Foundation Skills

We would like to welcome all or the new children and their families to our kindergarten. You may hear the teachers talking about the 'Foundation skills' and how they impact on a child's future learning. We know that early movement experiences are vital for children to gain basic skills such as running, hopping, catching and balancing and research illustrates the importance of movement experiences in developing a child's brain. Children's sensory and physical development affects their ability to remember what they see, hear and do. Therefore it affects their ability to learn and achieve.
Think of your child's brain as a 'bucket' with holes in it - if these holes are not plugged then formal learning can be lost. The plugs are the foundation skills for formal learning. These skills are the 'plugs' that fill the bucket! Children need to participate in a wide range of movement activities. These include things like balancing, climbing, swinging, spinning, walking in a straight line, bouncing, catching and kicking a ball, crawling, hopping, hand/eye co-ordination activities and eye tracking activities. Action songs, memory games and dancing are all thought to improve the way the brain functions and will help with future, more formal learning once children get to school.
When the brain has been provided with a wide range of movement patterns, sensory activities and language, it will develop a rich network of nerve patterns and literally be 'wired for learning'.
It may all sound a bit confusing but all these skills stimulate different parts of the brain. If you would like to know more about the Foundation skills for learning we have DVDs in our Parent Library for you to take home and look at.