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Abstract

The present research aims at studying, out of the content of psychomotricity, spatial orientation and the recognition of the body schema, which is basic in the extracurricular physical activity of normal children. In order to test the level of acquisition of these qualities in terms of psychomotor learning, subjects included in the research took part twice a week in physical activities based on movement games, having as the objective the improvement of psychomotricity. Their testing was achieved by adapting the test evincing the capacity of spatial orientation and body schema, which is grounded in evincing the capacity of spatial orientation and the degree of knowledge the child has of its own body, by acknowledging the spatial rapports and operating with specific language. After tests, it was observed that after going through physical activities with the proposed objectives, spatial orientation and bodily scheme had improved significantly, and there is a relationship between games of movement within the program of physical activities and the level of acquired skills on the orientation in space and body scheme.
Address for correspondence:
Dr. Teodora-Mihaela Iconomescu
University “Dunarea de Jos” from Galati
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport
Department of Games Sports and Physical Education
Garii Street, No. 62-64, 800217, Galati, Romania
Telephone: +40755603144
E-mail: ticonomescu@ugal.ro
INTRODUCTION
Motor anthropology is a branch of applied
anthropology, which deals with movement as
an effect of bio-psycho-social activity. Motor
anthropology explores the effect of movement
on the development and education of the hu-
man being (Cordun 2009: 18). A milestone in mo-
tor anthropology is constitutional typology so-
matosensory physiological, motor and psychic,
correlated to sports activity requirements (If-
rim1986: 24). From this perspective the research-
ers consider that the theme addressed in this
study on children’s psychomotor skills and the
ability to improve them, through physical activ-
ity, fall within the human anthropology domain.
In the training activity with preschoolers and
primary school, there are often cases when they
show certain inabilities, placing them in an infe-
rior position in comparison with their peers. Even
if these inabilities are not made a fuss over and
these children usually pass for “clumsy” or “un-
talented” for certain activities, these children
gradually develop an inferiority complex in rela-
tion to others. Some place importance on the
difficulties they experience, and as they try to
overcome, remove or hide them, they grow big-
ger. They become more and more obvious in
school activities, where performance is constant-
ly assessed and compared to other children. In
general, these inabilities belong to the psycho-
motor area and manifest in the difficulty or im-
possibility of effecting well-coordinated move-
ments during games or school activities, which
require mobility, awareness and self-control. As
a rule, preschoolers and primary school children
are concerned with educating the motor skills
involved in writing, their bodily self-awareness,
localization in relation to themselves or others,
and organizing their own movements into effi-
cient actions.
Tolerating psychomotor difficulties in pre-
schoolers or primary school children in the hope
that they will eventually disappear in time, as
the child grows older is a huge mistake. With the
passage of time, difficulties increase taking into
account the increasingly complex activities the
child has to perform. That is why the research-
ers opine that the education of psychomotricity
starting from a very young age should be one of
the main concerns of parents and teachers, be-
ing also very important for older age groups.
Discussions with individuals in preschool
and primary school confronted with the chil-
© Kamla-Raj 2016 Int J Edu Sci, 15(1,2): 27-33 (2016)
Developing Spatial and Body Schema Orientation in
Preschoolers and Primary School through Physical Activities
Mircea Ion Ene1, Teodora-Mihaela Iconomescu2, Laurentiu-Gabriel Talaghir3 and Adriana Neofit4
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University “Dunarea de Jos” from Galati, Romania
Telephone: +40755603144, + 40745651297, +40745033806, +40744596744
*E-mail: 1<ticonomescu@ugal.ro>2, <ieemircea@outlook.com>, 3<gtalaghir@ugal.ro>,
4<neoadriana@gmail.com>
KEYWORDS Children. Games of Movement. Physical Activities. Psychomotricity Test
ABSTRACT The present research aims at studying, out of the content of psychomotricity, spatial orientation and
the recognition of the body schema, which is basic in the extracurricular physical activity of normal children. In
order to test the level of acquisition of these qualities in terms of psychomotor learning, subjects included in the
research took part twice a week in physical activities based on movement games, having as the objective the
improvement of psychomotricity. Their testing was achieved by adapting the test evincing the capacity of spatial
orientation and body schema, which is grounded in evincing the capacity of spatial orientation and the degree of
knowledge the child has of its own body, by acknowledging the spatial rapports and operating with specific
language. After tests, it was observed that after going through physical activities with the proposed objectives,
spatial orientation and bodily scheme had improved significantly, and there is a relationship between games of
movement within the program of physical activities and the level of acquired skills on the orientation in space and
body scheme.
28 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
dren’s psychomotor difficulties in the education-
al process led the researchers into the in-depth
study of the issues of psychomotricity, by study-
ing specialized literature. Unfortunately, it does
not supply complete answers to the requirements
of the practitioner who needs succinct theoreti-
cal information, concrete assessment tools and
methods, as well as practical examples of psy-
chomotor education.
The motor development of children pro-
vides mental, social and personality develop-
ment. Children develop in a predictable way, from
total dependence to adult, to personal autono-
my and physical and social independence. The
speed and rhythm of development, motor pecu-
liarities and language peculiarities of all children
are different, but the development mode is simi-
lar, with everyone going through the same pre-
dictive stages. Some children go through this
evolution differently to their peers, and these
differences manifest themselves by delaying the
formation of habits, which then impede social-
ization and integration of the child in the group.
Montessori claims that motor education is
part of the very life of children, linking it to the
everyday activities and games of children, by
introducing education of movement in a single
and indivisible whole of the training of infant
personality. The child is in continuous motion,
and in childhood, the child feels constantly the
need to move, and this situation is blurred with
the development of inhibition capacity that, to-
gether with motor impulses, begins to build tools
for listening to the will (Montessori 1977: 144).
The psychomotor education of the child is
a transdisciplinary action, pedagogical and phys-
ical education, the purpose of which is the sys-
tematic education of different behaviors, start-
ing from living the motility, bodily scheme and
leading to operate with notions.
Maite and coauthors (2015) consider that-
the concept “psychomotricity” contains the
“psycho” term, which refers to the psychologi-
cal activity at the cognitive and affective levels,
and the “motricity” term, which refers to move-
ment (Maite et al. 2015: 1616).
Specialized literature by Coler et al. (2010),
Lupu (2011), Shingjergji (2014) and Glushkov et
al. (2014) is generally centered on the psycho-
motricity of special needs children, and much
less on normal children with a psycho-motor in-
ability manifest through the non-recognition of
the body schema or the impossibility of spatial
orientation.
Psychomotor development comprises sev-
en components whose development is interre-
lated. These are gross motor skills, fine motor
skills, bodily scheme, laterality, perceptive orga-
nization, spatial organization, time management
and the evolution of rhythmic sense.
Motor skills’ training is dependent on the
evolution of psychomotor components, which
together constitute the level of psychomotor
development (Horghidan 2000: 46).
Psychomotor specialists Mascarenhas et al.
(2011) and Trouli (2008) have established as a
result of longitudinal studies, a stage of age
named by them as the “optimum interval of edu-
cability”, which is located between 6 and 10 years,
during which psychomotor skills can be devel-
oped to the maximum.
Despite the requirement that the child has
to move, his motor skills often are not explored
during childhood, causing changes in their psy-
chomotor development, which will be reflected
in adulthood.
These cases are due to lack of exercise, hav-
ing a sedentary lifestyle, such as a static life in
front of the computer or television. Children no
longer run out in the open, no longer play vari-
ous games of childhood on the street in front of
the house and do not practice exercise.
Children in kindergarten have an education-
al program in which the focus is not on psycho-
motricity, but just on the acquisition of language,
communication, drawing, music, with the phys-
ical exercises having a percentage of just ten
percent of the weekly educational program.
All these shortcomings of educational ac-
tivities for kindergarten children, but also those
enrolled in primary school (sedentary lifestyle,
computers, television, gadgets) lead to deficient
psychomotor development at their age.Given
those factsmentioned regarding kindergarten
and primary school, one can say that physical
inactivity, sedentary life and general lifestyle
influence the motor development of children.
Therefore, the researchers consider that by
knowing the level of psychomotor development
of children, one can propose and implement pro-
grams of motor development that meet the needs
of different groups of children (kinder-garten,
primary, secondary). These programs should be
designed to allow children to perform necessary
motor activities throughout life.
The research aims to promotepsy-chomot-
ricity development through playful activities
DEVELOPING SPATIAL AND BODY SCHEMA ORIENTATION 29
specific to the age of the children undergoing
research, and the level of the individual possi-
bilities. Individualization comes to capitalize the
diversity of identities mental, physical and ex-
periential of children, respecting the child in the
educational process.
METHODOLOGY
Population and Sample
The population of this research constitutes
children aged between 4 and 6 years old, and
belongs topreschools and primary schools from
Galati, Romania.
Research Model
The purpose of the research was to improve
the components of psychomotricity (spatial ori-
entation and body schema recognition) in nor-
mal children aged between 4 and 6 years old
(preschoolers and primary school), by movement
games (ludic activities) performed within the
framework of physical activity.
The research took place in the 2013-2014
academic year with subjects aged between 4 and
6, participating in a program of physical activity
twice a week.
The subjects’ evaluation was performed at
the beginning and end of the research through
testing the orientation and spatial abilities, and
the level of awareness of the children’s own
bodies.
The materials used were objects familiar to
the children (ball, notebook, pencil, toy, book)
placed in relation to the child in order to testthe
following spatial relations (far-close, up-down,
front-back, outside-inside, above-below, right,
left, hand, foot, on, and under).The test by orien-
tation and spatial abilities belongs to Comsa et al.
(2006) and contains a set of 20 requirements.
Methodology
The test is applied individually, requiring the
child to respond to the following items:
Item 1: Lift the right hand/bend the left hand
Item 2: Turn right/left
Item 3: Place the right hand on the right
shoulder/place the left hand on the left
shoulder
Item 4: Name two objects on your left/right
Item 5: Which child is the closest to you/
farthest from you?
Item 6: Name an object in front of you/be-
hind you
Item 7: Name an object on/under the desk
Item 8: Name two objects above/below
Item 9: Name an object outside/inside the
box
Item 10: Where is the sky/the ground in
relation to a house?
Grading
1 point is awarded for each accurate answer.
The evaluation was performed through next
scoring:
18-20 points: Very good
15-17 points: Good
12-14 points: Satisfactory
Under 14 points: Unsatisfactory (Comºa et
al. 2006: 32).
The playful physical activities performed
during the research have consisted in realiza-
tion of movement games with psychomotor ob-
jectives, including spatial orientation and bodi-
ly scheme recognition.
Statistical analysis was performed using
SPSS for the Windows version 20. Frequency
statistics were used to calculate the group com-
parisons as a whole. For this the researchers
use the contingency coefficient χ2 (Chi-square).
Procedure
The subjects participated in a program of
physical activity twice a week for a period of 40
minutes (the 4 and 5-year-olds) and 50 minutes
(the 6-year-olds).
The physical activity program was aimed at
improving the spatial orientation and body sche-
ma by movement games (dynamic games) with
the following objectives:
1. Using and building open or closed figures
(spaces) (that is, irregular or regular
shapes, by means of cubes, laces, wire and
rope).
2. Acknowledging where they are in relation
to a certain space/object in space (in the
room, outside the room, on the chair, un-
der the table, near their classmates).
3. Handling objects over, on, above, below,
inside, outside a certain space/object giv-
en or built by themselves.
4. Recognizing and using the proper lan-
guage for these spatial relations, that is,
on, under, in, over, above, below, inside,
outside, close, far, closer, farther, the clos-
est, the farthest, near me, here and there.
30 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
5. Identify the main corporal segments (one’s
own, the partner’s, on dummies, on images).
6. Identify the missing elements (dismem-
bered toys, gapped images with increas-
ing difficulty degrees).
7. Decompose and recompose the body from
constituting segments (gradually increas-
ing in difficulty). So, the game becomes a
method, means, and form of organization,
with or without competition, adapted to
the motor and mental skills of the pupils.
Psychomotor activities achieved by the
movement games allow the child to know,
explore, interiorize or exteriorize states and
feelings, interact with his/her own body,
the game partners and the environment.
RESULTS
The sample comprised 96 children (50 boys
and 46 girls) aged 4-6 years. The groups were
composed of 30 subjects of 4 years (14 boys
and 16 girls), 34 subjects of 5 years (18 boys and
16 girls) and 32 subjects of 6 years (18 boys and
14 girls).
Statistical analysis of the scores obtained
by the group of 4 years highlights a significant
difference between the expected and observed
frequencies in the two tests, both girls and boys.
In statistical terms, the level of acquisition of
orientation in the space and bodily scheme is
significant due to the scores presented in
Table 1.The scores obtained by girls was χ2 =
5.33, df = 1, p < .05 and by boys χ2 = 9.54, df = 1,
p< .05.
By participating in the physical activity, the
group of 4-year-olds has significantly improved
spatial orientation and awareness of the human
body, due to motion games with specific themes
during the course of the research.
The 5-year-olds in terms of psychomotrici-
ty are able to use various body notions, imitate
certain characters, and have a good visual dis-
crimination of the different body parts.
Statistically speaking, at this age there is
no significant association between physical ac-
tivity and the development of the psychomotor
components under study. The results obtained
are presented in Table 2 and contains statistical
analysis scores obtained by girls χ2 = 3.69, df =
1, p >.05 and boys χ2 = 2.81, df = 1, p > .05.
The initial test evinced that the subjects up
to 5 years of age (boys and girls) did not have
issues of psychomotor inability, being normally
developed from a psychomotor point of view. In
the initial test, ninepercent of the subjects
showed a psychomotor inability. By observing
the final test it was found that these subjects
also got normal scores,which is why the statis-
tics did not evince the relation between physi-
cal activity and the improvement of the psycho-
motor components.
Table 1: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
4 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 5.3 .021*9.5 002*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
Table 2: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
5 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 3.6 .055*2.8 .094*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
DEVELOPING SPATIAL AND BODY SCHEMA ORIENTATION 31
Following the statistical analysis the re-
searchers may conclude that the skills of the 6-
year-olds included in the research were acquired,
given the significant results and the existence
of differences between the two tests. The differ-
ences did not occur at random, but they are due
to the activities classified according to the di-
dactic purpose intended. Statistical analysis
scores obtained by girls was χ2 = 4.20, df = 1, p
<.05 and boys χ2 = 4.14, df = 1, p < .05. Table 3
shows the differences in the scores occurring
pre- and post-test.
DISCUSSION
Difficulties in body schema may also occur
in children with normal physical and intellectual
development, but who are deprived of an appro-
priate sensorial stimulation and education, or
have certain afflictions (not considered as spe-
cial needs) preventing their optimal sensorial
operation.
The body schema is formed and consolidat-
ed as the child gains control over his/her own
body, and by means of this body, over the sur-
rounding objects and environment. A series of
aspects of the child’s mental development de-
pend on the acquisition of the body schema,
among which is the development of psychomot-
ricity, a child with a well-integrated body sche-
ma will walk harmoniously, have certain, firm
movements, be able to carry his/her body with
grace and ease, so that his/her motor behavior
will not be affected by clumsiness, hesitation or
slowness. In addition, she/he will not have an
inharmonious, asynchronous physical appear-
ance, and the speed and amplitude of his/her
movements will be normal and natural). On the
other hand, children who have not yet totally
integrated their body schema will display slow-
ness or clumsiness in movements, lack of coor-
dination in simple physical activities (for exam-
ple, in ball games focusing on adroitness), un-
certainty in gestures and deficient interpreta-
tion of successive sequences in simple move-
ments or activities. As a result, these children
will have difficulty in learning simple dance
steps, in reproducing physical activity move-
ments, simple short successions of movements
or gestures, even by immediate imitation.
This study aimed to investigate the influence
of a physical activities program based on move-
ment games for the motor development of chil-
dren. These results justify the rejection of the
null hypothesis and the acceptance of the con-
clusion that the differences between the two
tests on the subjects of the research are signifi-
cant and not due to random sampling variation.
This allows the conclusion that there is a rela-
tionship between playful activities with objec-
tives specific to psychomotricity and the level
of acquired skills concerning spatial orientation
and bodily scheme.
That is why the researchers consider that
physical activity through its specific exercises
and objectives may help overcome the psycho-
motor inability shown by preschoolers and pri-
mary education at some points.
Researches done in Brazil (2011) which eval-
uated the psychomotor diagnosis motor age of
preschool children, have shown that the kinder-
garten program class is not always properly
planned. In physical education activities the re-
searchers were able to find many movement
games but these were not adapted for the age or
particularities of each class. The authors con-
sider that this could not happen because differ-
ent activities require different levels of teach-
ing. Because of this teachers do not make a con-
tribution to the overall development of their
students.
In Spain, a study run by Teixeira and co-au-
thors (2015) observed the increasingly low psy-
chomotor skill levels in pre-school aged chil-
dren. They have shown that children who do
not receive adequate motor skill instructions and
Table 3: Comparison of the results component of psychomotricity by Chi-square test for the group of
6 years
Component of The difference between the initial testing and final testing
Girls (n=14) Boys (n=16)
χ
2Significance
χ
2Significance
Orientation in space and 4.2 .040*4.1 .042*
bodily scheme
Note: *p <.05
psychomotricity
32 MIRCEA ION ENE, TEODORA-MIHAELA ICONOMESCU, LAURENTIU-GABRIEL TALAGHIR ET AL.
practice may show a development delay in their
abilities and recommend increasing the time of
physical activity engagement and playing time
for pre-school children in early learning settings.
Researchers have noticed the same thing in
this research about the level of motor develop-
ment of pre-schoolers. Previous research has
demonstrated that decreasing the physical ac-
tivity is an important factor in increasing obesi-
ty and is associated with the cognitive function
of children and school performance.
According to several studies, the level of
physical activity is minimal at an early age, so
children who do not develop their psychomotor
skills may experience a delay in cognitive and
social development. It is therefore essential to
remove the generally accepted idea often sus-
tained by teachers that children are spontane-
ously active.
CONCLUSION
The main objectives of physical activity in-
volve a harmonious coexistence of body and
mind, a balance between what the body express-
es and what the mind believes. Unfortunately,
the objectives of physical education in public
education at preschool and school are not well
defined. Physical education is taught in an inap-
propriate manner, without the necessary involve-
ment and without providing sufficient attention
to each student.
The role of early childhood education is
essential in the development of the child. At this
stage, teaching practices should stimulate chil-
dren, given their individual characteristics and
their needs, to assist in the acquisition and de-
velopment of more skills and abilities essential
in everyday life.
When investigating the components of psy-
chomotricity it was possible to find that the sub-
jects of the present research, 4 to 6-year olds,
did not acquire laterality (which is typically ac-
quired around 5 or 6 years of age), do not know
spatial positions and coordinates and neither
the objects positions in relation to the axis of
their own body, nor the position of their body in
relation to external points of reference.
In other words, the lack of total integration
of the body schema results in serious difficul-
ties in spatial orientation and identification and
recognition of the position and localization of
other objects and even one’s own body. More
often than not, these children cannot differenti-
ate between right and left, up and down, and
front and back.
All these problems are solved by psycho-
therapy through psychological therapies cen-
tered on the ludotherapeutic method.
Ludotherapy, or game therapy, is a psycho-
therapeutic technique applied to children, based
on the functions of mental and intellectual exer-
cise, reality integration, mental assimilation of
events, socialization, and unloading.
By carrying out the present research the
researchers managed to evince another method
of solving the psychomotor inability in normal
children. This method is based on physical ac-
tivity, movement games (dynamic ludic activi-
ty), performed in natural conditions,that is, the
reality in which the children carry out their daily
activity.
It determined the nature of the researchers’
proposal,which is that the educational activities
with preschoolers and primary school children
should include physical activities (movement
games) centered on improving psychomotor
skills.
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... Laterality, the ability to differentiate and recognize the right and left sides of the body, tends to mature by the age of 5-6 years, being fully consolidated around 10 years of age [30,31], even if a hand preference is noticeable at around 3 years [21]. Difficulties in these skills jeopardize the production and performance of motor gestures and their transfer into the school context, leading to commitments in academic learning [4,5,12,32,33]. Difficulties in laterality are correlated with difficulties in learning to write, particularly with regard to spatial orientation [34]. With these acquisitions naturally comes greater body awareness (from the age of 3-4), since manual preference will give greater confidence and autonomy [35], through the dissociation of movements and coordination between time and space [36,37]. ...
... These findings may be explained by the process of neurological maturation, which promotes high growth and plasticity [1][2][3]7,25], with tonus acting as the foundation of learning [24,25]. Laterality and rhythm are moderately to strongly correlated with academic dimensions in general, especially at earlier ages [30,31], due to their presence in the production of coordinated motor gestures [4,5,12,27,28,32,33] in reading [35], writing [34], math [38] and spatial problem-solving [35][36][37]. The link between rhythm and pre-school literacy corroborates other evidence [59]. ...
... The psychomotor profile is not correlated with auditory memory, spatial notion and visual perception. This relationship does not corroborate previous studies [5,18,22,33,37,47,50,59], but may be explained by the poor stimulation of these domains in the methodologies implemented in kindergarten and primary school [9]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Background/Objectives: The relevance of psychomotor skills in children’s growth is being increasingly recognized. The transversal role of psychomotor skills in learning performance is described through a link between cognitive and motor functioning, promoting socio-affective–expressive competencies, but there is a scarcity of evidence from the field. A two-fold goal was defined: to investigate the relationship between psychomotor functions and academic performance and to examine the factors affecting children’s academic performance. Methods: The Portuguese versions of the Neuropsychomotor Functions Assessment Battery for Children (NPmot.pt), Preschool Diagnostic Tasks (PRE), and School Learning Skills Battery (SLSB) were applied to 350 children (85.72 ± 24.23 months) with and without disabilities attending mainstream schools. Results: Pearson correlations and regression analyses were used. NPmot.pt domains showed moderate to strong correlations with PRE domains (0.30 < r < 0.82) and weak ones with SLSB domains (r < 0.30). Psychomotor development is a stronger predictor (p < 0.001) of pre-academic performance outcomes: (βTonus = 0.67, βGross Motor Skills = 1.04, βSpatial Orientation = −1.44, βRhythm = −1.59 and βAuditory Attention = 3.68) than of academic performance above 7 years old (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Results strengthen the importance of psychomotor skills development from an early age, also at school, with implications for an early psychomotor assessment and intervention for children with and without disabilities. Tailor-fit interventions, including strategies to improve psychomotor skills, should be promoted during the school process of all children for a successful learning process.
... 2012 (15) Ene et al. 2016 (16) Santos et al. 2016 (17) Costa et al. 2016 (18) anceri et al. 2017 (19) Brandão et al. 2017 (20) mas et al. 2018 (21) ...
... O ambiente no qual a criança está inserida é capaz de influenciar seu desenvolvimento. Desse modo, a hospitalização é pontuada como um dos fatores que pode repercutir negativamente sobre o desenvolvimento infantil, pois, na maioria das vezes, a experiência é traumática e desagradável, além de existir restrições quanto ao espaço físico, iluminação, mobilidade, elevados estímulos sonoros e toques constantes (18) . ...
... Assim, o estudou contou com 126 participantes, de ambos os sexos, divididos em 2 grupos (GC-grupo controle e GE-grupo experimental), sendo o grupo GE assistido por um programa de intervenção estruturado em três partes (1ª parte -aquecimento, 2ª parte -fundamental com ênfase ao trabalho específico e 3ª parte -retorno à calma), durante 24 semanas, com atividades realizadas uma vez por semana por 45 minutos, enquanto o grupo controle realizava intervenção não estruturada durante o mesmo período. Os resultados obtidos e comparados entre o momento de pré e pós-intervenção, através da aplicação do Teste de Avaliação Psicomotora, de autoria própria, que teve como medidas de desfecho a coordenação, o equilíbrio, o esquema corporal, a lateralidade, a organização espacial e a organização temporal, sugerem que a intervenção psicomotora estruturada realizada por educadores físicos na fase pré-escolar contribui positivamente para o desenvolvimento psicomotor da criança (18) . ...
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Objetivo: Compreender os efeitos da intervenção psicomotora frente ao atraso do desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor de crianças. Métodos: O presente estudo trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura científica. Para a realização da pesquisa, artigos foram buscados nas seguintes bases de dados: PubMed, PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), BVS (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde), Portal de Periódicos CAPES e Web of Science, no período de dezembro de 2018 a janeiro de 2019, e houve consulta ao Research gate no mês de janeiro de 2019. Resultados: Foram encontrados 867 artigos, dos quais se excluíram 142 devido à falta de conformidade aos critérios de inclusão e 33 foram lidos na íntegra, sendo o estudo composto de 7 artigos selecionados de acordo com os critérios, nos quais se observou que a psicomotricidade contribui positivamente para o desenvolvimento da criança. Conclusão: A contribuição da intervenção psicomotora estruturada, apesar da heterogeneidade de protocolos adotados, apresenta resultados positivos no processo de desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor na infância, sendo um recurso passível de utilização para recuperar ou prevenir atrasos no desenvolvimento infantil.
... Manipulative skills such as throwing, catching, and kicking can be particularly promoted through strategic interactions with objects in sports games settings (Hashemi et al., 2015). In contrast, general psychomotor individual activities focus on generalized body movements, emphasizing foundational aspects of MC, can be particularly interesting for targeting specific skills such as balance exercises, fine motor tasks, and basic locomotor movements, without the competitive or cooperative demands of sports games (Teixeira Costa et al., 2015;Ene et al., 2016). ...
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Introduction This study aimed to compare the effects of structured sports games (SG) and psychomotricity activities (PCM) on the locomotor, stability, and manipulative motor competencies of preschool children. Methods A randomized controlled trial was conducted over an 8-week period, involving two experimental groups (SG, n = 30 and PCM, n = 30) and one control group (CG, n = 28), with participants attending two intervention sessions per week. A total of 88 5-year-old children participated in the experiment (boys n = 48; girls n = 40). They were evaluated three times (at baseline, after 4 weeks, and after 8 weeks) using the Motor Competence Assessment test to measure their locomotor, stability, and manipulative motor competencies. Results The scores were standardized to percentiles based on sex and age. However, significant differences were observed between groups post-intervention in the locomotor domain (p = 0.003; ηp2 = 0.128), with the SG showing significantly higher values compared to the CG (mean difference: 17.0%; p = 0.021; d = 0.783), and PCM (mean difference: 19.8%; p = 0.005; d = 0.947). Additionally, significant differences were found between groups post-intervention in the manipulative domain (p = 0.001; ηp2 = 0.142), with the SG showing significantly higher values compared to the CG (mean difference: 19.3%; p = 0.009; d = 0.845) and PCM (mean difference: 21.4%; p = 0.003; d = 0.998). Discussion Our study highlights the significant benefits of increased practice in developing motor competence, particularly in children’s locomotor and manipulative skills. Additionally, at this age, fun, competition, and social interaction seem to play a crucial role, as the SG group demonstrated greater improvements compared to the PCM group.
... Following numerous international competitions in which the final score was set after controversial sequences of play or discussions on the interpretation of the rules of the game after which the champion trophy was handed out, the world football community, through its ruling bodies and in the light of technological advances in the aerospace industry, agreed to investigate in 2012-2014 how video assistance for game referees could be used in football [9], [11], [17], [20], [22]. ...
Article
Football is a sport which demands a high level of technical-tactical training but at the same time a higher level of physical training. Always needs to record and objectify your game strategy, the technology of VAR implementation also helps to know these technical-tactical parameters, physical even in real time. The purpose of this study was to define which elements of the game-penalty, red cards, identifying mistakes; goals are the most important in football and defining the final result and the influence of VAR technology in the objectivity of decisions made by referee. Based on the results of major international competitions, a program for the implementation of technology in the strong world championships was designed and hence the conclusion that this technology must be promoted and implemented in Romania. The results showed that there was a significant difference in performance before and after the implementation of VAR in major competitions. In conclusion, the performance of the technical-tactical, physical and strategic skills of basic football games has improved after all in the world where it has joined the VAR technology.
... Според някои изследователи това може да се дължи на степента на мотивацията за движение у новородените, като се установява взаимна връзка между нея (мотивацията) и степента на двигателно развитие (Atun-Einy et al., 2013). Освен това е установена и връзката между подвижните игри в предучилищна и начална училищна възраст от една страна, и развитието на пространствената ориентация и схемата на тялото, от друга (Ene et al., 2016). В учебната програма за втори клас по Физическо възпитание и спорт, опознаването и възприемането на собственото тяло е изрично дефинирано и включено като целева задача при постигането на третата от ключовите компетентности -математика и природни науки. ...
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THIS REPORT PRESENTS A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VIEW OF THE CURRENT PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORTS (PES) CURRICULUMS FOR FIRST TO FOURTH-GRADE STUDENTS, APPROVED AND PUBLISHED BY THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE. IN MODERN SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATION, AS WELL AS THE UNPRECEDENTED SEDENTARY BEHAVIOUR TO A LARGE EXTENT THANKS TO THE COVID SITUATION, THE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN OF EARLY, PRESCHOOL AND PRIMARY SCHOOL AGE LAGS CATASTROPHICALLY. IN GENERAL, PES TEACHERS " CAPITULATE" IN FRONT OF THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF DEALING WITH STUDENTS' INABILITY TO FOLLOW SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS AND COMMANDS, EXECUTE "ELEMENTARY" TECHNICAL ELEMENTS, SHOW PERSISTENCE, AND MAKE AN EFFORT. HERE COMES THE CONNECTION WITH PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS AND THE COMPETENCE APPROACH FOR EDUCATION: 1) KNOWLEDGE (BOTH ABOUT INDIVIDUAL SPORTS DISCIPLINES AND GAMES, AS WELL AS ABOUT ONE'S OWN BODY, STATE OF HEALTH, NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES, AND IN PARALLEL - THE CREATION OF CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS), 2) MASTERY OF SKILLS (PERSONAL IDEATION AND EXECUTIVE SKILLS, DEVELOPMENT OF MOTOR QUALITIES) AND 3) DEVELOPMENT OF ATTITUDES FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH, LIFELONG LEARNING, AND IMPROVEMENT/MAINTENANCE OF GOOD HEALTH AND WORKING CAPACITY.
... These studies focus on the role of the body schema in psychomotor interventions in children with motor coordination developmental disorders [22][23][24], motor deficiencies [25], amputees [26], psychiatric disorders [27], and anorexia nervosa [28]. School physical education also addresses this topic, especially at the level of primary education [29][30][31]. ...
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The purpose of this study is to analyze the role and importance of specific physical exercises in the development of the body schema in preparatory class pupils and its effect on the development of maturity. Methods: The experiment took place over a period of 10 weeks in which two physical education lessons per week were scheduled; the lessons include specific themes for the development of the body schema and contain exercises to arouse pupils' interest in sports and physical activities from this age. A number of 150 pupils aged between 5 years and 6 months and 7 years and 6 months participated in the experiment. The pupils were divided into two groups: the experimental group (76 pupils, 32 boys and 34 girls) and the control group (74 pupils, 31 boys and 33 girls). Next, the "Draw-a-Person" Test was applied at the beginning and end of the experiment. Results: The analysis of the results highlights the fact that after completing the intervention plan there is a significant improvement in the results of the experimental group on the Maturity Scale and implicitly on the three development scales: Head Scale, Body Schema Scale, and Clothing Scale. Among the three scales, the Body Schema Scale has the greatest influence on the Maturity Scale (r = 0.841). Conclusions: The preparatory class produces a connection between the kindergarten and the school; furthermore, the physical education lessons with an emphasis on the development of the body scheme contribute to the development of maturity and school preparation of the pupils.
... Physical education and Sport through its objectives influence the development of the body scheme by forming time coordinates of movements and memorizing them, developing static and dynamic balance and motor intelligence. These abilities and attitudes are formed during a learning cycle [2]. Physical activity is associated with many benefits for the development of the body scheme but most children do not meet national recommendations. ...
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Aim The purpose of this review is to summarize the scientific literature that examined the importance of physical activity programs in the development of body scheme in primary school students by identifying methods and tests used to test body scheme on motor development, spatial-temporal orientation and coordination. Method Using the electronic databases Research Gate and Web of Science, we searched for articles using key words, including terms related to methods, intervention plan, children’s age and body schemes. We selected only those that followed the influences of an intervention plan on children. Results We selected 30 articles regarding the development of the body scheme, the spatial-temporal orientation and the coordination through an activity plan. The study results in the three categories show a significant influence on body scheme, spatial orientation and coordination. Following the tests applied and the results obtained, we can say that a well-structured program of physical activity influences the child’s development in terms of body scheme. If it is correctly integrated, one can avoid the existence of body diagram disorders that are quite common for children. Conclusion The harmonious physical development of the child is influenced by a program of physical activity. Early participation in these programs is recomended in order to avoid disorders of body scheme.
... Segmental coordination is based on the correlation of the nervous and the muscular systems, involving the kinesthetic, visual, auditory and balance analyzers (Bădău, 2011;Ion Ene et al., 2016). ...
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Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à l’exploitation des contes dans l’enseignement-apprentissage de certaines notions mathématiques au préscolaire. Pour ce faire, nous commençons par la présentation de l’enseignement des mathématiques au préscolaire marocain. Les capacités attendues dans cette phase d’apprentissage sont aussi présentées. Ensuite, nous proposons deux contes, l’un pour introduire les trois aspects du nombre et l’autre pour initier l’enfant à la triangulation de type Δ1 et à la statistique. De plus, nous étudions l’impact de ces deux contes sur le développement psychomoteur de la petite enfance et l’apprentissage des mathématiques au préscolaire. Cette étude montre comment les contes peuvent être utilisés comme un excellent support didactique dans l’introduction et l’initiation de certaines notions mathématiques au préscolaire afin de faciliter et de donner sens à l’apprentissage et aussi d'améliorer les habiletés psychomotrices de l’enfant dans un cadre ludique et agréable.
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The paper examines and analyzes the development of initial spatial reasoning. The aim of the paper is to consider to what extent the work on an integrative content contributes to the preschool children’s initial understanding of spatial relationships. It explains how preschoolers build spatial relationships. Also, theoretical aspects of the integration of educational content are discussed. Based on the analysis of theoretical and empirical contributions, the importance of the development of spatial reasoning for the overall development of mathematical thinking has been determined. The empirical part presents the results of an action research. Using the descriptive-analytical method, the method of exploring non-causal relationships and relationships, and using descriptive action empirical study, the possibilities of developing spatial relationships were examined using an integrative approach. The results of the research confirm the expectation that an integrated approach creates the conditions for the development of spatial orientation skills in preschool children.
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Current developments of scientific thinking in the field of education are increasingly demanding in various disciplines for young people as a matter of urgency. It is already known that child development is conditioned by ancestry, socio-cultural environment, including interaction with peers and adults. Albanian institutions (kindergarten) compared to contemporary experience in more developed countries have to deal with issues such as: (1) The development of a run or optimal acceleration enrichment motor for kindergarten children, seen as an important element of the formation of the human personality and its preparation to cope with various situations of life ; (2) The role of infrastructure in the natural development of the personality of children and the educational process as a whole; (3) Parental community involvement as a fundamental prerequisite of real development of the child; (4)The qualification level of the teaching staff in the elementary education system and the preparation of students teacher. I hope to add my contribution through this paper, not only by identifying the problems above, but also in presenting alternatives of a development model of kindergarten children motors skills progress, compared to contemporary experience in more developed countries. Keywords: ; ; ; ;
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This study aimed to investigate the influence of structured physical education on the psychomotor development of 3 to 5 year-old preschool children. The sample consisted of 324 students of both sexes (3 to 5 year-old) from 9 public kindergarten classes in Porto, Portugal. A battery of psychomotor tests (pre-test) was used to assess the students’ psychomotor development profiles. The sample was divided in 2 groups: an experimental group (162 students) and a control group (162 students). Physical Education (PE) teachers used a structured 24-week PE plan in the experimental group. After the plan completion, the same battery of tests (post-test) was run on both groups.The outcome was that both groups grew their psychomotor profiles; however this growth was always statistically higher in the experimental group (at all ages and in all variables analysed p < 0.001 – Figure 3 and Table 1, 2). There were no significant deviations related to the gender (p>0.05). Structured physical education is important for preschool children’s psychomotor development. Physical activity impact on children’s interaction with the outside world was proved, through their overall development motivated by the structured physical education lessons
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The present-day vigorous development of the scientific thought preconditions a directed and time-bound intervention into different fields of education for new generations as an immediate problem, beginning from the pre-school age, which the stage when the organized education starts. In these terms, the aim of this writing is to bring some qualitative training alternatives into the readers' attention, based on the theoretical-didactic references in the field of the pre-school children's psychomotor education. Also, by shedding light on the features and the elusiveness the children of this age bear, regarding motoric abilities, education and evolvement - seen as integrated with other fields of cognition, we are trying to bring forth some instances or models from the curricula and teaching sessions, urged by the desire to contribute to the preparation of the pre-school education teachers and students methodic activities in the domain of psychomotor education.
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Physical and mental health enhances pupils’ mood, their attention and labor power, increases knowledge assimilation ability. Motricity is a means of educating closely interlinked with the intellectual and emotional sides of the individual, and hides behind it an entire universe. The importance of knowing the psychological aspects of motricity increases provided that the analysis has been done in the context of its relationship with intellectual and emotional sides of the subject's personality, becoming thus a means of education. The full expression of the relations described is psycho-motricity and its importance in developing future pupils and preschool children.Purpose of Study: The research has been conducted on a group of children represented by the Experiment Group and a Control Group, boys and girls, grade I. I mention that the children have started, at least theoretically, with the same psycho-motric potential. Research Methods: Bibliographic study method, observation method, experimental method, method of measurements and records, statistical and mathematical method, graphical method.Findings: The research purpose was to verify the importance and role in the development of motric activities of preschool children, future pupils, and how we can positively influence the course of their intellectual and motric skills in grade I, by practicing motric activities since kindergarten- for preschool group.Conclusions: This research confirms that motric activities, in preschool children's - future pupils - program develops psycho-motricity and makes school training superior as compared to other children of the same age, missing additional physical supplementary activities in kindergartens.
Antropologie Motricã. Bucureºti: ªtiinþificã
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Problematica Psihomotri-citatii
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Horghidan V 2000. Problematica Psihomotri-citatii. Bucuresti: Globus.
On the problems of children's space orientation
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Glushkov I, Pacheva P 2014. On the problems of children's space orientation. Research in Kine-siology, 4(1): 88-97.
Different perceptive qualities for the psychomotricity
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Maite M, Asunción A, Almuedo M, Lluesma À, Rodríguez A, Mercè X 2015. Different perceptive qualities for the psychomotricity. American Journal of Educational Research, 3(12): 1615-1617. DOI: 10.12691/education-3-12-19
Cunoaºterea Copilului La Intrarea În Clasa întâi
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