Psychomotor Development in Children: Birth to Six Years
Introduction
This theme develops from the fundamental idea that psychomotor skills play a crucial role in child development. Through activity and movement, children build a mental image of their own body, enabling them to understand and interact with their environment.
This document examines psychomotor development up to six years of age, its presence across the three curriculum areas, sensation and perception as sources of knowledge, and their organization. Finally, it discusses our role within appropriate educational intervention.
Psychomotor Development in Children (Up to Six Years)
Development is the process affecting body structures and functions, operating under the coordination of the brain. When discussing psychomotor development, we consider two dimensions: the physical and the psychic. The latter, cognitive ability, emerges from the former.
The nervous system forms the organic base for development, coordinating different body parts under the brain’s control. Psychomotor skills encompass, on one hand, the child’s bodily movements that facilitate interaction with objects, people, and the surrounding environment. On the other hand, this interaction and knowledge contribute to the child’s cognitive development.
Fundamental Laws of Psychomotor Development
To understand this, it’s essential to know the fundamental laws of psychomotor development:
- Cephalo-caudal Law: Muscles closer to the brain develop first.
- Proximal-distal Law: Muscles closer to the spinal cord develop first.
- Law of Differentiated Activities: Large muscle groups develop before smaller ones (gross motor skills before fine motor skills).
- Law of Flexors and Extensors: Flexor muscles generally develop functional control before extensor muscles.
Key Phases of Psychomotor Development
Considering these laws, we identify key phases of psychomotor development:
- Tonic Organization: Progressing from an initial hypertonic or hypotonic state towards normal muscle tone regulation.
- Motor Organization: With adequate muscle tone, the child exercises motor functions through activities like grasping, throwing, catching, moving, and vocalizing.
- Function Automation: Integrating and automating multiple functions simultaneously (e.g., walking while talking).
Developmental Stages (Wallon)
Building on these laws and phases, an evolutionary process unfolds. We analyze the psychomotor developmental stages up to six years, highlighting Wallon’s four stages:
- Motor Impulsivity Stage (0-4 months): Actions are primarily reflexive; voluntary movement control is absent.
- Emotional Stage: The child expresses initial feelings (e.g., pleasure, displeasure) through movement, posture, and tone.
- Sensorimotor Stage (up to 2 years): Learning occurs through movement and interaction with the external environment.
- Projective Stage (approx. 2-4 years): The child engages more actively with the world. Intentional, goal-oriented movement emerges, organizing functions around the child’s developing personality.
Aspects of Psychomotor Development
Key aspects of psychomotor development include:
- Body schema (awareness of one’s body)
- Tonic-postural control
- Breathing control
- Relaxation
- Laterality (awareness of left/right)
- Movement coordination
- Spatio-temporal organization (understanding space and time)