In today's environment of high-stakes testing, handwriting is a skill that is often overlooked in order to focus on other areas of the curriculum. However, research indicates that handwriting is tied to academic achievement, especially composition and literacy skills. This article provides strategies that can be used to support students with…

New testing theories, concepts, and psychometric methods (e.g., item response theory, test equating, and item bank) developed during the past several decades have many advantages over previous theories and methods. In spite of their introduction to the field, they have not been fully accepted by physical educators. Further, the manner in which…

This brief review presents the subjective view of the author on the history of motor control and its current state among the subdisciplines of kinesiology. It summarizes the current controversies and challenges in motor control and emphasizes the necessity for an adequate set of notions that would make motor control (and kinesiology) a science.…

Bathtubs and swimming pools provide the ideal learning environment for people with special needs. For young preschool children, the activities that take place through water can help them develop physical fitness, facilitate motor development, reinforce perceptual-motor ability, encourage social development, and enhance self-esteem and confidence.…

The author has written this latest volume to help parents and educators understand children's cognitive development and provide suggestions on how to nurture children to their full potential. A companion to "The Adolescent Brain", this rich resource: (1) Examines the neurobiology of childhood, explaining the body/brain systems that develop during…

Kindergarten student teachers face a unique set of challenges as they strive to meet the needs of very young children. This article presents ten suggestions for ensuring a successful experience. They are based on the authors' many years of experience in working with student teachers placed in kindergarten settings. Arranged in Letterman fashion in…

For very young children, music has power and meaning that go beyond words. First, and most important, sharing music with young children is simply one more way to give love and receive love. Music and music experiences also support the formation of important brain connections that are being established over the first three years of life. This…

Interdisciplinary research requires that experts from multiple disciplines work together to combine methods and ideas in an integrative fashion to generate new knowledge. In many respects, the field of kinesiology is ideally positioned to take advantage of its inherent multidisciplinary design. Because of the multidisciplinary structure of…

This article addresses how kinesiological research on children should advance. Using the study of motor development as a backdrop, the article is divided into three sections. The first section relates the four fundamental questions in motor development that have been asked throughout its history. The second section describes four areas of…

The prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents from low-income families in the USA has become a significant concern over the last 20 years. One of the major contributors to this problem is the lack of physical activity. The purpose of this paper is to describe initiatives designed to: (1) engage young children in physical activity during…

The latter half of the 20th century witnessed the dramatic rise of specialization in the subdisciplines of kinesiology, which resulted in scholarly development, but fragmentation. A need is articulated herein for an "issues-based" approach to research that will attract scholars from multiple subdisciplines, address compelling challenges of social…

By presenting a brief general history of educators' efforts and struggles to influence the intellectual and social growth of young children, it will help the reader understand why the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI), a research and consulting group concerned with instructional practices, sought for and obtained funds from the U.S.…

This paper seeks to foster a discussion on whether experiments with robots can inform theory in infant motor development and specifically (1) how the interactions among the parts of a system, including the nervous and musculoskeletal systems and the forces acting on the body, induce organizational changes in the whole, and (2) how exploratory…

This visual arts project was initiated at the West Virginia University Laboratory School (Nursery School) several years ago and has assisted children in reproducing prints of famous artists. Using the principles of behaviorism in conjunction with developmentally appropriate practice has helped young children to extend their knowledge in the visual…

With childhood obesity and physical inactivity at an all-time high, parents and physical educators alike must look to the early years to promote competent and confident young movers. Popular opinion believes that children are naturally active and motor skill development progresses as a normal function of getting older. However, if one looks at…