Psychomotor Development Stages Incorporated into Italian Preschools

One Parent’s Observations on Europe’s Preschool Psychomotor Development Stages

(or: Psicomotricita’ classes: Italy’s Version of the Classroom Course!)

My family relocated from the United States to Italy about 3 years ago, just after my son was born. There have been some difficult times adjusting to a whole new way of life here. 

However, one area in which I have always felt very confident is the early childhood education my son has received.

In fact, in the past 3 years, I’ve learned that Italian preschools and elementary schools are quite ahead of the curve when it comes to encouraging the psychomotor development of a child.

Italy – Home to Some of the Best Early Childhood Institutions

You see, in the U.S. “Montessori” schools are all the rage. Some parents pay exorbitant fees and drive an extra 20 minutes out of their daily drive to get there. All to secure a space for their preschooler in one of these prestigious schools.

Most of you are probably familiar with the Montessori method. And you’ll likely be aware how fantastic it really is for encouraging natural learning patterns through curiosity and support during the psychomotor development stages.

Silly me, though. I never realized that Montessori was the name of a woman who founded the method. And that Maria Montessori was Italian.

I also didn’t know that another highly sought methodology – Reggio Emilia – got it start in Italy too. Some of the preschools that have been repeatedly named the best early childhood institutions in the world are right here in the region in which I’m living.

Good news for me and my quirky little boy, He has a few sensitivities. He’s become much better over the past year, fortunately. But last year I was feeling disheartened about how he’d have total meltdowns over being slightly surprised, or encountering disruptive noises.

Even flushing toilets and lawnmowers were enough to scare him to the core.  These encounters would go on to ruin the rest of his daily function.

CoordiKids and Psychomotor Development of a Child

That was right around when we started working with Marga and the team at CoordiKids. So, here we were, doing our in-home physical exercises. And I’m slowly trying to wrap my brain around how this whole concept that physical movement can possibly have an effect on my son’s sensory sensitivities. 

Then, I see a sign at daycare announcing the start of Psicomotricita’ classes. I literally still cannot spell or say the word, so please don’t ask me.

So, I asked the teacher what these classes were all about. There was no real translation in my Google Translate app to help me out.

The teacher said – and please read this with a heavy Italian accent –

“They are classes that allow the children to do exercise and movement while strengthening their brain. Gymnastics that improves their understanding of how to think and feel from their emotions. In this way, we focus on the psychomotor development of a child.”

Alright, now, I’ve taken a yoga class or two. I’ve even done some meditating in my life. I can therefore grasp the concept of a “brain-body” connection. But something here was lost in translation, obviously. 

Because I have no idea what gymnastics classes have to do with my kid learning how to “feel from his emotions.”

So, fast forward a year, and I can finally explain to you what psicomotricita’ classes are. No, I still can’t pronounce it. I also know now that the English equivalent is psycomotricity.

So, What are Psychomotricity Classes?

Psychomotricity classes are organized play and movement classes for children ranging from 3 – 8 years. (Although I’ve seen many daycares including it for 2-year-olds, too).

The classes are described as series of movements and games that specifically target the psychomotor development stages: i.e., the brain-body-emotion connection and development in children.

Translated from Italian:

“Psychomotricity is an activity that integrates the educational experience and represents an opportunity for children to talk about themselves and their inner life through the body and movement, the privileged ways of expression between 0 and 7 years of age. It offers precious stimuli for the development of skills.”

After reading Marga’s Blog last week, I understood. The article covers the developmental checklist of activities that stimulate the midbrain and how the midbrain is connected to both motor skill development AND cognitive development. I had a total “Aha!” moment.

Psicomotricita’ is the Italian equivalent of the CoordiKids Classroom Course!

The classes include a variety of proprioception activities and vestibular stimulation. (Here, I’ll copy Marga’s words here to explain it better than I could.)

“Proprioceptive input significantly supports emotional self-regulation and the response to sensory stimulation. These are “heavy work” activities, such as pushing heavy objects, carrying, stacking large items, etc.”

“Vestibular activities stimulate the vestibular system in the inner ear. Improper development of this system compromises sensory integration and various motor skill abilities.”

“Head movements, inversion of the body, changing speed and direction – all of these are examples of movements that stimulate the vestibular system.”

Psychomotor Development Stages

Psychomotricity classes target emotional regulation and sense of self as well. For example, a characteristic trait of the preschool aged child is egocentricity. Children ages 3-8 aren’t yet aware of how their actions affect other people.

They aren’t born aware that other people have independent feelings. They must learn in this period how to navigate selfishness with cooperation and sharing. Many psychomotor activities deliberately include cooperation and collaboration.

Another characteristic of this period of psychomotor developmental stages growth is the development of aggression.

These classes offer children opportunities to act upon aggression as it bubbles up, talk about their feelings, and provide strategies for relieving the tension through movement and play.

A Developmental Checklist

Therefore, the goals of these classes are for young children to begin to learn a variety of skills on the developmental checklist, including:

1. How to be comfortable in your own skin
2. Physical awareness in space, with a focus on reassurance and confidence to try new things and sensations
3. How to integrate cognitive thinking into play and movement
4. Understanding the threshold between fantasy and reality, how to move back and forth between the two, and how to embrace a balanced relationship between them both
5. Becoming aware that current limitations can be overcome through more practice, growth, and strategizing
6. The different channels of communication
7. Emotional control and containment/redirection of aggression
8. Impulse control and an understand of how actions affect others around you
9. Motor skills
10. Body expression, with the opportunity for educators to observe any motor inhibition issues
11. Focus and attention
12. Praxis
13. Temporality/Sequencing

Child Development Program Similarities

To help you visualize what the classes are actually like, below is a list of some of the activities I’ve observed taking place in the classes. And for those of you who also do CoordiKids programs or other occupational therapy with your children may notice some similarities.

The framework of the classes seem to go right through a developmental checklist, while the kids just have a grand time playing silly games with fun new props and furniture:

• Climbing over large gymnastics foam blocks of differing heights, shapes and arrangements
• Crawling through tunnels, lying under tents of hanging blankets
• Being covered by a blanket during movement
• Walking across various width items at various heights, encouraging deliberation of step placement and balance
• Walking and crawling up and down ramps and wobbling beams
• Holding hands with other students to move together in collaboration – including the movements listed above, as well as sitting and standing as a group while holding hands
• Sitting on, rolling on, bouncing, and lying on large exercise/yoga balls
• Running as a group to crash through a large wall built of soft gymnastics blocks
• Tumbling, somersaults, rolling
• Spinning, twirling, running in circles
• Marching together in formation, at times changing speed and direction
• Walking and running with arms in various positions and moving through space at the same time
• Pulling/dragging blankets and ropes
• Pushing large foam blocks across the floor
• Storytelling and play acting

A Great Way to Encourage the Psychomotor Development Stages of a Child

Some schools here in Italy offer psychomotricity as part of their included curriculum once or twice per week. Others offer it as an additional program for which parents can enroll their children and pay a nominal fee of $30-50 for the year.

However, the class is held during the school day in a separate room, not as an after-school program. This means it’s convenient for the parents to allow participation, and it means the activities are done in a familiar environment for the children. What better way to encourage the psychomotor development of a child?!

So, Bravo, Italia! And Bravo, CoordiKids! Thank you for taking such good care of my little boy, both at school and at home. And now, I can say I *almost* fully understand how the psychomotor development of a child works!