LAB 1- 2/16/2009

LAB 1 ON 2/16/2009

During my first visit to Saint Mary’s I was fortunate enough to work with the pre-k group. I was very happy to work with them as this is the group I have the least amount of experience with. While working with the kids I noticed many differences between them and the elementary school children. These differences were both social and psychomotor. As expected, the pre-k kids had far less developed gross motor skills than the older children. I was surprised however at the specific tasks the kids found difficult. For example, I noticed one boy would often trip over himself while running. Also, while playing catch another child I noticed how difficult it was for him to simply catch a soccer ball. Both of these relatively simple activities were used by the elementary students in conjunction with one another with ease. I was also very surprised with the differences between the males and females. I cannot speak for the elementary age children; however, at the pre-k level there was very little difference between the genders. I have concluded from my short time with these children that only a couple of years can make a huge difference in motor behavior and at a young age gender has a minimal effect on motor behavior.