MOTOR SKILLS LAB
Our goal is to help children develop the skills necessary for academic readiness and mastery of their environment. Many of these skills are motor-based. Handwriting, sitting still, paying attention, speaking and behavior are all performances based on a child's ability to maneuver and function in his environment.
The more aware he is of his environment and the more he learns about the sensations of his own movement, the better he can control himself and accomplish tasks. While undergoing certification and training for this excellent child development program it became evident, in each segment of study that we at South Austin Karate could do so much more for the development of our students, and the mutual goals of their parents and our staff. I only regret that students of SAK in the past sixteen years of our existence did not have the advantage of this ground-breaking research in eductional development.
This is not intended to be a replacement for the martial arts skills we teach, including archery, weapons training, forms, and self defense techniques, but instead, is intended as a base for the skill-building of all sports and learning environments. Research has proven that motor skills lab results build a very strong structure for the acquisition of academic skills which is the goal of our multi-level program for shaping our students into the leaders of tomorrow. The aims of the activities within the scope of the SAK motor skills lab are to stimulate the child's sensory systems. Motor and sensory development provides the central nervous system with the ability to perform the many tasks necessary for excellent academic achievement. If the reflexive-vestibular-proprioceptive-tactile systems are not functioning optimally, the student has a limited base of body knowledge and skills on which to build. Limited attention span, poor posture, difficulty sustaining equilibrium, poor coordination of sequential movements, restlessness, writing skills, problems with spatial relationships, and slow academic progress are common signs of an immature neurological system.
Adults sometimes take for granted how our bodies operate, and how the experiences of our bodies teach us to understand the world around us. The energy spent constructing a world of objects, sights, sounds, colors, shapes, dimensions and directions is enormous. Without the incredible and finely-tuned machine called our body, our brain would be at a loss to describe the world. Our ability to see, touch, feel, hear, move and control ourselves in relationship to the environment is the slate that academic learning is etched on.
I am very excited to open our South Austin Karate Motor Skills Lab with a facility outfitted with the latest research equipment and documentation techniques to better our students in their academic goals as well as develop proficiency in all aspects of our ever-changing world.
Michael J. Bainton, Ph.D.
