The Perceptual Motor Program (PMP) is a movement-based program which helps foundation students improve their eye/hand and eye/foot coordination, fitness, balance, locomotion and eye-tracking skills.
Unlike fundamental movement skills that form the building blocks for movement, such as hopping, jumping, running or balance, perceptual motor development connects a children’s perceptual or sensory skills (the brain) to their motor skills (the body) so they can perform a variety of movements and confidently interact with their environment.
Developing perceptual motor skills involves teaching children movements related to time (e.g. moving fast vs slow), direction (moving forward, back or to the side) and spatial awareness (e.g. crossing their arm from the right side of the body to the left or tapping their heel to the ground). Mastery of these perceptual motor skills sets a foundation for being more active and completing important day-to-day activities independently while preparing to read, write and master more complex skills.
Based at the school in the BER building on a Thursday afternoon, the program uses a variety of equipment and focuses on engaging the students in semi-intensive activities which they rotate around for 30 minutes on a weekly basis.
Here are some photos of the Foundation students enjoying their first session of PMP. There were a lot of happy smiles and fun had by all.
