What are fine motor skills? It's all the activities that involve the use of small muscles that control the the hand, fingers and thumbs.
Developing fine motor skills help children perform important tasks such as feeding themselves, grabbing objects such as pencils, scissors and finally, writing.
Having this ability accomplishes self-care and helps a child’s self-esteem and confidence grow.
Many preschools push children to write too soon. Instead of focusing on the child's development the focus is on academic performance.
The problem is when the focus is academics we miss the developmental base needed for high performance academically. When pushed to write too soon children don't develop adequate hand strength and coordination which leads to incorrect pencil grip, pain when writing, frustration and resistance to school activities.
At Mount View we believe that focusing first on a child's development is what leads to high academic performance. That's why our classes are play-based, providing children with the opportunities to develop their whole person.
Activities that MV use to help motor skills development:
Playing with playdoh and clay
Cutting material of all different textures
Manipulating small objects like beads and peas