Renate Zimmer1,Christos Christoforidιs2, Panagiota Xanthi2, Nikolaos Aggeloussis2 and Antonis Kambas2,
1Dep Phys Educ Sp Sc, University of Osnabrück, Germany,
2Dep Phys Educ Sp Sc, Democritus University of Thrace
Abstract
Psychomotor Training (PT) in preschoolers focuses mainly on handling problematic cases and their perceptualmotor development. The aim of the current research is the study of Psychomotor Training (PT) effectiveness on motor proficiency of preschool aged children in Greece. A PT approach, based on basic principles of Psychomotor Education, was applied on a group of preschoolers (n=233) aged 59.75±6.45 months, while a control group (n=212) of similar aged children followed the typical education programme of the public Kindergarten but not the PT programme. Motor proficiency in both groups was evaluated by the MOT (Motoriktest für vier-bis sechsjährige Kinder) 4-6 test battery (6 criterion measurements) at the beginning and in the end of the PT programme. The results indicated that there was a significant interaction between the PT programme and the group factor (F1,419=573.8, p<.001, η2=.991), while post-hoc comparisons revealed that both the experimental (p<.001) and the control group (p<.05) were significantly improved at the end of the training intervention. A significant interaction was noticed between the group and the age factor (F3,419=124.3, p<.001, η2=.586) while post-hoc comparisons revealed that motor proficiency improvement in the experimental group was significantly greater (p<.001) than that noticed in the control group independent of age. It was also found that four-yrs-old children demonstrated the most significant motor proficiency improvement after the implementation of PT compared to other three age groups in the experimental group. Conversely, there was no age effect in the control group concerning motor proficiency improvement. Finally, a significant interaction was found between measurements and age. Post-hoc comparisons revealed a significant improvement in all measurements of motor proficiency with the exception the the comparison between second and third and between forth and fifth. The results of the present study indicate the significance of PT programs in improving Motor Proficiency in preschoolers.
Keywords:
Psychomotricity, Intervention, Kindergarten
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