Physical Development: The Foundation of Learning

Excerpted from Chapter 5 of Stacy Benge's book The Whole Child Alphabet: How Young Children Actually Develop Literacy.

"By nature’s design, kids are born to move” (Connell & McCarthy, 2014). Let’s go back to our childhoods. Remember seeing a tree and feeling the need to climb it? Seeing a hill, and wanting to roll down it? We took physical risks all the time with the goal of exceeding what we could do yesterday. We felt capable and accomplished. Did adults tell us to do this? No, it was intrinsically motivated. Our brains told our bodies we needed that movement for physical development and thankfully, many of us had opportunities to follow through and move as necessary. How amazing it was!

Physical Development, the Forgotten Domain

Focusing too much on kindergarten and school readiness diminishes what is important in the early years; especially physical development because it’s not always connected to the “academic success” realm. This is a disservice to children. Physical development is as important as any other area when supporting the whole child. Physical development is just as critical for children achieving life success as the cognitive, language, and social/emotional domains. “The more closely we consider the elaborate interplay of brain and body, the more clearly one compelling theme emerges: movement is essential to learning and to the manifestation of life itself” (Hannaford, 2005).

Components of Physical Development

Let’s look more closely at the progression of physical development. At infancy, this begins at the head then works its way down through the limbs. This includes the muscles strengthening, the internal senses developing, and the brain and body learning to work as a team. Because of this, we must design environments that allow plenty of time for children to play and move whenever needed.

Cephalocaudal/Proximodistal

The principles of cephalocaudal and proximodistal are important in understanding the sequence of physical development that goes from the top of the head down to the toes and also starts at the center of the body and progresses out to the fingers. Let’s take a closer look at these concepts.

Cephalocaudal

Cephalocaudal means top down; development starts with the head and works its way down to the toes. Think of when a baby is born. Their head is the biggest part of their body, and we support it when holding them because their necks don’t have the ability to do so. Eventually, their necks strengthen and they can start to hold up their head on their own. As we put babies on their tummies (when they are awake and fully supervised) they start to push up, engaging their torsos and upper backs. Eventually, they start to sit up using their abdominal muscles. Babies will start to get on all fours and rock back and forth and ultimately crawl, showing the progression moving into the legs. They then start to pull up and stand and, at around twelve months old, they start to walk. So, within one year’s time, babies go from having all their movement dependent upon another person’s support, to the ability to walk around on their own. It is remarkable how much physical development occurs in the first year of life.

Although a child can typically walk around one year of age, that doesn’t mean their walking skills are refined. It takes time. Think of being at a soccer field or a dance recital. The kicks and shuffles of the younger children hinge from their hips. As they get older, the actions originate more from their knees. By the time they are teenagers, the kicks and shuffles become more intricate, and the movements are more in their ankles, feet, and toes.

Proximodistal

Proximodistal means from the middle, out. This begins with the neck, torso, and back being developed and stabilized. The development then goes to the shoulders then travels down the arms stabilizing the elbows, wrists, hands, then the fingers. Let’s reverse this to understand how the entire body supports handwriting. For the fingers to function and work in isolation, they rely on the development and stability of the hand. The hand depends on the development and stability of the wrist. The wrist hinges on the development and stability of the elbow. The elbow relies on the development and stability of the shoulder which bears the weight of the entire arm. And the shoulder depends on the development and stability of the neck, torso, and back. “This order of priority, established by the brain, ensures the large muscles necessary for coordination and locomotion are well developed first” (Connell & McCarthy, 2014). This is why it is difficult to isolate fine motor skills without regarding the importance of gross motor development.

Mobility on Stability

In addition to understanding how the body develops, it is important to recognize how the muscles support one another. “By nature’s design, this logical progression ensures the larger muscles are ready to support and transport smaller muscles for more refined, detailed activity” (Connell & McCarthy, 2014). For the limbs to function, they must have a stable base, a concept known as proximal stability for distal mobility. This means the core must be developed and stabilized to support the movement of the arms and legs. Then, think of a succession down the limbs where the bigger muscles stabilize and support the mobility and function of the smaller ones.  A stable shoulder supports the movement of the arm. A stable arm supports the mobility of the hands and fingers. It would be difficult to write if the arm was weak and limp and provided no support to the hand. This is the reason handwriting goes beyond just fine motor skills; we have to give credit where it is due for the role gross motor development plays in the process. Understanding this helps us advocate for outdoor play and big body movement as essential for children to eventually be able to write.

Crossing the Midline

Midlines are known as the pivot points of the body. Looking at a person, their body can be divided three different ways: left and right, top and bottom, and front and back. Crossing midlines pertains to moving body parts to the opposite side of the body; such as moving the right arm over to the left side of the body. To perform everyday tasks, the ability to cross midlines must exist. Think about how many times a day you cross a midline. Reaching across the body to pick up a block. Bending down to tie a shoe. Moving a leg forward to take steps to walk. Even reading and writing requires the eyes and hands to cross left to right. When this happens, it indicates that the left and right sides of the brain are communicating and working together.

Midline Development

How does the ability to cross midlines develop? Through lots and lots of movement and play. The brain and body must have plenty of practice to learn to work as a team. When children have ample opportunities to move and naturally cross midlines, they build neurological pathways between the brain’s left and right hemispheres which allow for efficient communication between the two. “In other words, midline development is essential to optimizing the ‘whole brain’” (Connell & McCarthy, 2014).

Bilateral coordination

Bilateral coordination is the left and right sides of the body working together at the same time to perform a task. Bilateral movements may be mirrored, alternating, or different body parts moving independently, yet working in coordination together. With movement opportunities, children progress through the various stages of bilateral coordination.

• Symmetrical Symmetrical movement is a child moving both sides of the body at the same time to complete the same task. Imagine a baby raising both their left and right arms simultaneously to reach and grab a toy.
• Reciprocal Reciprocal movement is different sides of the body moving opposite one another. Walking and crawling are examples of this movement.
• Asymmetrical Asymmetrical movement is when the sides of the body engage in different motions but work to complete the same task. This includes holding a piece of paper with one hand as the other hand writes. Another example is one hand holding the bottom of a jacket while the other zips it up.

The Significance of Crossing Midlines

As the left and right hemispheres start working together, the brain develops the ability to isolate body parts for independent movements and coordinated actions with other body parts. This is not only important for everyday tasks but for literacy as well. Think specifically of handwriting. Although other body parts participate, the arm and hand sweep from the left side of the paper to the right. No matter which hand is dominant, it will be crossing the body at some point. Consider crossing the midlines when reading. The eyes also move left to right to follow the text. One hand holds the book while the other turns the pages, crossing the body’s midline right to left. Without a doubt, crossing midlines supports the coordination needed for the body to support literacy.

Internal Sensory Development

When listing the senses, we typically include the abilities to see, hear, smell, taste and touch. But there are internal senses as well that help keep the body in check and aware of what it is doing. These senses assist with everyday tasks, including reading and writing.

Vestibular

“Any kindergarten teacher will tell you that the three most important elements of school readiness are the abilities to sit still, pay attention, and stay focused. The vestibular system governs all three” (Connell & McCarthy, 2014). If the vestibular system is out of whack, it would be impossible to concentrate on anything other than staying stable. This is because the vestibular system helps maintain balance, posture, and orientation in space. Essentially, this is what keeps us upright and prevents us from falling over when standing or sitting. With this developed and intact, a person is more apt to be stable and focused.

It would be difficult to operate in everyday life without the development of the vestibular system. “When children have had insufficient experiences for their body to be well balanced, they will need to think and concentrate on maintaining balance and uprightness; their bodies are not yet mind-free, and this can inhibit focusing on and attending to other things” (Neaum, 2017). A child cannot sit in a classroom and learn if their vestibular system is underdeveloped. A child cannot read and write if they have not had adequate opportunities to develop their sense of balance. This is why it is important to understand the intricacies of child development and what needs to be in place before children can achieve the “academics” we expect from them. The vestibular system is the core of everything we do.

Proprioception

The proprioceptive system helps the brain know where the body is in space and how much strength is needed for a task. “Proprioception comprises sensory receptors in the joints, muscles, ligaments, and connective tissues that tell you where your body parts are without you having to look at them” (Hanscom, 2016). These receptors relay to the brain how the body parts are working together as well as the timing and force required of the muscles. This information helps the body maneuver and navigate the environment. In other words, you don’t have to think of where to place your body when you sit or how much force is needed when picking up your phone, your proprioception takes care of that for you.

How does this translate into literacy? There are a lot of things our bodies do when reading and writing that we don’t give much thought to, because the proprioceptive system takes care of it. This sense aids in holding and manipulating books. When turning pages, it helps the fingers know how much pressure to use, to not tear the paper. This internal sense also gives information about how much force to use when holding a pencil and how much pressure to put on the paper when writing. Even knowing where to place the hand on a page and the spatial orientation of writing letters depends on the proprioceptive system.

Developing Internal Senses

When studying the internal senses and understanding how they assist a person in everyday life, it is easy to see the importance of fully developing these systems. Like everything else mentioned, there is a starting point to their development, and it takes time, as well as experiences, for them to grow and mature. How does that happen? Much like a muscle, if the vestibular and proprioceptive systems are not engaged and challenged, they will not grow and develop. Children must constantly utilize these senses and find opportunities to challenge them with tasks a little bit or a lot harder than what they experienced yesterday. This is why movement is crucial to children’s development. Climbing and hanging upside down! Spinning, swinging, sliding, and rolling! Running, walking, and crawling! Anything that puts the body and head in different positions to engage these systems, will help them develop. Children need to be freely moving about the room and the playground over and over again.

The best way to design and environment that allows for child-led movement is to encourage lots and lots of play! Design the environment, allow the movement, and step back and let children move. “Being in charge of their own vestibular stimulation is important as it means an activity is perfectly tuned to their individual stage of development.” (O’Connor & Daly, 2016). This goes for the proprioceptive system too. Allowing children to control their movements is the best thing we can do. So, let’s put child-led play on our lesson plans and let children move about as much as they need. We will only be setting them up for success.

References

Benge, Stacy. 2023. The Whole Child Alphabet: How Young Children Actually Develop Literacy. Lincoln, NE: Exchange Press.