Emily Jeffries
PEP 291
Andrew Eberline
18 November 2014
Journal #1
Retention of motor skills is one of the fourteen principles of motor development that I
have noticed through my pre-school age student in the Muncie Head Start program. This
principle implies that grasping the knowledge of various motor skills is related to over
learning the skills to retain the cues and perform them properly. Continuous skills are more
likely to be retained better than discrete skills by children. My student, who is three years
old, picked up the continuous skill of running quite easily from the very first trial. She was
able to follow every cue without fail. Although, the discrete skill of throwing she did struggle
with a first, because she would leave out vital cues such as stepping with her opposite foot
and rotating her hips. As we continued to practice that skill, she performed all of the skills
properly and actually became very accurate at throwing to a target. Some implications that
follow this principle are concentration and focusing. My student would sometimes have to be
reminded on a specific cue she was leaving out, but didn’t always take the time to focus on
the cue she missed. She was more concentrated on what activities she wanted to do.
Demonstration is another principle of motor development that was very vital to my
student’s learning process. This principle implies that performing the skill before a child
attempts the skill will result in a better outcome. Children often rely on visual information
and are more likely to repeat what they see and not what we say. This principle was often
used as a motivator in my experience at Head Start. I would demonstrate the specific skill to
her and she would perform it, but then she would often say, “Now it’s your turn.” I used this
technique to motivate her by saying, “ If I go one more time you have to go twice.” An
implication that could occur from this principle is during a testing day. An implication with
this principle is that at the end of an assessment period, the student is supposed to be
knowledgeable of the skills and should not rely on an educator to demonstrate the skill.
Without demonstration I don’t believe that my student would have performed as much as she
had, because she is very impatient and can only stick to an activity for a short amount of
time. This principle for me was more often used as a motivator than as a visual.
The preoperational stage of development has a sub stage known as the preconceptual
stage and includes children ages 2-4 years old. During this particular stage of development
children begin pretend play, but also start to cooperate with others and move into parallel
play and interactive play. Children in this category also tend to react to similar objects as if
they were identical. The main characteristic of the preconceptual stage that I have noticed in
my student is egocentrism. Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a situation from
another person's point of view. According to Piaget, an egocentric child assumes that other
people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child does.
For example, at Head Start my student only wanted to do the activities that looked
visually appealing to her. I would try to explain to her that if we did all of the activities we
would make it around eventually to the ones she was looking forward to, but from her point
of view all she was worried about was completing the activities she liked. Most children at
this age have mild meltdowns and pout in order to get their way. She thought that if she
talked to her classroom teachers they would allow her to do want she wanted, not knowing
that her teachers would tell her to follow the instructions I gave her. Egocentrism in children
ages 2-4 leads them to believe that everyone thinks the same way they do.
Egocentrism is definitely a huge implication when it comes to teaching students
successfully. Piaget and others have suggested that children learn how to take the
perspectives of others better through interacting with their peers than with adults. So
therefore, activities that emphasize cooperative learning, peer group discussion, and crossage teaching are well-suited to introduce instances of cognitive conflict that require better
appreciation of the perspective of others. Working with others doesn’t appear to be a
problem during this stage as long as there is enough equipment for every child. Parallel and
interactive play is popular with this age group, but may not work well when sharing is
involved. This aspect might bring up issues, because sharing relates back to egocentrism.