Monday, May 16, 2016

Reading as a Help for Clumsiness?

The 'Well" blog in the NY Times has an interesting column on clumsiness in children here.  The main idea is that there can be many reason for children acting in an uncoordinated way, and the author, Dr. Klass, gives several good suggestions of steps a parent should take.

I think this is an excellent overview of ways of dealing with an uncoordinated child.  As a teacher for 37 years, I would just add that it might help to find some children's stories about creatures who are clumsy.  You could start by searching amazon for "clumsy children's books".   I tried that and several good suggestions came up.

With my students, I found that it wasn't the necessarily the most coordinated, or smartest, or best looking children who were the most popular.  Rather, it was the kids who felt all right about themselves, and truly liked and were interested in their classmates.  Some of the experiences necessary for this mindset can come through reading.  Reading makes everything better.

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