I’m so happy that Teacher Pat was willing to share her knowledge of how she works with her clients/students and even adapt some of the therapies she uses so that Moms and Dads can try them at home with their own kids.
In this guest post, Teacher Pat will share ways she works on gross motor skills with Gellibean, and simple ways anyone can try these same therapies at home too. Teacher Pat’s original post had a plethora of information. Because I thought it best to break up the information into two separate posts, I am including her introduction to her original piece here again.
As an occupational therapist, I help my clients by making it easier for them to perform their occupations. I teach my clients the skills needed to complete a task through practice and repetition. In this case, occupation does not only translate as work to be paid for or a job, rather, occupation is defined as the activities which are important for my clients. For children, primary occupations are play, school, and self-care activities (taking a bath, dressing up, eating, toileting, etc).
I have been working with Gelli for a long time now, and I am so proud of her achievements. I have seen her improve, and seeing that smile every Monday morning makes my day.
During our sessions we target the following skills needed for her occupation:
Gross Motor (Whole Body) Skills:
- My number one choice for gross motor activity is crawling: crawling on all-4s or tummy crawling. Crawling uses both sides of the body (left and right) which in turn, improves the connection between the left and right sides of the brain which is important in development and learning.
- Jumping in place and forward. Give needed assistance. What I do first is have them bend their knees for easier and higher jump.
- Sitting on lap or exercise ball then tilting them in different directions: left, right, backward, and forward. This will help improve trunk muscles for postural control.
- Sit ups to reach for a toy. This also improves core and trunk muscles.
After working with all of Gelli’s therapists, I have learned that yes, it is important to crawl before you can walk, and that you should know how to walk before you can run. In the greater scheme of thing, typical kids might not have such an issue if some of these developmental milestones are somehow skipped or not totally mastered. But, this is why we have such a great team of therapists who come together to help Gelli be the best she can be.
We are grateful for Teacher Pat, Teacher Geline, and Teacher Danica. It’s because of their patience, understanding, and guidance that we can see Gelli is growing up to be the strong, confident, talkative little girl that we know and love.
Love to see her!