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Every experience a child (or any of us) has – a conversation, a story read aloud, a puzzle solved with a friend – leaves a trace in their brain. Some traces are fleeting, others, if significant enough, are encoded into lasting memories that shape behaviour and future learning. Learning therefore is intimately tied to memory:…
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Brain regions responsible for motor control interact with regions involved in self-regulation – movement programs therefore provide strong support for the development of self-regulation skills. What is self-regulation? Self-regulation is our ability to control our thoughts, emotions and behaviours in response to the demands of the environment. It’s the ability to return to a balanced,…
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In a recent article in The Conversation Kate Highfield highlights the importance of looking at the quality as much as the quantity of screen usage by children. The Australian 24-hour movement guidelines (REF) recommends the following quantities: no screen time for children younger than two years no more than one hour per day for children aged 2–5 years no more than…
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A recently published Canadian study has underlined the importance of tummy time for the development of gross motor skills in infants. 1 The study was undertaken by Valerie Carson and her colleagues with a group of 411 parents and their infants in Edmonton, Canada. The study method involved parents recording at ages 2,4 and 6 months the average time…
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Make the still time better … with these simple movement activities. It’s well established that young children can’t and shouldn’t sit still for long periods of time – children need to move. The benefits of regular brief movement breaks for children in the classroom include: Improved brain elasticity, which allows children to learn more easily,…
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How do we help children prepare for the demands of the classroom? The 2018 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) found that 20% of Australian children entering school are developmentally vulnerable in at least one of the five early childhood development domains – physical health, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, or communication and…
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The Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines provide the following recommendations for screen time for children [1] – Birth to 2 years – No screen time at all 2 to 5 years – Max 1 hour per day of “high-quality” programming 5 to 17 years – Max 2 hours per day It’s important to note that the guidelines are as much about…
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Movement is the most essential component of development. A baby innately wants to master control of his movement so that eventually he can move freely in an upright position against gravity. The first visible step to gaining this independence is to achieve head control. A newborn infant has very little head control. If you hold…
Read article All our physical actions take place in relation to the space that we occupy. Spatial awareness is the knowledge of how much space the body occupies and needs, and how to orientate oneself in that space. We need this awareness to relate comfortably to other objects and to other people, and to be able to…
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Learning Connections Approach The brain is the centre of all learning. We now know that the brain is ever changing and that depending on what we do over the course of our lives, healthy brains can be improved. Specific repetitive activities, experiences and mental exercises can assist the brain to reorganise its map. Because our…
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