PMP - What is it?

The first day I volunteered at Sumner School I had the opportunity to help with a programme called PMP. The programme is designed for school age children, ages 5 and up. Sumner School currently offers the programme twice a week on Wednesday and Thursday to the Year 1 students who are all either 5 or 6 years old. PMP helps to bridge the gap between early childhood education and formal learning by giving students the opportunity to develop the physical motor skills necessary for a successful transition into formal learning. 

The Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) is a step-by-step programme which aims to help in the development of a students perceptual knowledge and judgement. Throughout the programme students are provided with movement and motor experiences which help to develop a child's perceptions and understandings of himself/herself in relation to his/her world. The aim of the programme is not for the child to develop specific skills, but to develop the child. PMP helps to prepare the brain for leaning by refining perceptual judgments. There are five critical spheres of sensory and physical influence that help prepare a child's brain for formal learning. They are: fitness, eye-tracking, balance, locomotion, and eye-hand/eye-foot coordination. 


                    Body + Brain = Learning

The learning outcomes of PMP are broken into three different areas: skill, perception, and motor outcomes. PMP aims to help students in developing the following skills: physical education skills, confidence, memory, language, and problem solving. The perceptual outcomes of the program include developing the child's body image, body control, laterality, directionality, space-awareness, and body rhythm. The motor outcomes of the programme are locomotion, fitness, balance, and eye-hand/eye-foot coordination. 

Parent volunteers play a major role in ensuring the programme is run successfully. Volunteers can be hard to come by, so my help has always been much appreciated at each PMP session. Each PMP session has 5 different stations which means a parent volunteer or teacher is needed at each station to lead each group of students through the activity/exercise. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience helping out with the programme so far. As a future teacher, I can see the many benefits that this programme will provide to the students. With a background in exercise science and education, this volunteer opportunity has been a perfect fit for me. I am looking forward to helping out at Sumner school's next PMP session tomorrow. 

For more information about the Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) visit the following website: http://www.movingsmart.co.nz/home/schools/pmp/

Reference:

Moving Smart. (n.d.). PMP - Perceptual Motor Programme. Retrieved from http://www.movingsmart.co.nz/home/schools/pmp/