In addition to the home-based physical therapy services that Matthew receives, I take him to preschool gym at our local YMCA. It's a weekly 45-minute parent-child class for babies and toddlers. The YMCA sets up various climbing equipment made of foam and miscellaneous toys. The class is unstructured so it is up to me to direct Matthew's activity and interaction with the other kids.
Matthew was 15 months old when we first enrolled in the class in January last year. He was only commando crawling (belly crawling) then. I remember that he wasn't comfortable with the loud gym on the first day I took him to the class. There were at least 10 other kids playing and an aerobics class blaring loud hip hop music nearby. He wasn't upset or crying although he wanted me to carry him the whole time. But he acclimated to the loud environment by the second class.
In a few days, he'll be 2 years and 4 months old (28 months). He can walk all around, crawl through the tunnels, climb and walk up and down inclines unassisted, and loves it when I help him do logrolls down the big foam wedge that is usually set up in the middle of the gym.
The other parents that I've gotten to know in the class over the year are amazed at his gross motor development and they are always so happy to see him in the class. And I'm happy to have him in the class as it gives him the opportunity to explore in a safe environment outside the home, see and interact with other kids around his age, and further develop and practice gross motor skills.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
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6 comments:
That looks like so much fun! We go to the Y too, and they do such a good job of promoting diversity and accessibility for everyone. I love it! I bet your cute little boy has a blast at his class!
That looks like SO much fun!
Wow, that looks like so much fun! John Michael loves to climb... this would be a blast for him. THanks for your comment on my blog. I was laughing b/c we tried the no-foot PJ's for JM and he just rips his socks off every time, so we stuff his chubby feet into the footed PJ's. At least for now. :-o
oh, i bet he loves that place. it looks like lots of fun.
Ria, that's fantastic and it looks like he's having so much fun.
God bles him.
xox
Windmills and Tulips
now THAT looks like a fun place to go!
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