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How to Teach Fundamental Movement Skills

Fundamental movement skills are the basic skills used to perform physical activities. For most people, fundamental movement skills come naturally with early childhood development. However, some children do not naturally acquire these skills and need to be taught. Instruction of the basic movement skills should occur in the early years of schooling.

Instructions

    • 1

      Teach students individually, rather than in a group, since students develop skills and progress at their own rates. Provide instruction in a gym or physical fitness center, where the student has sufficient space to move without risk of injury.

    • 2

      Focus on the basic building blocks for fundamental movement skills. Specifically, focus on static balance, sprint run, vertical jump, side gallop, catch, kick, hop, skip, leap, overarm throw, two-hand strike and dodge. Teach no more than two skills at a time.

    • 3

      Allow a student time to become proficient at each of the building block skills before introducing new skills. Specifically, allow between 240 and 600 minutes of instruction for each fundamental movement skill.

    • 4

      Teach students the concepts of movement. Explain concepts such as effort awareness, which is the mind's recognition of how the body responds to commands; muscular effort, which is the effort needed to produce, sustain, stop or control movement; and force, which is the amount of muscular effort that is necessary to perform a movement. Teach the concept of control, which is coordination; and space awareness, which involves an awareness of one's own body, the space it occupies and the surrounding space.

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