A ttention
B alance
C oordination
D evelopmental readiness
For
E ducation
In today’s modern world, as soon as children begin to move independently, they are strapped in, carried, bounced and sat in so many different articles. At Mulberry Bush Montessori we endeavor to give all children, as they start with us, the maximum opportunity for movement, through our prepared environment. In our carefully prepared environment practitioners, parents and visitors can see the selection of ergonomic wooden furniture (correctly designed for certain age groups), as well as all the equipment, materials and objects the children will use throughout each room at Mulberry Bush Montessori.
Movement is the nutrition for the brain and is the medium through which sensory integration takes place.
Human Development, as attitudes and policies in education and trends come and go, is a stable constant and provides the key to understanding the basis of how our children learn.
At Mulberry Bush Montessori, we work with parents to ensure that children are not only ready for school but for the rest of their lives. As part of our transition to school, each August, from 2011, we will begin to offer children a fun Movement Programme to all 4 year olds, to ensure that they are physically ready for the demands of a school environment.
When a child is born, he leaves the cushioning and protection of the womb to enter a world where he is assailed by an almost overwhelming amount of sensory stimuli. He has exchanged a world of equilibrium for one of chaos. To survive he is equipped with a set of primitive reflexes designed to ensure immediate response to this new environment and to his changing needs. Primitive reflexes are automatic stereo typed movements directed from the brain stem and they provide rudimentary training for many later voluntary skills. Prolonged primitive reflex activity may prevent the development of the succeeding postural reflexes, which should emerge to enable the maturing child to interact effectively with his environment, which may result in immature patterns of behavior or may cause immature systems to remain prevalent, despite the acquisition of later skills.
Movement is the very expression of life! From the beginning of life there is movement, these tiny movements are a human beings first outward expression of their experience of the world, the first language a child expresses. Repeated movements help to strengthen neural pathways that run between the brain and body, an integral part of life a child experience of movement will play a pivotal path in shaping his personality, his feelings and his achievements. The first few years of life are dedicated to gaining control of the body with the infant during its first 9-12 months acquiring thousands of new movement patterns and movement abilities with the various stages in motor development, reflecting development with in the brain itself and the central nervous system.
Speech is a multi sensory and motor skill, involving translation of visual images and emotional experience into different elements of sound; pitch, tone, rhythm, phrasing, timing and cadence. These together with the fine muscle control required for the use of the lips, tongue, swallow mechanism and breathing, form the non verbal aspects of speech, which are important to convey meaning and intent
Music naturally contains all of the Sound elements of speech and is a form of language without words. The process of singing or chanting unites the dual aspects of speech.
Food provides fuel for growth, energy, cell repair, hormonal balance and how nerve cells communicate with each other (via neurotransmitters). Energy obtained from food is pumped into the system more efficiently when we move. The quality, variety and timing of food intake can have a major impact, not only on the physical status of the body but also the cognitive processes, mood and impulse control.
Regular routines and social practices in the early years that remain constant help to create bonds between individuals, knitting the child into the social fabric of his environment and helping to form the basis for meaningful relationships.
Whilst so much energy and funding is focused on succeeding at the higher aspects of learning, we should never forget that it is the foundations that make the building stable.
The same is true for the well-balanced child.
“All forms of life share the characteristic of motion.” Albert Einstein
The Movement Programme that we offer at Mulberry Bush Montessori is designed to tackle the base of the learning pyramid and to give the child a solid foundation on which to build his many other learning experiences and these have been devised to be used in the classroom for 4 & 5 year olds. Control over the body is but a starting point for the rest of life.
How the Movement Programme is rolled out:
The developmental exercises that we do with your child has been broken down into their simplest form and then rebuilt step by step in a strict developmental sequence, starting with the infants earliest learned skill the ability to hold their head up. All movements have been based on infant movement patterns, acquired during the first 6-9 months of life, which form the foundation for all later voluntary movement, including the fine muscle skills necessary for writing later on. They are done to music as slowly as possible.
The key component of the Movement Programme is regularity over a minimum of 9 months and this will be done for 10 to 15 minutes daily with staff in the Montessori Classroom.
General themes in Child Development include;
Research by INPP
The INPP Developmental Exercise Programme for children aged 4 – 6 years that we do at Mulberry Bush Montessori is designed to tackle the base of the learning pyramid and to give your child a solid foundation on which to build his many others.