Tara Losquadro Liddle - Why Motor Skills Matter: Improve Your Childs Physical Development to Enhance Learning and Self-Esteem

Praise for Why Motor Skills Matter

This is an important book for parents as well as physical and occupational therapists, other pediatric health providers, and teachers of young children. It offers critical insights and the hope for a bright developmental future that all children, parents, and the professionals who serve them need.

T.B. Brazelton, M.D., Founder, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Childrens Hospital

In this era of smartphones, tablets, and narrowly focused academic standards and testing, Tara Liddles book is more urgently needed than ever. Why Motor Skills Matter shows how children use their senses and bodies to explore their environments and what we can do to protect and strengthen this critical pathway for their development, health, and learning.

Joshua Sparrow, M.D., Director, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Childrens Hospital

Everything we can learn about our children makes us better parents. This book is an excellent guide to child development and what we can do to help our children grow up confidently, competently, and in sync with the world.

Carol Stock Kranowitz, M.A., Author of The Out-of Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder

Why Motor Skills Matter is a book that should be on every parents mandatory reading list. Tara Liddle explains how the sequential mastery of both gross and fine motor skills affects not only learning, but also the childs self-esteem and his or her social and emotional development. In my private practice, I see the effects of neglecting this aspect of parenting all too often. Parents come to me concerned about their childs anti-social behavior; their inability or lack of desire to engage in physical activities; their lack of confidence in school or in making friends. Liddle makes it clear that there is a link between the early mastery of motor skills and these behaviors later on. More importantly, she gives parents practical, specific, and fun ways to interact with infants and young children to encourage their physical development and avoid future problems. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Julie Ross, M.A., Owner and Executive Director at Parenting Horizons,Author of How to Hug a Porcupine

The accessibility of Tara Liddles Why Motor Skills Matter is what keeps so many folks coming back to her text time and time again. The spectrum of caregiversfrom parents to teachers to health care professionalswho benefit from this breadth of information, tidied up into a relatively short text, is astounding. As a pediatric orthopedic surgeon (and a mother!), I am often faced with identifying and explaining normal and abnormal motor development; having this resource both for parents and myself helps us to be on the same page while caring for the child. Why Motor Skills Matter creates a dialogue for understanding the always unique and ever growing childit is a tactile reference that grounds some of the confusion, while also celebrating the excitement of raising a child. Personally, I look forward to the And Always Remember sections at the conclusion of each chapter; they provide insight and intel while wrapping up the topic. The second edition will surely be even more successful than the first!

Christen M. Russo, M.D., Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery; Columbia University Irving Medical Center; New York-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

Taras book has been around for over a decade &, while this is the updated 2nd edition, the original core message is as important as ever. Due to busy lifestyles, technology, and many other societal aspects, children today develop under a completely different set of circumstances compared to the children of previous generations. Today, when children are moving less than ever, but the purpose of ideal development remains unchanged, this book is more relevant than ever before! Having a baby shower? Youre getting this book from me!!

Liesa M. Persaud, PT, DPT, PCS, CKTP

Tara does a wonderful job of helping us to understand the role that motor skillsand the development of those skillsplays in the overall development and daily life of a child. Not only does Tara reveal the all important (yet largely unknown by many) proprioceptive and vestibular senses, she helps us understand how these senses work together within the body so that we can literally navigate through and experience life! I have used Why Motor Skills Matter as one of my main go to resources when developing curriculum and lesson plans for our Infant, Toddler and Preschool Motor Skill and Gymnastics Programs!

Our Owner of the Year, Joel Bozarth, believes Why Motor Skills Matter is the most compelling resource available on physical development in children. Joel requires his staff to use Taras principles in their classes and provides this book as an educational resource for parents, as do many of our The Little Gym franchise owners.

Randy McCoy, Senior Executive of Product Leadership, The Little Gym International, Inc.

Tara Liddles Why Motor Skills Matter proves to be a fundamental resource for any parent seeking to provide their child the incomparable gifts of body awareness and self-confidence, while also learning to honor and safeguard a childs innate apperception and curiosity. At each stage of development, from birth to 5-years old, Tara draws a precise road map of what to expect, how to better observe, when to be concerned and details numerous daily activities that not only lay the foundation for a childs physical well-being, sensory development, and ultimately emotional well-being, but also leaves a lifetime impression on the vital importance of fully inhabiting your body and its senses. Why Motor Skills Matter has boundless valuewhat a treasure for all child care givers!

Julie Mellk, E-RYT, Yoga Teacher Trainer

We live in our bodies from the moment we are born. Yet, somehow, physical confidence is practically a missing link in the world of child rearing literature. After dealing with thousands of kids and families, I can immediately sense children who trust their bodiesand those who feel painfully vulnerable. From first-hand experience, then, I feel strongly that Why Motor Skills Matter, both conceptually and concretely, is essential reading for everyone who comes into contact with childrenparents, professionals, and educators alike. Its time to help children feel good about themselves from the inside out. Why Motor Skills Matter will do exactly that.

Dr. Ron Taffel, Author of Childhood Unbound

Why Motor Skills Matter is certain to become an integral part of the literature on child development and, more importantly, a staple on every parents shelf. One of the best features of the book is the manner in which it is organized by age and developmental stage from the time the baby is brought home from the hospital until that child goes to elementary school. Why Motor Skills Matter provides useful tools for maximizing the childs potential. The practical suggestions provided are both medically sound and user-friendlya testament to the extensive experience of the author. I will recommend Why Motor Skills Matter to all new parents (and grandparents!), as well as to parents with concerns about their childs developmental progress.

Susan E. Swedo, M.D., Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics; Chief, Pediatrics and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch, NIMH. NIH, DHHS, and coauthor of Is It Just a Phase?

Why Motor Skills Matter presents a thorough and terrifically useful synopsis of motor development in infants and young children. Parents will learn the important whys behind their childs motor milestones as well as how to best stimulate childrens vestibular, tactile, and proprioceptive senses to promote fluid, coordinated movement, and physical self-confidence.