We all know that we walk with our legs, hear with our ears, and see with our eyes. But what really is happening is that information from the five senses (eyes, ears, mouth, nose and skin) goes to the brain. The brain receives and interprets the information and sends messages through our nervous system to our muscles to make our limbs work. So exercises to improve balance are really exercises on the brain.
To understand this better, let's look at the computer. The keyboard, modem and scanner are like the senses. They provide information to the computer. This is the input. The screen and printer of the computer are the output. The input and output of the computer are both essential. At the end of the day, the most powerful computer isn't much use without a keyboard or screen. However the source of the real power of the computer lies in its hard disk.
Likewise, it is the brain that controls all of the millions of things we are capable of doing with our bodies. The seat of power of the body is the brain. (Of course, unlike a computer, a person has tremendous value even if they do not have any input or output functions).
When we develop a specific skill, we are using our brain. The brain is getting important exercise that develops certain specific 'brain muscles.' It's like hard wiring a circuit (or upgrading a computer). These 'muscles' can then be used on other skills.
Let's go back to the example of walking. Let's imagine that now we want to strengthen the muscles of the legs. When you want to get leg exercise, it's not where you go when you walk or run that really matters, but that you are using your legs. The same exercise for your legs could be achieved on a treadmill, or running around the park. Once the legs are fit, they can then be used for going many places, none of which may have any connection to the place you first went to for your exercise.
In terms of the brain, this means that once the brain learns a certain skill, it can then use this skill for other activities. None of which may have any connection with that first learning. It's more important that the brain is getting the right sort of exercise (hard wiring) than the specific thing it is doing to get that exercise.
So, for example, a child who skips is exercising the brain in balance, co-ordination, rhythm and multitasking. These skills will be useful in many situations where they are important. For example, the ability to multitask means being able to think about more than one thing at a time, like turning the rope and jumping at the same time. Reading requires the ability to read and to think about what you are reading at the same time. It might not seem strange that skipping can help with bike riding, but that it can help with reading might seem unusual. But it is, in fact, no stranger than ENT helping with walking.
You might not really care if your budding talmid chochom can ride a bicycle, skip rope or catch a ball. But all these skills are strengthening the brain in areas that could impact on the child later in life. We all know very clever and accomplished people who cannot do a lot of these things. Some people are so clever that they have ways to compensate for any weakness in one area, with an abnormal strength in another. But most children will do better if their development is more rounded, and sections are not missed out. Remember it is not the specific activity that is relevant, but the skills used by the brain. Also, a child does not need to enjoy this activity, or do it repeatedly; it is enough that they can do it.
There are many charts that list important milestones, and they differ a little from each other and one can be a little flexible with them. Each age has its own milestones, but every five-year-old should be able to stack blocks, thread beads, color in lines, do up their zipper and walk on a wall. By nine, they should be able to ride a bike, skip (on their own), catch and throw a ball and eat with a knife and fork. Games should include imagination and their vocabulary and ideas should be much more complex than a five-year- old's.
