‘Fine motor’ refers to activities that involve the smaller muscle groups of the body (e.g. hands and fingers). This may include cutting, drawing, craft/construction, colouring etc.
‘Gross motor’ refers to activities that involve the larger muscle groups of the body. This may include hopping, jumping, throwing, catching, climbing, and other essential playground skills.
In both assessments we look at the activities the child needs to be able to perform for their age. The assessment looks at underlying sensory motor and cognitive skills, to determine if and why your preschooler is having difficulty in these areas.
We will be using the NEW Miller Function and Participation Scales to assess your preschooler’s fine or gross motor abilities.
This standardised assessment helps to determine how the student’s fine or gross motor skills impact on their ability to engage in home and school activities and to participate socially in their world.
Students taking the test engage in tasks that resemble functional kinder motor activities (eg. drawing, writing, cutting with scissors, catching and playing ball games etc.). The test items are presented as natural and fun “games” that are typical of the student’s daily leisure and school activities.
The workbooks are highly engaging, and there is also a parent and teacher questionnaire that can be used to provide information about the student’s age-appropriate self-care activities, use of tools (eg. pencils, scissors, tape, cutlery), mobility, eye-hand coordination, and participation in both home and school activities.
As a result of using this highly innovative and engaging skills based assessment, we will need time to score and interpret the results. However, we will endeavour to have the report sent out shortly after the assessment. We feel that the information gained from using such an assessment provides us with more accurate information about the preschooler’s fine / gross motor abilities, and a more accurate intervention plan as a result.