A Couple of Hours With Jill Connell

Monday was a very busy day.  We had a two hour session with Jill Connell.  She was  speaking about getting children school ready.  She is the author of several books and educational resources including" A Moving Child is a Learning Child" , " Smart Steps", and "Get Ready for School."

In a nutshell, she believes there are six vital steps of getting ready for school.  These are

Motor 

She talked at length about the importance of children mastering fine and gross motor skills.  Jill gae several examples of how these can help children take control of their bodies and in turn their brain.  If a child has mastered a skill it will become automated and this will help children to be able to turn their attention to what they are learning the task at hand rather than needing to concentrate on sitting on a chair correctly etc.

There were several examples of activities that we can use easily in the classroom to help children refine these skills.  A couple of these include getting children to come to the mat like a  caterpillar on all fours, using a ball and getting the children to try and stop a ball using different body parts

Jill talked extensively about activities that encourage  children to cross the mid line. ( Now I understand why it is so important for babies to learn to crawl!!!)

Memory

Several activities to encourage children to use their memories and increase their "spaces."

one idea I liked was using memory mats which are mats or card with different objects and the children have to follow instructions and touch on two or three different cards in the same order as they were given to them.

Language

This includes the language of things like days of the week, left and right etc

Visual

The importance of children strengthening their eye muscles.  Activities to increase these include getting children to follow a torch on the roof.  Following different objects etc.  This is particularly important for things like tracking in reading etc.

Auditory

Listening and following instructions.  Be aeare that several children suffer from glue ear so foten only ear part of what you say.  

Social

Turn taking, asking for help, sharing, building friendships etc.

All of these important skills contribute to children being school ready.