Beginning Days

   Returning to school at the beginning of August was a big change, but it was worthwhile. When given the opportunity to attend a conference with my mentor teacher, I knew it was something I couldn't pass up. The Pre-K classrooms in Mon County were all given a grant as part of Choosy Kids - I am Moving, I am Learning. A program designed for obesity prevention which takes a proactive approach towards addressing child-hood obesity by increasing the quantity of physical activity, improving the quality of physical activity and promoting healthy food and drink choices.

This conference was very interesting and eye-opening. The statistics given about the obesity rates in West Virginia and across the nation are startling and scary. As an educator, it made me want to take action and incorporate the fundamentals ideas of Choosy Kids into the daily instruction and interactions I have with my students.

One of the workshops, Observing and Evaluating Motor Skills, in particular really sparked my curiosity and got my wheels turning. It intrigued me to begin thinking about possible action research ideas. I cannot wait to interact more with my students and observe them in the classroom to see if this route of action research would benefit the students in my classroom.

As an early childhood educator, I feel there is almost a pressure to develop students' fine motor skills in preparation of them to learn to write and use scissors. However, before their fine motor skills can be developed, their gross motor skills must first be fully developed. If you expect the child to write the number eight, but yet they cannot move their entire body to create the number eight with their legs, their arms, etc. by crossing their midlines - then how can you expect them to make that same movement on an extreme smaller scale? My experiences in early childhood centers has shown me that teacher led gross motor skill practice and development is either non-existent or left entirely up to the physical education teacher.

Integrating motor skill development into existing curriculum is easy. During teacher directed time, the focus of the station, such as letter or number recognition, does not have to be a sitting table top activity. It can be a physical activity, such as throwing a ball into a lettered bucket, hopping the number line, etc. Therefore, the students are still learning - both their numbers and letters and developing their motor skills, and being ACTIVE!

With the WV Early Learning Standards Framework dedicating a section to gross motor skills it is evident that the importance of physical activity and the development of these skills is critical in an early childhood education and would be beneficial in possibly exploring this route for an action research topic.

Beginning the school year by attending this conference was the best decision I have made. It got my wheels turning, got my excitement up, and has me motivated to make a positive change in the classroom. I am looking forward to meeting my students and reflecting more on if this is an appropriate route to take for my action research.