Assesment of Gross Motor Skills as a Part of Child’s Physical Readiness for Compulsory School Attenadance

Abstract

Children in the Czech Republic before the beginning of compulsory school attendance undergo assessment evaluating so called school readiness. The part of this evaluation is assessment of children’s biological, mental, social and emotional readiness for the demands of school education. The assessment of gross motor skills is an important part of this evaluation. But motor skills are also connected not only with academic achievement but also with physical activity in future lifestyle. Therefore is the aim of the research analysis of gross motor skills in pre-school children. The research group consisted of 232 children (102 boys, 130 girls) from kindergartens and nursery schools at the age 5,9 ± 1,63 years. For the assessment of gross motor skills was used TGMD-2 test battery. The results show strong relationship between locomotor and manipulative skills in children at pre-school age. The results indicate strong positive correlation r = 0,76 on the significance level p < 0,05 between locomotor and manipulative skills. From the results is obvious that teachers in kindergartens should focus on the development of locomotor skills, which are strongly connected with manipulative skills. That means pre-school teachers should focus on basic skills and then develop them which could result in highly motor-skilled children with interest in physical games and activities. The data was obtained within the project GF_PdF_006_2018. According to preference of parents’ sedentary lifestyle the physical activity of Czech children at younger school age is lowering. Possibilities for improvement we see in the aimed development of gross motor skills in Czech kindergartens and nursery schools.