Perpetual motion describes most young children! It’s easy to take advantage of 3-8 year olds’ need to move and focus their energy on intentional physical activity. Developing an appropriate movement curriculum promotes health and wellness and sets children on the path to becoming active for life.

This workshop will focus on learning the basics of physical development in the early years and what research tells us about the benefits of creating effective movement programs for the preschool and early primary classrooms. Participants will engage in mapping long-term goals and writing age-appropriate lesson plans. The workshop is designed for classroom teachers, particularly teachers in schools lacking large movement spaces, movement specialists, curriculum directors, and administrators. Participants do not need to be sports enthusiasts to take advantage of this playful and highly engaging workshop!

Objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Extend their understanding of the development of motor skills in young children
• Deepen their knowledge of learning through movement
• Understand the importance of young children’s health and wellness issues that impact learning
• Develop an appreciation for the place of joyful, active learning in the curriculum
• Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans based on current research
• Share their learning with other workshop participants

Outline
Day 1:

• Introductions
• Where are we today? Where do we want to be?
  • Assessing our own programs
  • Setting individual goals for program design
• The importance of movement in the early childhood curriculum
  • Research on the health and wellness of young children
  • Development of fine motor and large motor skills
• The movement continuum
  • Cognition and movement; how the brain supports motor learning
  • Sensory input
  • Motor output
• Movement program design
  • The environment
  • The curriculum framework
  • Appropriate equipment and materials
  • Setting developmentally appropriate goals
  • Assessments, reflections, adjustments
• Reflecting on today’s learning and setting the stage for tomorrow

Day 2

• Overview of the day
• Questions/discussion based on teacher reflections from Day 1
• Jumping in: Designing the movement curriculum
  • Foundational skills
  • Development through playful practice
  • Developing the year-long curriculum map
  • Accommodations for children with special needs
• Exploring teacher resources
• Reflecting on today’s learning and workshop evaluation

Trainer’s Profile

Dr. C. Hammett is a retired elementary school principal and adjunct faculty member at Central Oregon Community College, where she designed and taught courses in early childhood education. Dr. Hammett holds a Bachelor of Education degree in physical education from the University of Arizona, a Master of Physical Education degree from Portland State University, a Master of Early Childhood Education degree from Western Oregon University, and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Lewis & Clark College.

Dr. Hammett authored a popular teacher resource book, Movement Activities in Early Childhood (Human Kinetics Publishers) and co-authored a book for early childhood classroom teachers, Read! Move! Learn! (Gryphon House Publishers). She has also created six children’s musical CDs published by KIMBO Educational. Dr Hammett continues to follow her passion to help educators through her consulting and mentor work in the area of early education

Methodology

This workshop is engaging, playful, and very interactive. A collegial collaboration model will give participants hands-on experiences to use in designing a comprehensive movement program. Slides, handouts, and small group presentations will support this workshop format.

Target Audience

This workshop is of value to preschool, kindergarten, and early primary teachers as well as physical education teachers. Curriculum directors and administrators who attend will gain knowledge in creating developmentally appropriate movement programs for their schools/centers and districts. Ages 3-8

Investment
AUD850.00/pax
AUD750.00/pax if register by 15 Jul 2018

Other Details
Duration: 2 days, 12 hours
Closing Date: 30 Aug 2018