The creative movement classroom provides an inviting place of fun, imagination, creativity and self-expression.

Welcome to our first Movement newsletter. I am Miss Peggy, Creative Movement teacher, and as I begin my 22^nd year at IPS, I anticipate another exciting year of discovery with the children.

Pre-school children are whole-body movers who tend towards perpetual motion; balancing and holding stillness are major accomplishments. Structured dance experiences help them to develop the following skills and understandings:

• Physical:  Self-control, refinement of gross motor skills, and understanding of the relationship between their bodies and the space around them.
• Social/affective: Listening, responding, taking turns, and working cooperatively in a group.
• Cognitive: Recognizing, recalling, identifying, differentiating, and sequencing movements.
• Aesthetic: Choosing and expressing preference for dance movements.
• Metacognitive: Reflecting on their own and classmates’ dancing.

Our first weeks together are dedicated to the learning or review of 2 basic dance concepts: body shapes and space.

A story about “Giants and Elves” directs the children to move in a small, then large, shape while traveling throughout the space. There is no right or wrong way to improvise these contrasting shapes.  Initially, the children will concentrate on two shapes: circle (ball) and square (wall).   The significance of these two shapes are realized when we begin to explore the concept of core (closing in) and distal (expanding from center), one of eight essential movement patterns the children will experience throughout the year.

In addition, returning students and those familiar with performing a series of actions were directed to explore the movements of a squirrel. After a short review to reinforce the sequence (scurry, climb, jump, roll), our first movement sentence was created!