Help Us Heal

Help Us Heal by reading & sharing our story

After 20 years of growing a business, our hearts ache as Catrobatkidz bleeds, every day we feel more and more ripped… when will it end? We have been ignored, forgotten and discarded... our industry thrown by the wayside, our lives and incomes stolen from us.... like our existance does not matter, but....

We have to forgive and move forward, but to move forward we need to accept, share and heal. As we each get the courage to share our story, and find the words to try and express ourselves, so too shall this blog grow…

We are all real people and here are our unfolding stories....

Dianne Smith - Catrobatkidz Durban South & Highway Franchisee

I can only hope you are all well.

Okay, so, how has COVID-19 affected me? Well...

• I love my job, I am my job...
• I love to listen to the kiddies stories, it's always my favourite time of my day, chatting with the kiddies.
• I love teaching these innocent souls, their lives have only begun...
• Being told we can't work has broken me... physically and mentally.
• I miss seeing the smiles on the kids faces.
• I miss the big hugs we get.
• I love my job, I am my job... working with children is a passion, it's not a job.
• In 24 hours it was all taken away from me... who am I now?
  

How do I "work from home", how do I "use virtual technology"...?

I battle to explain exactly how I feel, but, right now, all I can shout out is... "I want to go back to work!"

I know when we do go back it's going to be really hard with all the changes, but I'm ready. I hope that's okay, I'm not sure what else to say to you... never will I allow, or do anything that will risk the health of any child... think that of me, and you do not know me, think that of me, and you know not my heart! Thank you.

Sally Delve - Catrobatkidz West Coast Franchisee

If someone had told me in January that our lives would be turned upside down by the end of March I would not have believed them. At first we were told 21 days and our lives could go back to semi normal, I was prepared for that; things could be caught up and we could move on as per normal.

3 months later and things are still not back to normal! Our constants are no longer constant, the things we took for granted, taken away. Our world really was turned upside down.

But as the saying goes when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
A few things I’ve learned is..

be prepared for anything...

always always save money for a rainy day..
and never take anything or anyone for granted.

Hamilton Salane - Catrobatkidz Jhb City & Kasi Franchisee

Covid 19 has not been easy at all and does not get any easier as the days go by. The ECD sector has been totally ignored which has lead to income losses and job losses for practioners and developmental loss for our children.

For me, being a practioner, who plays a huge part in the development of children, and who does my work with passion, I have felt like my life has been put on a total stop; nothing has been the same since the 18th of March 2020

I miss putting a smile on a child's face, I miss telling a child what a super star they are and I miss being the best Catrobat Coach / "Super Hero" in the world. What we do is our life, our hearts are fully committed to making sure the best outcomes are achieved. I miss my life, we miss our Catrobat lives!

The schools, the parents and mostly the kids love us because they feel the love from Catrobatkidz. I am hopeful... I look forward to meeting everyone again.

Ursula Smit - Catrobatkidz Rustenburg Franchisee

For many people, including myself, initially Covid-19 wasn't that serious...it started far away. As the first case landed on our shores we figured this too shall pass.

But then as we went into lockdown, that's when I realized the situation was much more serious than I had thought. I watched as the opinions about the disease expressed by those around me shifted in just a few weeks. Covid-19 went from some disease overseas to a realistic pandemic close to home.

Staying at home sounded like fun... until it wasnt anymore!

The fear of the virus, day to day interruption, total loss of income... this is my new reality, and I suddenly had to deal with it. I'm a mother of a young toddler, we were just about to buy our first home, we were looking forward to such a bright future!

What I miss most about my pre-pandemic life is my normal day to day routine, like getting out each day, driving from school to school to do my classes, having freedom. I took that for granted.

I hope when life returns to "normal" I never take it for granted again.

Melody Clark-Pitt - Catrobatkidz Cape Metro

2020 was supposed to be my year of 20plenty. Plenty business, plenty travel and plenty family. I was riding the high of a fanstastic 2019 year, I had increased business by 32% from the previous year. I was aiming to do the same for 2020. Our travel plans for 2020 made our family look like seasonal jet setters. My brother and his fiance were coming from Austria to Cape Town to get married, my mom was going to Europe for a month to see my brother and his new wife, attend concerts around Europe and enjoy some road tripping and visiting friends. My daughter was going to Scotland in June/July for a month and I was going to Madeira with a friend who had purchased property there. As for plenty family – my big brother and his fiancé were returning to Cape Town from Austria to get married on 27 March 2020 and we were finally going to meet her family. Everyone had their wedding outfits ready, my daughter would be a beautiful fairy flower girl, I had my dress and heels (yes it’s true!!) ready. My brother had booked out the entire wedding venue for the weekend for the overseas guests, family and friends as they we getting married a few hours out of Cape Town. The excitement was huge, we had countdown timers, facetime calls – we were anticipating the wedding of the year!!

And then there was talk about Covid-19 at the beginning of March. It didn’t really strike a chord yet as it seemed too far away to fathom. The rumblings got loader and all of a sudden our President was announcing to the country that schools would shut down as of 18 March. Still – I never comprehended the full extent of the lockdown. I thought this was just a preventative measure for 3 weeks.

My brother and his fiancé arrived early on Saturday 21 March and went straight up to their wedding venue for the day and night. Their Austrian family and guests would arrive on Wednesday 24th March. Sunday afternoon we went to my mom for lunch and to chat excitedly about the wedding. The moment I walked into the house – I could see my mom, my brother and his fiance had been crying. I thought it was because we hadn’t seen each other in 18 months. But I could feel the devastation in the air. My brother managed to tell me there would be no wedding. I couldn’t understand. Why not? Surely someone who had been planning their wedding, travelled to the country to get married, bringing overseas guests over – why not? The utter devastation just unravelled from there. I naively thought that even though they could not get married, that they would then at least stay in the country with us for a little while. When I kissed my brother and fiancé goodbye on Sunday evening – I didn’t know that that would be the last time I saw them or my mom because Tuesday at 5am they flew back to Austria, and Level 5 lockdown was announced on the 23rd to be implemented from the 26th.

The panic that hit – even though the government told us to not panic – was not conceivable by any amounts of imagination. We all flocked to the shops only to find out that everyone else had the same ideas. The freezers were empty by the time I got to them – not one pack of frozen veg, meat, milk, bread could be found on the shelves. It then dawned on me that I would be sitting at home without anything to do for 3 weeks and for someone who is ADHD we cannot/do not/will not sit still for longer than 2 minutes. I needed something to keep me busy. I decided I would catch up on all the interior painting that needed done and also I had way too many pallets in my yard for that, "one day when I have time", project. So off to Makro I went to buy paint, powertools and odds and ends…… I have never seen anything like it in all my life – queues snaking and snaking around into the parking lot, into the parking bays, cars parked outside of the parking lot. Clearly everyone had the same idea as me. I thought I would wait for an hour max. When I got to an hour in the queue I still hadn’t moved very far, but I couldn’t walk away now – I had the time so I stuck it out. 2 hours 45 minutes later I was finally inside. It only took me 20 minutes to get everything I needed. Home I went – I was now prepared for this lockdown.

Or so I thought….. We were then told that once Level 5 lockdown started – no child was to be moved between parents….. This was a huge problem for me and for all divorced parents who have 50/50 custody of their children. How on earth was this going to work. A child cannot be away from either parent for 3 long weeks. It was not fair on the parent who didn’t have their child, not fair on the child especially when she has not had more than 4 days apart from either parent. It was stressful, tough decisions needed to be made, we had to come up with a plan that was best for our daughter.

The beginning of lockdown was nice, it was relaxing, there wasn’t too much routine to the day. We painted, broke up pallets, we painted rocks, played ball games and my daughter loved not having to go to school….. or so she thought……. A child can only paint so much, break so many pallets up, play with all their toys, exhaust all your art supplies and then start asking if we can go hiking and go to the beach. You see I have a very active daughter who loves the beach and the mountain as much as I do. Every 2nd weekend is broken up into: The coolest/coldest day (either Saturday or Sunday) is dedicated to a different hike within CT and our 4 dogs go with and the warmer of the 2 days is spent at the beach with friends followed by a braai. This was our routine we have had for the last year or 2.

One week into lockdown and my child is climbing the walls…. We can’t play hockey or soccer in our cul de sac which we do every day in the week. Our backyard is tiny and the dogs steal the ball all the time… If we lock the dogs away they go insane and bark and jump up against glass windows and doors. It was difficult explaining to a very active, very frustrated 8 year old that in 2 more weeks time, we will be able to go hiking and down to the beach and play outside. The frustration turned into anger, the requests to see friends and once again go out got more frequent and the retaliation against these rules got worse. Door slamming, shouting and screaming and a lot of crying. We tried whatsapp calls, facetime calls and like my daughter said and I share the exact same sentiments – it’s not the same – I want to see my friends, feel that they really are there. Anxiety levels from both of us were terrible. I felt that I had failed as a mom not being able to provide her with the things she needed most – friends, family, mountain and sea.

I was prepared to not have a birthday bash this year – I had mentally prepared for that. But on my birthday 9th April Mr Rhamaposa gave me the worst birthday present ever – a further 2 weeks of lockdown. In the initial speech schools were tentatively supposed to go back early May, we were supposed to have a revised school term. I still was not worried about my business, but I was starting my miss my little kiddies and their happy faces. We were kept hanging each and every day waiting for the Minister of Education to let us know when our children would be able to go back to school and I could go back to teaching. Every day that passed without any word, I felt a pit of dread build up inside of me. Eventually the worry and dread got the better of me and I rushed myself off to the doctor as I was very very sick. We were not allowed to have 2 people in a car, so I drove myself a short way to the doctors. I wasn’t allowed in at the waiting rooms – at the entrance to the medicentre 5 nurses were there – I had to fill out forms – get a sticker and then go and wait in my car until I was called. I was poked, prodded, asked numerous questions and then had to go have bloods taken and a urine test done. I then waited in a cordoned off wing on a hospital bed until my results came back. I was put on antibiotics and told to go home and rest for a week.

During this time my daughter’s school started sending home daily homework – now instead of being a Catrobatkidz teacher – I had to transition over to a Homeschool teacher. It started off well and fine and progressively got worse and worse. My child didn’t like me telling her how to do things and what to do. She didn’t like my hints and tips on how to do her maths homework to make things easier for her. Everyday was now filled with dread and anxiety again, this time not about when we could go out, but over homework. I came to the realisation very quickly – being a homeschool teacher is not for me (but I have to do it), but more so I developed a huge appreciation and admiration for school teachers who have 30 or more learners in a class and have to motivate them, work with them and discipline them. School teachers jobs make my job look like a walk in the park.

Meanwhile whilst battling with my child over maths, English, afrikaans, art and life skills – I slowly started seeing my business fade away. Day after day, the cancellations came in. Parents were being retrenched and some parents were taking 30% pay cuts. All of a sudden my finances had to be looked at and adjusted very quickly. Long standing policies and investments were put on hold. Life insurance had to be cancelled. I had to apply for payment holidays on my insurance for my car, my bond, my ADT. I was feeling bleak, I hadn’t felt this empty since my dad passed away 4 ½ years ago.

As the end of May neared we were told Level 5 would move to Level 4 and some areas would be relaxed. Still we were given empty promises about when school ‘might’ open again. With all this uncertainty for parents the fallout of students was even bigger this time around. Many parents now feeling the economic crises – have taken their children out of school, therefore no more Catrobatkidz for them. It was then announced that when Primary schools go back – they would have to leave the school premises straight after school meaning no afternoon classes. Again another huge chunk out of my business gone.

It almost feels like a snowball effect against you. It started with the little fights with my daughter about not being able to go out into the streets, beach or mountain, no friends, the fights about schoolwork, getting sick, losing Catrobatkidz children, uncertainty about when schools go back, not seeing my family, being bound to a small house, only being able to exercise between 6 and 9 am, but it is freezing cold outside at those times, so very little exercise. Losing more children, worrying about your finances and slowly but surely seeing the business that has taken me 9 years to build, my baby, my passion, my love….. slowly start fading away.

Being in touch with many of the principals of my schools proved to be a very sad outlook for the remaining 2020 year. Some schools had had to retrench staff, some schools were struggling to pay the rent on their schools, most parents were not in the financial position to be paying school fees. One of my schools won’t be going back in 2020. Two of my schools are considering closing down if the economic downturn continues like this. The final blow for me was finally sitting down and working out the numbers on my database and realising that I will seeing very few of my little one’s again this year. I am going to miss my Primary school learners the most – my Grade R’s, 1’s and 2’s. These children amazed me every week – they came to class so highly motivated to learn, wanting to show me how amazing they were at what they do and going home after every single lesson and practicing what we had learnt in class only to come back the next week to blow me away with the progress they had made in one short week. I will miss my really really young one’s that treat me as if I’m a celebrity everytime I step into their school grounds. Teacher "Meddy" is yelled and then my knees get mobbed by all these gorgeous little ones (even the one’s I don’t teach).

I miss the parent interactions, I miss discussing with the teachers at the schools – what I had taught that week, who needed a little bit more work, hints and tips to do with the classes to get them all involved and better at certain skills.

Two weeks ago – I was dealt the most difficult news I’ve had to process in a long time. A very close friend of mine who is 41 years old, with a 5 year old and 3 year old – had a stroke and was hospitalized. My immediate response was to climb into the car and go and be with her family. But I am too petrified to drive further than the shops that are 800m up the road. Her family is not allowed to visit her in hospital. My heart is breaking for this little family who is not able to see their mom and also for my friend not to have her little one’s next to her, keeping her warm and just giving her comfort. I miss everything and everyone and it feels like I have a huge gaping hole in my heart.

I last saw my mom on 23rd March. I last saw the sea on 23 March. I was on the mountains on 22 March. I miss my friends tremendously – zoom calls with 9 ladies who haven’t seen each other in months is not fun especially when everyone is trying to get a word in.

I have come to realise that children eat A LOT!!! I mean 5 – 6 times a day. It seems that 2 adults and a child living in a house (not going to work and not going to school) seems to generate 2 loads of washing a day. The dishwasher has never worked so fast and furiously in all it’s life.

In every negative situation – there always has to be a positive that comes out of it. My positives that I draw out of this is:

• I spend a lot more one on one time with my daughter. I am not dividing my time between admin, cooking, homework and trying to give her time and attention. We have long and meaningful discussions about life and the future.

• I have realised we live extremely busy lives – filling up every weekend with activities and seeing people. I have learnt to be at peace with myself and just enjoy being at home.

• I have realised the importance of who you choose to spend your time with. Life is short, don’t spend time on people who emotionally drain you. Rather have 3 really really good friends than 30 who offer you no value at all and just cause you more anxiety.

• Take time to appreciate your partner. For them to have stuck around us takes lots of patience! Appreciate them. I started a gratitude journal halfway through lockdown as I was having a very difficult time appreciating my partner. When I looked back 10 days later to see how much is done/said – you see your partner in a whole new light of appreciation.

• Life is short – think about what you think about, think about what you say and how you say it. Be completely conscious of what you do and how you do it and if you don’t like it – change it

We will never ever be the same again after this pandemic, but we can come out of this better, nicer, happier people.

Catrobatkidz Social Distancing Grid

For our full Catrobatkidz COVID-19 Policy

A Tribute to Our Team

A tribute to our Team:

As another year slowly draws to a close we find ourselves reflecting on the year that has gone in a blink of an eye, and realise how fortunate we are to have the most amazing team. We want to share our genuine and heartfelt appreciation with every one of you.

You are all out there every day travelling from school to school, unselfishly and tirelessly giving of yourselves to these little ones to enrich their lives, in the hope that you will inspire and positively influence the future generation. Then it’s back home, working till late at night doing admin, trying to balance being a business owner, instructor, partner and parent, juggling all the balls and managing to keep them in the air! 

Over the years we have seen you blossom and grow into the wonderful people you are today, your loyalty, dedication and passion is priceless. Many of you go through personal hardships, but you still keep your heads up and give it your all. Without you, this business would not be where it is today. You keep our business moving forward.

You may be the stones that start the ripple in the ocean leading children to a fitter healthier future, but in our eyes, you are our rocks and we want to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to you all.

We wish you all the best for your upcoming End of Year Displays.

www.catrobatkidz.com 

Parents often ask me - "How do you do it?!"

Parents often ask me - "How do you do it?!"
Here is my reason - my Catrobatkidz are my reason! They have given me every reason I ever needed!

They have given me every bit of Happiness I ever wanted, they have have taught me more about myself and a million things about the world. They have given me challenges to better myself, they have continued to show me what true strength is - how to never give up if you fail the first time. They have each shared their own world with me helping me understand little lives that much better. They have shaped me into the instructor I am today!

They have made my days brighter when I needed it, made me laugh till my tummy hurts, made me smile till my cheeks get stiff, made my worries feel small and my blessings big, made me cry when I feel I haven't given enough or got it right but most importantly they taught me, made me master the art of adaptability, made me realise how the small things in life count, made me understand that its not all about perfection but more about letting go from things you can't control, for showing me love has no limitations, made me step out my comfort zone, made me do things I would never do, they made every day memorable! They made me want to achieve higher and do better for them.

To state I am proud wouldn't be enough.

As this year starts to come to an end, my heart is overwhelmed by your achievements and success, my heart is beaming with pride that I had the privilege to be apart of your little lives, my heart is smiling at how far you all have come and I have absolute faith that you are going to move mountains and conquer at life, my heart will always hold each and everyone of you dearly for each reason you have given me.

"Speak to Children as if they are the wisest, kindest most beautiful and magical humans on earth for what they believe is what they will become!"

Children are the Future! ⭐

Tayla / Catrobatkidz Randburg & Sandton

www.catrobatkidz.com 

With Love from Tayla

To my Catrobats stars- I am a better Coach because I have worked with you. You have taught me that there is more to the school day than academics, checking off the standards, running errands, worries and problems.Through you, I have learned to respect other cultures, to embrace change and difference, and to test my own perspectives on life. Through you, I have learned that teaching and coaching little beings in the real world is much different than how it was portrayed in my manuals and textbooks.

“Adults are just outdated children.”  — Dr. Seuss

Every learner is different, that I know. But with each learner bringing their strengths and challenges to the table, you have so much more to offer. Because of your cultural diversities and your worldly experiences at such a young age, you come from families that have much to share. Along with your strengths, comes wisdom beyond your years. Along with your challenges, comes an opportunity to educate your teachers and coaches about a world beyond our upbringing.

Your are so loved, for all the humor and different perspectives on life you bring to every lesson.

You are so loved for every 30 minutes spent with you gives me so much hope for a beautiful future for me and you.

You are so loved for every somersault you show me true perseverance, for each balancing act you show me practice makes perfect, for each jump, tuck, roll, squat or beat you show me how hard work and dedication gives the best results.

You are so loved for ever dance move, every stretch and every giggle you teach me how it can be the simplest things that bring the biggest happiness.

You are so loved beyond measure for you are uniquely you in every form, shape and colour.

You are so loved for your tiny hearts have the measure.

With tears in my eyes, I can assure you that there are not enough kind words or expressions to accurately portray my admiration for you. You have shown me the meaning of hard work. You have taught me about dedication, perseverance, and overcoming obstacles that human beings shouldn’t be faced with.

My heart beams with pride at the little voices of... "Teacher Tayla- I showed mommy what we did and she high fived me!"

Teacher Tayla- "I can do it ALL by myself! Watch this"

Teacher Tayla- " You the Best and I love you! "

“Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”  — Charles R. Swindoll, Evangelical Christian pastor

To my students with disabilities and learning challenges, you inspire me daily. You have so much to offer this world. Although you might recently feel like the larger world doesn’t have your back, you need to know that the small community that surrounds you most certainly does. I will never stop tirelessly working for you. You are going to be the most successful version of you that is possible. Your hearts are golden and you are so loved. You show me that absolutely nothing is impossible. You have the biggest hearts and most precious souls and you always suprise me with you willingness to conquer any obstacle.

"Every child is a different kind of flower, and all together, make this world a beautiful garden." 

With Love from Tayla - Catrobatkidz Randburg & Sandton

This is Why I Love what I do

This is Why I Love what I do:

There is a silence in the Catrobatkidz class!

A strange silence….

Concentration has never been such a serious matter. Seriousness forms his whole face. Eyes trapped in the moment of what he is now going to do. Lips pulled tight together. I can see that he is going to do everything I taught him, and he is going to try his best.
He’s gonna go for it!

He raises his chin, arms flying up in the air, and then there is that silence again as he leaps. Sailing through the air you hear him breathe in as he raises his knees up high. Now for the landing. Perfect… feet stuck to the ground, not a movement…

My hands clap together, what a wonderful jump!

He looks at me, eyes wide with excitement and blurts out, “Teacher I did it!”

My heart swells with pride, and I reply, “Bravo, you are a Catrobat super star!”

What a wonderful moment for this little one standing in front of me, beaming with confidence.

This is why I love teaching, it’s not just something I do, it’s what we achieve during every lesson with every child and the rewards they give back to me.

The way they run up to me with eagerness and enthusiasm when I arrive at a school…shouting out, “Catrobat is here!” asking, “What are we going to do today?"

The way they soak up every experience, and are always ready to explore and master something new each lesson, from the small things to the bigger ones.

The way they grow as little people… and I have the privilege to be a small part of this.

I am Elize, every half an hour Catrobatkidz class is the best half an hour of my day!

Balance & Coordination

What is balance and coordination?

Balance is the ability to maintain a controlled body position during task performance, whether it is sitting at a table, walking the balance beam or stepping up onto a kerb. To function effectively across environments and tasks, we need the ability to maintain controlled positions during both static (still) and dynamic (moving) activities.

Static balance is the ability to hold a stationary position with control (e.g. “Freeze” or “statue” games). Dynamic balance is the ability to remain balanced while engaged in movement (e.g. running or bike riding).

Why are balance and coordination important?

Age appropriate balance and coordination allows the child to be involved in the sports participation with a reasonable degree of success as it aids fluid body movement for physical skill performance (e.g. walking a balance beam or playing football). The involvement in sport is helpful in maintaining self regulation for daily tasks as well as developing a social network and achieving a sense of belonging in a community or social setting. It also helps children develop and maintain appropriate controlled body movement during task performance which, when effective, limits the energy required thus minimising fatigue.

With good balance and coordination there is less likelihood of injury as the child is likely to have appropriate postural responses when needed (e.g. putting hands out to protect themselves when they  fall of their bike). The physical attributes of balance and coordination also allow appropriate posture for table top tasks and subsequent success at fine motor tasks.

What are the building blocks necessary to develop balance and coordination?

• Attention and concentration: The ability to maintain attention to a specific task for an extended period of time as the core strength is not challenged.

• Body Awareness: Knowing body parts and understanding the body’s movement in space in relation to other limbs and objects for negotiating the environment or ball and bike skills.

• Bilateral integration: Using two hands together with one hand leading: e.g. holding a tennis racquet with the non-dominant hand with the ‘helping’ non-dominant hand holding and stabilising only between hits.

• Crossing Mid-line: The ability to cross the imaginary line running from the child’s nose to pelvis that divides the body into left and right sides, which also influences hand dominance.

• Hand eye coordination: The ability to process information received from the eyes to control, guide and direct the hands in the performance of a given task such as handwriting or catching a ball.

• Hand Dominance: The consistent use of one (usually the same) hand for task performance which is necessary to allow refined skills to develop.

• Muscular strength: A muscles ability to exert force against resistance (e.g when climbing a tree to push or pull up).

• Muscular endurance: The ability of a singular muscle or group of muscles to exert force repeatedly against resistance to allow sustained physical task engagement.

• Self regulation: The ability to obtain, maintain and change alertness level appropriate for a task or situation which then allows better attention to the task.

• Postural Control: The ability to stabilize the trunk and neck to enable coordination of the limbs for controlled task performance.

• Body Awareness (Proprioception): The information that the brain receives from the muscles and joints to make us aware of body position and body movement which in turn allows skills to become ‘automatic’.

• Sensory processing: The accurate processing of sensory stimulation in the environment as well as in our own body for quick and physically appropriate responses to movement.

• Isolated movement: The ability to move an arm or leg while keeping the remainder of the body still needed for refined movement (e.g. throwing a ball on handed or swimming freestyle).

How can I tell if my child has problems with balance and coordination?

If a child has difficulties with balance and coordination they might:

• Fall easily, trip often or can’t ‘recover’ quickly from being off balance.

• Move stiffly and lack fluid body movement (e.g. run like a ‘robot’).

• Avoid physical activity (e.g. playground use, sports participation).

• Be late to reach developmental milestones (e.g. crawling and walking).

• Be slower than their peers to master physical skills (e.g. bike riding, swimming or tree climbing).

• Be less skillful than their peers in refined sports participation (e.g. team sports).

• Push harder, move faster or invade the personal space of others more than they intend to.

• Be fearful of new physical games (e.g. swings) or scared of heights that do not faze their peers.

• Have difficulty getting dressed standing up (e.g. they need to sit down to get put pants as as they lose their balance standing on one leg).

• Have trouble navigating some environments (e.g. steps, kerbs, uneven ground).

• Tire more quickly then their peers or need to take regular short rest periods during physical activity.

What other problems can occur when a child has balance and coordination difficulties?

When a child has balance and coordination difficulties, you may also see difficulties with:

• Motor (muscle) planning of how to perform a physical task (e.g. they may start at step three not one).

• ‘Floppy’ or ‘rigid’ muscle tone: Floppy muscles make the limbs looks limp or alternatively overly ‘tight’ muscles make the limbs look rigid.

• Spatial awareness of how they are using or placing their body (e.g. so that they unintentionally invade other peoples personal space without knowing it).

• Low Endurance for physical (fine and gross motor) tasks.

• Pre-writing skill development: sloppy or excessively heavy pencil strokes that comprise most letters, numbers and early drawing.

• Pencil grasp: The efficiency of, and the manner in which, the pencil is held in drawing and writing is often compromised (too loose or extremely tight and heavy in pressure).

• Pencil control: The accuracy with which the child moves the pencil for drawing and writing.

• Left right discrimination: Conceptualising directional difference so the child ‘knows’ the difference between left and right side of the body.

• Hand dominance: The consistent use of one (usually the same) hand for task performance which is necessary to allow refined skills to develop.

• Articulation: Clarify of speech sounds and spoken language.

• Self care: Dressing independently,  holding and using cutlery, tooth brush as but some examples.

• Sensory processing: Accurate registration, interpretation and response to sensory stimulation in the environment and their own body.

What can be done to help improve balance and coordination skills?

• Improve attention to task and alertness levels to support a rapid response when they lose their balance.

• Explicit teaching of mechanics: Correct alignment of the body in order to maintain balance (e.g. aiming at and facing the body towards the target when throwing).

• Strengthen the ‘core’ namely the central muscles of the body to provide greater body (especially trunk) stability.

• Simplify tasks to concentrate on only one movement at a time, until the child is ready to integrate several at once.

• Improve muscle strength to allow for better muscle control for speed and direction of movement.

• Improve muscular endurance to increase the length of time with which the child can maintain balance and coordination.

• Improve sensory processing to ensure the body is receiving and interpreting the correct messages from the muscles in terms of their position, their relationship to each other, the speed at which they move and how much force they are using.

• Social motivators: If a child has a friend or family member involved in a sport, they may be more persistent in participating and practicing those specific skills.

What activities can help improve balance and coordination?

• Unstable surfaces: Walking over unstable surfaces (e.g. pillows, bean bags or blankets on the floor) that make the trunk work hard to maintain an upright position.

• Unstable swings and moving games including suspended climbing ladders and jungle gyms. When swings move in unexpected ways it forces the trunk muscles to work harder.

• Wheelbarrow walking (the child ‘walking’ on their hands while an adult holds their legs off the floor).

• Swimming: Involves the body having to work against resistance of the water, thus providing better awareness of where the body is in space.

• Kneeling (with no hands touching the floor) to tap a balloon back to another person.

• Hopscotch: Requires the child to switch movement patterns frequently and rapidly.

• Stepping stone games with big jumps (i.e. no steps between the ‘stones’) challenge a child’s balance.

• Bike and scooter: Both activities require the child to continually make postural adjustments to maintain balance. 

If left untreated what can difficulties with balance and coordination lead to?

When children having difficulties with balance and coordination they might also have difficulties with:

• Social isolation as they might struggle to participate in social activities such as pool parties, birthday parties at a physical activity location (e.g. Bounce, Latitude, Ice skating, ten pin bowling) and other physical play with friends.

• Poor self esteem when they realise their skills do not match their peers.

• Bullying when others become more aware of the child’s difficulties.

• Poor fine motor skills (e.g. writing, drawing and cutting) due to poor core stability meaning they do not have a strong base to support the controlled and efficient use of their arms and hands.

• Inability to ride a bike or scooter, which will limit the options for play with peers as many like to ride their bikes as a means of catching up with friends.

This article extracted from Kid Sense