Sitting at one place does not get you too far in life…or school

Did you know that a baby’s motor movements promote optimal brain development? Learning to move in order to achieve a goal or express oneself are key milestones in an infant’s cognitive development. What’s interesting is that this connection between moving and learning does not end by the time the child is out of their diapers. Movement acts as a significant facilitator for learning in children of preschool-age as well.

Good preschools incorporate movement as a significant part of the educational program for enabling the grasp of key cognitive and pre-academic skills. Alfred White Northhead, an American mathematician and philosopher, said in 1929 in an essay titled “The Aims of Education”, “I lay it down as an educational axiom that in teaching you will come to grief as soon as you forget that your pupils have bodies."

Although this maxim can be applied to ‘pupils’ of any age, it is exceptionally relevant for young pupils. Studies have shown that young children are experiential learners and learn best through experimentation and exploration.

Benefits of movement-based learning

• Physical activity fuels the brain with oxygen, water and glucose, which improve cognitive function.

• Constantly sitting at one place leads to fatigue. It also leads to a dip in concentration and even more so if you are merely a 3 year old who doesn’t have the self-control to carry yourself through a monotonous monologue.

Movement-based activities are more fun and engaging for a child as they tend to reel in their interest. It has been scientifically proven that being interested in an experience makes you more alert and helps you retain what you have learned better.

• Learning by doing is most effective. When children move around to explore the world around them and their relationship with it, an avenue for sensory explorations opens up. These sensory experiences raise the child’s awareness about the world, improve motor skills and help in language acquisition.

• Movement can act as a means for children to express themselves. In fact, in a preschool in Brooklyn called the Williamsburg Northside Preschool, children are encouraged to use movement in order to communicate as well as symbolize their experiences.

Movement is not just an add-on to but a deeply essential aspect of a good preschool curriculum. The Williamsburg Northside Preschool in Brooklyn places great emphasis on incorporating movement in each child’s daily schedule.

Providing a joyful and stimulating environment to a child that allows plenty of opportunities for movement plays a significant role in ensuring that the child not only have fun while learning but also becomes more focused, balanced and healthier in the process.To know more about preschool in Brooklyn visit: http://www.willnorth.org/preschool/