Emerging School Readiness Profiles: Motor Skills Matter for Cognitive- and Non-cognitive First Grade School Outcomes

Abstract

A promising approach for studying school readiness involves a person-centered approach, aimed at exploring how functioning in diverse developmental domains conjointly affects children’s school outcomes. Currently, however, a systematic understanding lacks of how motor skills, in conjunction with other school readiness skills, affect a child’s school outcomes. Additionally, little is known about longitudinal associations of school readiness with non-academic (e.g., socioemotional) school outcomes. Therefore, we examined the school readiness skills of a sample of Dutch children (N = 91) with a mean age of 3 years and 4 months (46% girls). We used a multi-informant test battery to assess children’s school readiness in terms of executive functions (EFs), language and emergent literacy, motor skills, and socioemotional behavior. During the spring term of a child’s first grade year, we collected academic and non-academic (i.e., EFs, motor skills, socioemotional- and classroom behavior, and creative thinking) school outcomes. A latent profile analysis revealed four distinct profiles. Children in the “Parent Positive” (29%) profile were rated positively by their parents, and performed variably on motor and language/emergent literacy skills tests. The second profile–“Multiple Strengths” (13%)–consisted of children showing strengths in multiple domains, especially with respect to motor skills. Children from the third profile–“Average Performers” (50%)–did not show any distinct strengths or weaknesses, rather displayed school readiness skill levels close to, or just below the sample mean. Finally, the “Parental Concern” (8%) profile was characterized by high levels of parental concerns, while displaying slightly above average performance on specific motor and language skills. Motor skills clearly distinguished between profiles, next to parent-rated EFs and socioemotional behavior, and to a lesser extent emergent literacy skills. School readiness profiles were found to differ in mean scores on first grade academic achievement, parent- and teacher-rated EFs, motor skills, parent-rated socioemotional functioning, and pre-requisite learning skills. The pattern of mean differences was complex, suggesting that profiles could not be ranked from low to high in terms of school outcomes. Longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the interaction between emerging school readiness of the child and the surrounding context.

Cross-Lagged Associations between Physical Activity, Motor Performance, and Academic Skills in Primary School Children

“…These associations could also be explained by better social acceptance, school connectedness, or school readiness among children with higher levels of motor performance (43). Versatile and motor skill-challenging PA has also been found to improve motor performance (44,45). PA during early childhood may partly explain the association between motor performance and academic skills (34), although motor performance was associated with academic skills independently of PA. Our findings suggest that the developmental pathways between PA, motor performance, and academic skills could be multifaceted and depend on the age of the children.…”

Analysis of Fine Motor Skills Using the Coloring Method in Students with Mental Impairment Mustika Home Schooling

“…Penjas adaptif merupakan suatu sistem atau metode pembelajaran olahraga dimana setiap kegiatannya bertujuan untuk membantu anak berkebutuhan khusus dalam merawat serta melatih kemampuan motorik serta menigkatkan ketahanan tubuh (Kamphorst, Cantell, Van Der Veer, Minnaert, & Houwen, 2021). Di sisi lain penjas adaptif digunakan untuk mencari solusi yang dialami siswa atau peserta didik dalam ranah psikomotor, terjadinya problem dalam ranah psikomotor terjadi akibat adanya kerusakan pada sistem sensorik, sehingga anak berkebutuhan khusus harus mendapatkan pengajaran penjas yang sesuai dengan kemampuan diri mereka agar tetap mendapatkan materi pembelajaran seperti anak normal yang lainya (Geertsen et al, 2016) Pendekatan at home merupakan pendekatan kekeluargaan yang memungkinkan anak belajar dengan nyaman sesuai dengan kehendak atau keinginan serta gaya belajar masing-masing, dimana saja, kapan saja, dan dengan siapa saja (Odeh, Gladfelter, Stoesser, & Roth, 2022).…”