Designing Preschool Movement Programs

Designing Preschool Movement Programs will help anyone develop and run a successful movement programme for children ages 3 through 5. It's both a detailed guide for developing a preschool movement curriculum and a resource containing developmentally appropriate movement activities. Part 1 emphasises the importance of movement in educating young children and tells how early exposure to structured movement activities benefits children throughout their lives. There is a curriculum foundation for establishing a preschool movement programme in any setting, including day care centres, community centres, and elementary schools. Part II of Designing Preschool Movement Programs is the activities portion of the book. There are nearly 100 developmentally appropriate activities, organised by skill themes. Tested in early childhood settings for 8 years, these activities are appropriate for teachers to use in any type of class, whether it's indoors or outdoors, in the classroom or in the gym. Through these activities, children will develop movement skills - hopping, skipping, jumping, rolling, balancing, throwing, and many more. And the activities emphasise proper form and technique, so that children can learn skills without using speed and accuracy as the only measures of success. Part III brings it all together, organising the movement activities into a curriculum. There are 8 weeks of sample lessons plans designed to help teachers plan their own lessons. The examples are planned in segments of 30 minutes, but they can easily be made longer or shorter to fit any situation.