Abstract
During the preschool years, children develop several inter-related skills including motor skills and communication skills. In this article, we highlight several communication teaching strategies and describe how practitioners can promote communication skills of preschoolers with disabilities by providing them with multiple opportunities to practice these skills during motor activities. The following strategies are described: arrange the physical environment, model motor vocabulary, ask motor related questions, use a fill in the blank strategy, and reinforce/prompt child communication. The use of these strategies during large and small group motor activities is illustrated with vignettes. We present strategies for creating an engaging environment and providing meaningful opportunities so that children can learn important communication skills while also developing critical motor skills.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Please note that CHAMPPS is included only as an example program and not available free of charge.
References
Akamoglu, Y., Meadan, H., & Burke, M. (2016). Parents’ reported use of naturalistic communication teaching strategies. DADD Online Journal: Research to Practice, 3, 7–23.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2019). Developmental Norms for Speech and Language. Retrieved from American Speech-Language-Hearing Association website https://www.asha.org/slp/schools/prof-consult/norms/
Aronson-Ensign, K., Favazza, P. C., Stalega, M., Ostrosky, M. M., Block, M. E., Yang, H. W., et al. (2018). CHAMPPS: Filling the preschool curriculum gap. Palaestra, 32(4), 29–36.
Bhat, A. N., Galloway, J. C., & Landa, R. J. (2012). Relation between early motor delay and later communication delay in infants at risk for autism. Infant Behavior and Development, 35(4), 838–846.
Burdette, H. L., & Whitaker, R. C. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children: Looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 46–50.
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). (2011). Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines: Full-Text Representation. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/downloads
Favazza, P. C., & Ostrosky, M. M. (2015). CHAMPPS (Children in Action: Motor Program for PreschoolerS) (CHAMPPS) (PR/Award No. R324A150074). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences.
Favazza, P. C., & Siperstein, G. N. (2016). Motor skills interventions for young children with disabilities. In B. Reichow, B. Boyd, E. Barton, & S. Odom (Eds.), Handbook on early childhood special education (pp. 225–246). Switzerland: Springer.
Feldman, R., Carter, E. W., Asmus, J., & Brock, M. E. (2016). Presence, proximity, and peer interactions of adolescents with severe disabilities in general education classrooms. Exceptional Children, 82(2), 192–208.
Gerber, R. J., Wilks, T., & Erdie-Lalena, C. (2010). Developmental milestones: Motor development. Pediatrics in Review, 31(7), 267–276.
Green, D., Charman, T., Pickles, A., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., Simonoff, E., et al. (2009). Impairment in movement skills of children with autistic spectrum disorders. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 51(4), 311–316.
Haiback-Beach, P., Reid, G., & Collier, D. (2018). Motor learning and development (2nd ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Harjusola-Webb, S. M., & Robbins, S. H. (2012). The effects of teacher-implemented naturalistic intervention on the communication of preschoolers with autism. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 32(2), 99–110.
Haywood, K., & Getchell, N. (2014). Lifespan motor development (6th ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.
Horn, E. M., Palmer, S. B., Butera, G. D., & Lieber, J. (2016). Six steps to inclusive preschool curriculum: A UDL-based framework for children’s school success. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.
Howard, E. C. (2011). Moving forward with kindergarten readiness assessment: A position paper of the early childhood state collaborative on assessment and student standards. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Offices.
Iverson, J. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37, 29–261.
Iverson, J. M., & Braddock, B. A. (2011). Gesture and motor skill in relation to language in children with language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(1), 72–86.
Kaczmarek, L. A. (1982). Motor activities: A context for language/communication intervention. Journal of the Division for Early Childhood, 6(1), 21–35.
Kaiser, A. P., & Roberts, M. Y. (2013). Parent-implemented enhanced milieu teaching with preschool children who have intellectual disabilities. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 56, 295–309.
Kashinath, S., Woods, J., & Goldstein, H. (2006). Enhancing generalized teaching strategy use in daily routines by parents of children with autism. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science, 49, 466–485.
Lane, J. D., Shepley, C., & Lieberman-Betz, R. (2016). Promoting expressive language in young children with or at-risk for autism spectrum disorder in a preschool classroom. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(10), 3216–3231.
LeBarton, E. S., & Iverson, J. M. (2013). Fine motor skill predicts expressive language in infant siblings of children with autism. Developmental Science, 16(6), 815–827.
Meadan, H., Angell, M. E., Stoner, J. B., & Daczewitz, M. E. (2014). Parent-implemented social-pragmatic communication intervention: A pilot study. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 29(2), 95–110.
Mobayed, K. L., Collins, B. C., Strangis, D. E., Schuster, J. W., & Hemmeter, M. L. (2000). Teaching parents to employ mand-model procedures to teach their children requesting. Journal of Early Intervention, 23, 165–179.
Ostrosky, M. M., Yang, H. W., Stalega, M., Favazza, P. C., & Mclaughlin, K. (2018). Let’s get moving: Using children’s literature to support physical activity and readiness skills. Palaestra, 32(1), 39–44.
Pretti-Frontczak, K., & Bricker, D. (2004). An activity-based approach to early intervention. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.
Provost, B., Lopez, B., & Heimerl, S. (2007). A comparison of motor delays in young children: Autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, and developmental concerns. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37(2), 321–328.
Roberts, M., Kaiser, A., Wolfe, C., Bryant, J., & Spidalieri, A. (2014). The effects of the teach-model-coach-review intervention on caregiver use of language support strategies and children’s expressive language skills. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57(5), 1851–1869.
Scofield, J., Hernandez-Reif, M., & Keith, A. B. (2009). Preschool children’s multimodal word learning. Journal of Cognition and Development, 10(4), 306–333.
Smith, L. B. (2003). Learning to recognize objects. Psychological Science, 14(3), 244–250.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Acknowledgements
This manuscript was made possible by grant number R324A150074 from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views or endorsement by the funding agency.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Akamoglu, Y., Ostrosky, M.M., Cheung, W.C. et al. Move Together, Communicate Together: Supporting Preschoolers’ Communication Skills Through Physical Activities. Early Childhood Educ J 47, 677–685 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00957-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00957-1