I'm not sure what article you're reading. I guess I can try to make it clearer for you with another one some day when I have more time, but basically these articles are saying that children need to be taught motor skills. You can't always just have them run on the same playground day after day without any help and expect them to pick up all the skills they need. How do they even play catch if they don't have an adult? Have you ever seen two children 3 or 4 years old try to play catch? Stay at home moms are not just sipping coffee and chatting with the other moms while these kids are at the park. Sure they do have their children play by themselves, but they are swinging their kids, holding them while they try the monkey bars so they can do them at 5 instead of finally allowing them at age 5 to try it on their own, they're playing ball with their kids, they allow their kids to walk up a slide to develop arm muscles. This is a much different experience than if you have a child in a daycare all day long and the teachers do not think it's their job to help with gross motor skills in any way and tell your child that they can barely do anything on the equipment for safety reasons.

"Like any skill, there needs to be instruction, there needs to be practice, there needs to be feedback. That's how children master these motor skills."

Safety concerns were cited most frequently as a concern for both parents and teachers that ended up being a barrier to physical activity.

they are often raised by single mothers who are working multiple jobs and don't have time to supervise them outside," Goodway said

Preliminary results suggest that disadvantaged children who are taught motor skills as preschoolers can make "huge gains."

As far as I can see, nothing that you have quoted talks about adult guided physical activity. Yes, children need opportunities for lots of physical large motor play. That does NOT mean that lack of adult interference is the cause of motor delays.

http://www.aahperd.org/headstartbodystart/activityresources/upload/BenefitsOfPlay_LitReview.pdf

Still haven't found the two I remember reading, but will keep looking.

Another one:
http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/42/1/E1.full

Here's a good quote from the article though:

Most people, even many educators, believe that motor skills just naturally develop in children, but our study shows that's clearly not true," Goodway said.

The research I remember is a couple of years old. here's one about disadvantaged youth. I'll try to find one about moderate income kids, but it may take me a few days to find since the one I remember is a few years back. BTW, my child is now doing fine in sports even though he might not make the competitive soccer team, however it took a lot of encouragement and assistance to get there. It's not like he had huge motor skill issues. Just lacked confidence and a little coordination. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100426131608.htm

16:44-- Show us the research you are referring to, please.

21:15 has the right idea and is exactly what parents are looking for in a preschool. Not too little and not too much. Unfortunately that's hard to find.

13:19 Sorry gals, but that's totally untrue. Many children are more cautious and need assistance. I see this all the time with parents and their children. When we found a preschool that encouraged movement and helped children on the playground, things were much better. But the first preschool would chit chat and let 2 and 3 year olds run around and never help them with social skills or motor skills. Why do you think you see parents at the park helping their children? It's because they need scaffolding in order to try something a little harder. I just did this with my second child today in fact that has no motor delays, but was scared about something. I'm not saying every day they needed to do this, but really with a 1:5 ratio and my child there all year long from 8-5 pm, they should have done more. There are even reports that daycare in general is causing a lot of gross motor delays. So, it's not just my motor deficient child. It's one of the big reasons actually that parents don't put their children in full day care.

Right on, pp. I too am sorry about your child's delays. However, it is irresponsible to blame it on your child's teachers. Children need free play and free time to learn to navigate life and to be independent. The teacher is there to help facilitate. Most early childhood teachers do not have the training to help with major motor delays. I hope you have your child in an early intervention program with an OT. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with free play, but there are also many studies which say that daycare workers do not take on the job of teaching kids motor skills or social skills and this is a problem. My child had many motor skill delays because they would never encourage him to do anything on the playground and spent most of the time chit chatting and only pointing out behavior if it was really bad. Also outside time is one of the times where children can really interact with one another and a great time to help them learn to get along with each other. Free play at the daycare my child went to was sometimes 1/2-1 hour in the morning and up to 2 hours in the afternoon. Some of that time should be helping children learn gross motor skills and interacting with one another in a positive way.

I am so sorry that your child has motor delays. The reason your child has motor delays is simply that they have motor delays. It has nothing to do with the fact that daycare workers did not engage your child on the playground. A typically developing child will naturally climb, throw and catch balls, run, etc. without intervention. I hope that you are getting the support he or she needs to help gain the needed skills.

I think the teachers should also make sure groups of girls aren't ostracizing other girls. This happened at our preschool (in the 3s class) and the teachers were oblivious though they admit this group of girls were not inclusive and kind to my daughter in general. They admitted to hearing one girl tell my daughter "go away, we dont want you near us" but did nothing about it. So yeah, i am all about free play but the playground is where the future mean girls of middle schools are being made. I want the teachers to be more involved--after all, isnt that why we sign up for preschools? So that our kids can develop positive social skills?

Preschool teacher here - I work with the 2.5 year olds Mother's Morning Out type class. We supervise, help the kids on certain parts of the playground, kick balls with the kids and encourage them to play together. We do not chit chat with each other. We don't go on the equipment with the kids, but we often start play with them and then back off and let them be. This is different in the 3s and then in the 4s. You really back off in the 4s class. You just keep your eyes and ears open at that point.

I think the teachers should focus on keeping the kids safe.

I totally agree with free play, but there are also many studies which say that daycare workers do not take on the job of teaching kids motor skills or social skills and this is a problem. My child had many motor skill delays because they would never encourage him to do anything on the playground and spent most of the time chit chatting and only pointing out behavior if it was really bad. Also outside time is one of the times where children can really interact with one another and a great time to help them learn to get along with each other. Free play at the daycare my child went to was sometimes 1/2-1 hour in the morning and up to 2 hours in the afternoon. Some of that time should be helping children learn gross motor skills and interacting with one another in a positive way.