Back to grants list     Part I. Applicant and Project Information   Title of project: Sensory Motor Pathway Preschool Parkhurst Project manager: Bernadine Vatcher OT School: Lynch Curriculum: Other   Part II: Grant proposal   Summary: The Sensory Motor Pathway would allow us to create up to three movement spaces at Parkhurst School to meet the sensory motor needs of all 55 students. Our brains and bodies are not built to sit for hours transitioning from one focused task to another. Participating in a movement break offers children cognitive, emotional and physical benefits. Our preschoolers are developing the balance, strength, and coordination that will support postural control and motor skills to participate in the classrooms. The Sensory Motor Pathway would provide teachers with an additional tool to engage students in whole body learning. Once the class is oriented to the Sensory Motor Pathway, a teacher could continue to offer whole class trips to the pathway, or a teacher could send a single child or a small group of children for a quick body break. Students could also request to take a movement break. The break would serve to improve a child’s self awareness in terms of their level of alertness before and after the break. The pathway would be set up so that students would maneuver around the circuit in a controlled and focused fashion. After this quick and focused movement break, the child should be able to return to class in a more regulated state for learning. Each pathway would be set up in a hallway, using colorful and attractive commercially available floor decals (see video clips below for examples). The students would have the opportunity to walk, hop, jump, stomp, crawl, push up and leapfrog their way along a well-defined pathway. For example, the path includes decal sets of letters, numbers, footprints, handprints, lily pads, logs, stones, arrows and color spots to lead children along the route. If teachers notice a student is having difficulty regulating attention or behavior, the student could be sent to the path to do a couple of rounds and then return to class.   Part III: Grant Amount Supplies: $1,051.99 Equipment: $0.00 Personnel: $0.00   Total costs: $1,051.99 Back to grants list