As the only upright and bipedal human in the animal kingdom, how did his motor abilities develop? We will find that the movement of hands and feet in early childhood has a regular pattern to follow, such as what we often refer to as seven sitting and eight crawling, which represents a summary of this pattern. The Montessori early education theory suggests that the development of early childhood movement encompasses two aspects: one follows biological laws, and the other is closely related to the inner world of humans, which are closely related to the feet and hands.
The development of feet - following biological laws
The development of feet has a certain biological basis, and learning to walk seems to be unaffected by the environment, but rather comes from commands issued by the brain. Preschoolers will first sit up, the second stage is turning over, and then crawling; Subsequently, he learned to stand alone and was able to land his entire foot on the ground, as well as take a few steps while supporting objects; At the fourth stage, he is already able to walk alone and does not need help from others.
The Development of Hands - Connecting with the Inner World
But the development of the hand is not like that, it is closely related to the environment. We can say that both feet are definitely used for walking, but there is no consensus on the future function of hands. Who knows what babies will do in the future? Hands express human thoughts, and we can see this from handicrafts in history. The development of manual skills is synchronized with psychological development, and the more refined the work, the more intelligence a person invests.
Let's carefully study the development process of our approach. At the beginning, babies unconsciously grab or hold with their hands. When you give them a small object, they will try to grab it tightly; Next, the grasping action becomes conscious, and he will choose the object he is interested in to grasp; Then, not only could he grip with ease, but he also developed other hand movements. By observing his surroundings, he began to move on his own. He opened drawers, picked up clothes from cabinets, covered bottle caps, and scooped things out of the water. These developments are closely related to the external environment.
The connection between the two
Of course, the development of feet and hands is not isolated from each other. Around the age of one and a half, there is a connection between the two. At this point, they began to wish to hold heavy objects with their hands, which required their legs to support them; Moreover, they use their feet to walk to where they want to go, and when they reach their destination, the specific work is done by their hands. After combining their hand skills with the ability to maintain balance in their legs, children have reached a new level of independence. They are now able to do things on their own and begin strength training, attempting to lift heavier objects and engage in more difficult behaviors such as climbing. Subsequently, they gradually became involved in the environment, imitating adults and developing new skills. It is the development of these two aspects that has made them a free new humanity.
