1
Gross motor skills
1–11
Running, jumping, climbing, hopping, and the big patterns that make a capable body. Everything else — handwriting, sitting, sport — borrows from this bank.
Locomotor skill is confidence you can see. Children who trust their bodies attempt more, socially and cognitively. Dynamic systems reminds us: change the floor and the skill may appear.
RunningJumpingClimbingHoppingSkippingGalloping
How we teach it
- Obstacle stories before drills
- Animal walks as a daily snack, not a unit in May
- Personal bests: 'farther than last Tuesday,' never a ranked line-up
- Spot, then fade. Courage is a ZPD skill
2
Balance & coordination
1–11
Stability, agility, body control, and spatial awareness — the quiet athletes under every 'clumsy' or 'graceful' story.
The vestibular system organizes attention. A child who cannot find still in their body will not find still in a chair. Balance work is often focus work in disguise.
Single-leg balanceBeam walkingDirection changeSpatial awarenessLanding softly
How we teach it
- Tape rivers, pillows, and 'look at the end of the beam'
- Freeze games and yoga shapes for 3 breaths
- Cross-lateral patterns (opposite elbow to knee) to wake both sides
3
Cognitive development
0–11
Memory, focus, problem-solving, planning, and the courage to decide. Play is the laboratory. Questions beat answers.
Piaget: they construct it. Vygotsky: they construct it with you. Executive function: they need stop-and-switch games, not only more content.
MemoryFocusProblem solvingDecision makingPlanning
How we teach it
- One-variable experiments (ramps, water, blocks)
- Ask before you tell
- Chunk tasks. A page is a mountain
4
Language & communication
0–11
Listening, following directions, vocabulary, storytelling — the tools of belonging in a classroom and a family.
Serve-and-return in infancy becomes conversation, then argument, then essay. Expanding a toddler's two-word phrase is already teaching writing.
Following directionsVocabularyActive listeningStorytellingAsking questions
How we teach it
- Narrate the day. Expand, don't correct
- Read daily, then ask what happens next and wait
- Show-and-tell with three sentences and one audience question
5
Strength & endurance
2–11
Core, muscle, stamina, and physical resilience — not gym-bro work. Playground strength. Carrying, hanging, crawling, holding a shape.
A strong trunk is a writing desk. Endurance is also frustration tolerance: staying with a hard thing when the body wants to quit.
Core strengthHanging and climbingStamina in playPhysical resilience
How we teach it
- Bear walks, crab walks, wheelbarrow with a spot
- Carry the books, push the wall, hang from a bar
- Stop while they still feel successful
6
Healthy lifestyle habits
2–11
Active living, food curiosity, water, rest. Not a lecture on nutrition — a culture of how we live in this room.
Bronfenbrenner: the child's nest includes sleep and snacks. Executive function is half biology. You cannot teach a depleted nervous system as if it were a character issue.
Active livingFood curiosityHydrationRest and recovery
How we teach it
- Water breaks as ritual, not reward
- Move every 20–30 minutes in a class
- Name sleep as a performance skill for older children
7
Social & emotional skills
0–11
Teamwork, cooperation, empathy, sharing, and managing the inner weather. The hidden curriculum of every group.
Feelings first, then friends, then fairness. Guided emotional expression in the toddler years is how you get conflict repair at eight.
TeamworkCooperationEmpathySharingManaging emotions
How we teach it
- Name feelings. Stay through storms
- Role-play hard moments before they happen
- Council for real problems, not only rules on the wall
8
Self-confidence & self-esteem
2–11
Self-belief, independence, courage, and a growth mindset — built from mastery, not from empty praise.
Bandura's self-efficacy: they attempt what they believe they can do. Erikson: shame and inferiority are the taxes of clumsy teaching. Specific feedback on strategy grows a self that will try again.
Self-beliefIndependenceCourageGrowth mindset
How we teach it
- Mastery stacks: win, then 10% harder
- Praise the strategy and the stay, not the person as 'smart' or 'talented'
- Let them do it slowly. Autonomy is a confidence factory
9
Focus & attention
3–11
Attention span, listening, task completion, and classroom readiness — trained as skills, not demanded as manners.
Attention is a muscle with a sensory and sleep requirement. Freeze games, Montessori work cycles, and movement snacks often outperform 'sit down.'
Attention spanListeningTask completionStarting the hard thing
How we teach it
- Protect concentration: do not interrupt a working child to praise them
- Red light / Simon Says / freeze-dance as daily EF
- Visual schedules for working memory
10
School readiness
3–8
Routines, independence, learning readiness, and the social courage to enter a group. Not premature academics — a whole child who can begin.
The children who thrive in school can wait a turn, recover from a small fail, use the bathroom, ask for help, and believe the adult will come back. Academics grow in that soil.
Following routinesIndependenceLearning readinessConfidence in a group
How we teach it
- Jobs, coats, and clean-up as curriculum
- Goodbye rituals that keep the attachment intact
- Play-based literacy and number, not a desk at three