1st Grader Development

First Grade is an exciting time where so much is changing and developing in a child. This page will be a place to get tips and information on what to expect from your child's development this year and some ideas of activities you can try that will help your child's development. Offer your child lots of different physical experiences to encourage well-balanced development. Ideas I share this year will come from a text called, A Moving Child is a Learning Child, by Gill Connell and Cheryl McCarthy.

Suggestion One- Handwriting

One of the first things that parents like to ask is how they can help their child's handwriting. According to Gill Connell and Cheryl McCarthy in the book, A Moving Child is a Learning Child, get your child moving. Muscles develop from the top down and from the inside out. So children need to develop large muscle strength first. In this section of the book it is recommended that children of this age should be hanging, swinging, twisting, tumbling, pushing, pulling, tugging, and lifting. Using their bodies allows children to develop all of the bigger muscles that will be needed to then complete fine motor tasks such as writing.

Suggestion Two- Crossing Midline

Midline development is crucial to help a child develop coordination. To imagine midlines, think about a line dividing your body between right and left, a second line dividing you between top and bottom, and a third line dividing you between front and back. These midlines are important to things such as crawling, walking, running, and skipping. As midlines develop, individual parts of the body are able to be used in isolation and eventually with multiple parts of the body at the same time. As these midlines develop, the brain is creating pathways that help the left and right hemispheres of the brain work faster and faster together. This creates quicker and more controlled automatic movements. So the question is, how do we help develop midlines? The answer is simple, get your child moving and playing. Encourage them to try a little out of their comfort zone while playing. Midlines develop slowly over the next few years and any way you can get your child out moving will help them!