Hsiu-wen Yang, M. Ostrosky, Paddy C. Favazza + 2 more authors
Jun 29, 2018
Citations
1
Influential Citations
3
Journal
Young Exceptional Children
Abstract
177 Vol. 22, No. 4, December 2019 YOUNG EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN https://doi.org/DOI: journals.sagepub.com/home/yec Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © Division for Early Childhood https://doi.org/10.1177/1096250618783994 DOI: 10.1177/1096250618783994 journals.sagepub.com/home/yec Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions © 2018 Division for Early Childhood Stephanie, a half-day preschool teacher, observes that Tiffany, a happy albeit shy child, often plays alone during outdoor time. While Tiffany has strong verbal abilities, Stephanie notes that her use of a walker for mobility limits her socialization and independent play on the slide, trikes, or climbing structures. During circle time and motor activities, Stephanie also keeps an eye on Max, a child with autism. Max enjoys active motor play and playing with race cars but often has difficulty imitating actions, following directions, and balancing. He benefits from visual supports to stay focused and engaged. Both Tiffany’s and Max’s parents have expressed concerns about their children’s school readiness skills including their gross motor competence. Although Stephanie understands that gross motor development provides a foundation for other developmental domains (e.g., social, communication, and cognitive), she does not know how to create enough engaging opportunities for children with and without disabilities to work on these skills within the brief 21⁄2-hr time period that her students are with her each day. The early years (birth to age 5) in children’s lives are a crucial time of growth and physical development. Infants learn how to lift and turn their head, sit up, and crawl by using their large muscles within the first year of life. Gross motor skills continue to develop in the second, 783994 YECXXX10.1177/1096250618783994Young Exceptional ChildrenMotor Activities / Yang et al. research-article2018