EXPLORATION VERBAL SKILLS AND MOTOR SKILLS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

Ludmila Miklánková¹, Michaela Pugnerová², Zdeněk Rechtik¹, Kateřina Nekvindová¹

¹Assoc. Prof., Department of Primary and Pre-primary Education, Faculty of Education, Palacky University in Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC, email: ludmila.miklankova@upol.cz

²Dr. Department of Psychology and Abnormal Psychology, Faculty of Education, Palacky University in Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC, email: michaela.pugnerova@upol.cz

³Mr., Department of Primary and Pre-primary Education, Faculty of Education, Palacky University in Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC, email: zdenek.rechtik@upol.cz

⁴Ms., Department of Primary and Pre-primary Education, Faculty of Education, Palacky University in Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC, email: katerina.nekvindova99@seznam.cz

*Corresponding author

Abstract

The quality of a child's motor skills influences the balanced development of the physical, cognitive, emotional and social components, and is an indispensable element of health promotion and disease prevention. Quality motor skills enable participation in various forms of activities in the children's group and thus contributes to the process of socialization. It is the basis for personal growth in the next stages of human life. The aim of the project is to describe and analyze the relationship between the level of fine motor skills of the child and his cognitive abilities with an emphasis on the level of verbal skills. The research was approved by Ethics Committee of Educational Faculty, Palacky University in Olomouc and took place at primary schools in the Czech Republic. The research group consisted of 96 children with an average age of 9.49 ± 0.8 years (girls 9.27 ± 0.72, boys 9.78 ± 0.81). The level of motor skills was monitored by MABC-2 test battery. The cognitive ability test (CAT) was used to determine the level of cognitive abilities. Data were analyzed by correlation analysis and gender differences were assessed based on the results of the t-test. Data were obtained within the project IGA_PdF_2021_017. The results suggest a relationship between some aspects in the child's level of motor skills and vocabulary, including the ability to compose sentences. In the area of vocabulary, gender differences were observed in the research group. Further research conducted on larger groups of children could be aimed not only at deepening knowledge in this area, but also at the future aimed use of children's motorics development programs to support executive functions.

Keywords:  children, primary school, fine motor skills, verbal skills