June O’Sullivan meets Dr Lala Manners who has enjoyed a long and varied career in the field of Early Years movement studies and physical development: as a teacher, trainer, educator, consultant, researcher, author and broadcaster.
Here, they debate the importance of practitioners engaging in physical development and overcoming the fear by getting ‘stuck in’ whilst allowing children to just be. To sit still. To stand still. To observe the here and now – all vital components of improving a child’s mental and physical health development.
Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement which is why daily movement, tailored to particular ages and groups of children, must be placed at the heart of the curriculum in order to support all aspects of learning.