Why Motor Skills Matter: Improve Your Child's Physical Development to Enhance Learning and Self-Esteem

by Tara Losquadro Liddle

Overview

“This is an important book [that] offers critical insights and the hope for a bright developmental future that all children, parents, and the professionals who serve them need.” —T.B. Brazelton, M.D., Founder, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children’s Hospital

“Why Motor Skills Matter shows how children use their senses and bodies to explore their environments and what we can do to protect and strengthen this critical pathway for their development, health, and learning.” —Joshua Sparrow, M.D., Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children’s Hospital

 

Learn To Use Physical Activity To Raise An Emotionally Well-Balanced, More Coordinated, And Happier Child

Playful interaction beginning in infancy is crucial to a child’s cognitive skills, language, speech, and overall emotional balance. Filled with practical, age-appropriate activities for children from newborns up to age five, Why Motor Skills Matter helps you to:

• Integrate touch, movement, and body awareness during playtime.
• Ensure that your child progresses through the proper developmental sequence.
• Determine if your child has sensory processing difficulties or disorders.
• Avoid common developmental mistakes, such as using exersaucers, having your child wear hard-soled shoes, and promoting early walking. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633934580
Publisher:	Koehler Books
Publication date:	07/24/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Tara Losquadro Liddle, Mpt, has been a pediatric physical therapist in private practice for over thirty years. She is presently working as the Regional Director of pediatric therapy at a major healthcare company while pursuing a doctoral degree in pediatric physical therapy. She is a frequent speaker at hospitals, schools, and parent groups. To learn more about Tara Liddle visit www.taraliddle.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Paul B. Yellin, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics xvii

Introduction xxi

Why Motor Skills Matter

Learning to Move and Moving to Learn 1

The Continuous Cycle of Motor

Output and Sensory Input

The System We Don’t See 3

Understanding Your Child’s Sensory (Nervous)

System and How It Relates to Movement

Your Newborn 21

Birth to One Month

Faster than a Speeding Bullet 39

Your Child’s Development in the First Year

Shake, Rattle, and Roll 41

Physical Development and Activities for the First Six Months

Sit, Squat, Stand 63

Physical Development and Activities for the Second Six Months

From Cooing and Babbling to Sucking,

Swallowing, and Chewing 95

Your Baby’s Oral-Motor Development in the First Year

Able to Leap Tall Buildings 115

Your Child’s Development from One to Five Years Old

Your Mobile Explorer 117

Development of and Activities for Your One-to-Three-Year-Old

Your Walker and Talker 139

Development of and Activities for the Three-to-Five-Year-Old

Special Considerations 159

There Is No Such Thing as a Lazy Child 161

How Low Muscle Tone Affects Development

Appreciating Prematurity 167

The Premature Baby’s Special Development

Sensory Processing Disorders 181

Manifestations and Guidelines

The Most Commonly Seen Orthopedic

Conditions in Pediatrics 191

Acknowledgments 199

Source Materials 201

Additional Readings 213

Helpful Organizations 219

Index 221

Editorial Reviews

Pediatric physical therapist Liddle's commonsense guide to early childhood development advocates a body-centered approach to development for unsure parents, or nervous parents-to-be. The author supports her thesis-"that mild deficiencies in physical development could have a major impact on self-esteem and well-being"-with four thorough sections: an overview of the newborn sensory system; first year of development; motor skills and language through age five; and a final part on children with "special considerations" (e.g., preemies and babies with low muscle tone, sensory issues or orthopedic conditions). Aided by editor Yorke, Liddle's non-technical prose explains infants' sensory systems (vestibular for balance, proprioceptive for spatial location and tactile for touch) and the importance of ensuring they work in harmony. The "ability to utilize our senses... to absorb information, sort it out, and then respond to it" defines Liddle's therapeutic specialty, sensory integration. She stresses that the quality of a baby's progression from belly play to sitting, crawling and creeping, is more important than the timing of these milestones, and she makes a compelling case for the connection between a newborn's muscle tone and his or her cognitive development and ultimate emotional and social success. Not another trend to promote exceptional babies, Liddle's sensible, unpreachy advice draws on solid orthopedic science to back up the relationship between physical movement and learning. In addition to sidebars on toys, and line drawings, lists of source materials, a bibliography and an index enhance this well-informed handbook. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A pediatric physical therapist, Losquadro-Liddle has been coaching children with low muscle tone for 20 years. Here, she aims to educate parents on the importance of early diagnosis of developmental problems in "normal" babies. Her main argument is that infants should follow a developmental sequence that, if not respected, can lead to developmental delays. Regarding crawling, for example, she argues that infants who can't do so might have problems later with fine-motor skills like writing and manipulating small objects. To promote physical movement and development, she suggests sensory input activities. Yet often she employs too many technical terms and not enough graphics, which makes reading a bit arduous. Still, the book has its strengths: descriptions for each month of a baby's first year and then, for the one- to three- and three- to five-year-old, the appropriate developmental sequence; "Common Concerns" advice; appropriate toys for each age group; and a chapter on the special developmental needs of premature babies. Recommended for larger child rearing or academic collections.-Maryse Breton, Davis Branch Lib., CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

"This is an important book for parents as well as physical and occupational therapists, other pediatric health providers, and teachers of young children. It offers critical insights and the hope for a bright developmental future that all children, parents, and the professionals who serve them need." --T.B. Brazelton, M.D., Founder, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children's Hospital

"In this era of smartphones, tablets, and narrowly focused academic standards and testing, Tara Liddle's book is more urgently needed than ever. Why Motor Skills Matter shows how children use their senses and bodies to explore their environments and what we can do to protect and strengthen this critical pathway for their development, health, and learning." --Joshua Sparrow, M.D., Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children's Hospital

"Everything we can learn about our children makes us better parents. This book is an excellent guide to child development and what we can do to help our children grow up confidently, competently, and 'in sync' with the world." --Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., Author of The Out-of -Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder

"Why Motor Skills Matter is a book that should be on every parent's mandatory reading list. I cannot recommend this book highly enough." --Julie Ross, M.A., Owner and Executive Director at Parenting Horizons, Author of How to Hug a Porcupine

"The accessibility of Tara Liddle's Why Motor Skills Matter is what keeps so many folks coming back to her text time and time again. --Christen M. Russo, M.D., Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery; Columbia University Irving Medical Center; New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

"Today, when children are moving less than ever, but the purpose of ideal development remains unchanged, this book is more relevant than ever before! Having a baby shower? You're getting this book from me!!" --Liesa M. Persaud, PT, DPT, PCS, CKTP

"It's time to help children feel good about themselves from the inside out. Why Motor Skills Matter will do exactly that." --Dr. Ron Taffel, Author of Childhood Unbound

"Why Motor Skills Matter is certain to become an integral part of the literature on child development and, more importantly, a staple on every parent's shelf." --Susan E. Swedo, M.D., Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics; Chief, Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch, NIMH. NIH, DHHS, and coauthor of Is It "Just a Phase"?

"Why Motor Skills Matter presents a thorough and terrifically useful synopsis of motor development in infants and young children." --Lise Eliot, Ph.D, Professor of Neuroscience, The Chicago Medical School, and author of What's Going on in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life

"I highly recommend Why Motor Skills Matter for the parent of every child, and I assure those parents that they will not only enjoy each chapter but will be far more informed about the development of their children by the end of the book." --John M. Driscoll, Jr., M.D., Former Chairman; Department of Pediatrics, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons;

From the Publisher