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Value of Physical Quality Education in Early Childhood

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Value of Physical Quality Education in Early Childhood

Early childhood education is very critical to a child’s overall development. However, it is

also one of the most challenging as children are not miniature adults and have to be enticed into

learning. Therefore, early childhood teachers have to develop learner-centered teaching practices

that draw the children to learn. An active hands-on involvement is the most used strategy to draw

learners to the learning process. For example, as the children play outside, they can interact with

the objects and people in their surroundings to try and make sense of these experiences (Copple

et al., 2009). These experiences engage their minds helping them gain information ad concepts

that are meaningful and connected to what they already know. Hence, physical movement

activities such as dances in early childhood can help facilitate children's sensory, motor,

cognitive, social, and emotional skills.

Physical movement activities such as dances facilitate and improve the child’s motor

skills. Dancing is a form of tangible and goal-directed movement outcome that the children

easily relate to (Lorenzo-Lasa et al., 2007). Dancing is also a fun adventure that captures the

children’s attentiveness, helping them gain gross motor skills while doing enjoyable tasks.

Children also develop motor skills when they engage in dance technique challenges that require

them to learn new motor plans and sequences, increasing their repertoire of movements. The

warm-up exercises that precede these daces also increase the child’s balance, motor sequencing,

and body awareness. The motor skills gained by the children improve their general movement

strategies and problem-solving skills.

Physical quality education also improves the child’s sensory abilities. For example, dance

movements require fundamental sensations such as visual, kinesthetic, and auditory senses,

which are all part of the general sensory experience (Lorenzo-Lasa et al., 2007). Therefore,
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physical quality education activities such as dances help improve the children's sensory skills,

which increases their awareness when responding and reacting to different conditions or

experiences in life.

Physical quality education through creative movement and music experiences increases

the cognitive reasoning of the children. In dances, this is achieved through expressing ideas and

thoughts that improve the “imagination of their body in space” (Lorenzo-Lasa et al., 2007).

Dance movements also integrate activities such as memory, counting, and problem-solving into

the music. An excellent example of this integration is in French ballet, where words are put into

action. These words help the child connect the verbal cues to movement patterns in the dance,

such as soutte and plie. Through these cognitive skills, the child can create ideas that enable them

to engage and interact with others by forming a common understanding of the social experience.

The social experience and participations through dance also help the children express their ideas

and connect with others. This experience facilitates the child’s ability to solve social problems,

which is essential in ensuring they interact with other people. According to Hrysomallis (2020),

dancing also helps reduce stress and anxiety. For children, this is vital as it ensures they learn in

a relaxed environment.

In summary, physical quality education is vital in a child’s development as it facilitates

their sensory, cognitive, motor, and social skills. In most cases, physical quality education is

carried out through music, dance, and movements as they offer a hands-on approach to learning.

At the same time, provide an enjoyable learning model. Furthermore, children can also relate to

dances as they have interacted or experienced them in their cultures or home settings. Therefore,

the value of physical movement activities such as dancing is practical hands-on approaches that

capture the children's attention to participate in the learning process.

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References

Copple. (2009). Determining What is Developmentally Appropriate.

Hrysomallis, C. (2020, July 25). Travel the world through these dance tutorials (Published

2020). The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/travel/cultural-dances-tutorials.html

Lorenzo-Lasa, R., Ideishi, R. I., & Ideishi, S. K. (2007). Facilitating preschool learning and

movement through dance. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35(1), 25-31.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-007-0172-9