbook. I observed her in physical education with Mr. Allison in the school gym and was able to assess her gross-motor skills. We have to walk down some stairs to enter the gym and she walks up and down stairs alone, alternating feet.  Mr. Allison gave each child a hula hoop and instructed them to roll the hoop and run after it and catch it. She was able to run and catch the hoop and was well-coordinated. He had them put the hoop on the floor and they had to jump in the center of the hoop and then jump out of the hoop. She is able to jump forward, landing on both feet. She was able to complete all of the other exercises he gave. Her “locomotor movement, going from one place to another require the use of the large muscles in the trunk, legs, and arms, whereas manipulative movements require the use of the many small muscles of the hands. Fine-motor development of the feet is also possible for children who participate in dance (Kostelnik, Soderman & Whiren, p. 321).” She was able to walk, stop, run, start, jump, and hop in gym class as well as bend, whirl, lift, stretch, turn, bend, stretch, using her nonlocomotor skills. “Fine-motor skills involve more precise movements of the small muscles, especially those of the eyes, speech musculature, hands, fingers, feet and toes (Cook, Klein & Tessier, p. 218).” Neveah has received speech therapy for the past three years. I observed her in art class today as she colored two fish with crayons and then used water color to paint over the fish.  She controls small muscles to hold her paint brush with some wrist action. She is able to perform fine-motor tasks such as precision coloring and writing. She wrote her first name on her drawing correctly and wanted to print her last name too.  “The mature finger tripod associated with adult writing is usually present in children by age 7 years (Kostelnik, Soderman, & Whiren, p. 329).” She also writes letters anyplace on the paper. Today she wanted to make a capital B and a lower case b on some notebook paper in the classroom. She holds crayons with thumb and fingers. She cuts with scissors on line continuously and is also able to snip while holding scissors and paper correctly. She copies a circle, square, triangle and she asked me last week to show her how to draw a heart. When she draws a picture, she frequently draws the sun and will say, “That sun is so bright!” She puts on outdoor clothing, but needs help starting coat zipper. She does zip and unzip her book bag and can put her folder with her papers to take home at the end of the school day. She organizes and takes care of own materials. She is not able to tie her shoelaces. During play time, she independently selects materials and places finished products in proper places. She enjoys working with puzzles and has mastered multi-piece puzzles if they have color and shape cues.  She enjoys other manipulatives in the classroom, and playing in the block center once in awhile. Her favorite activity is playing with the doll house and its furnishings. I have not seen her lace, sew, thread small beads on a string or use any type of kitchen tongs or tweezers to move various materials from one container to another.

At lunch she eats with a fork, cuts easy foods and opens her milk carton unassisted. She picked up her French fries with her fingers. Before lunch, she uses toilet independently and washes and dries her hands without assistance. She said that her grandmother is going to have a birthday soon and she wants to help make a cake. She has only been allowed to attend pre-school on Wednesday and Friday for the past two years. She is now five-years-old and will attend kindergarten in the fall. Her gross-motor and fine-motor skills have been fostered at home where she lives with her grandparents (who have taught her many drawing and writing skills). One day she drew me a picture of herself and her grandmother and put large circles on the dress. I asked her who taught her to draw and she said, “My grandmother.”  

References:

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, M.D. & Tessier A. (2004). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children in Inclusive Settings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 218, and 402-409.

Kostelnik, Marjorie, Soderman, A. K., and Whiren, A. P. (2007). Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Fourth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp.321, 326, and 329.