Motor abilities and school readiness at disadvantaged children / Motorne sposobnosti i spremnost za školu kod djece s posebnim potrebama
Authors: Lepeš Josip , Halasi Szabolcs , Ivanović Josip 
Published: August 2016

Abstract From the birth motor development is very important. There are a different phases, and in cases if some of the phases doesn’t exist, the child will probably have some problems in physical, social and psychological development. Physical activity is positively related to academic achievement (Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves, & Malina, 2006), cognitive functioning (Ellemberg, 2010) and physical and general self-validation (Crocker, Kowalski, & Hadd, 2008). Unfortunatelly not every child has an opportunity for healthy motor development, furthermore the majority of disadvantaged children start school with social, cultural and educational disadvantage. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences between normally developed first grade elementary school children and disadvantaged children at the areas of school readiness and motor abilities. A battery of 7 school readiness tests (DIFER) and 7 motor tests was administered in a sample of 19 disadvantaged children (M=7.56, SD=0.87) and 25 normally developed children (M=7.53, SD=0.35). The significant differences (F=5.43; P≤0.05) between the groups were observed in both areas, disadvantaged children were considerably behind their majority peers. In those preschool and primary school institutions where disadvantaged children from lower social status are enrolled in large numbers, a straight-forward form of motor skills development ought to be implemented. A developmental program would offer a further help for preparing disadvantaged children for academic learning.Keywords: academic achievement, first grade children; motor development---Sažetak Motorni je razvoj vrlo važan. Postoje različite faze, a u slučaju da ne postoje određene faze dijete će vjerojatno imati problema u fizičkom, socijalnom i psihološkom razvoju. Fizička aktivnost pozitivno je povezana s akademskim postignućem (Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina, 2006.), kognitivnim funkcioniranjem (Ellemberg, 2010.) te fizičkim i općim samovrednovanjem (Crocker, Kowalski & Hadd, 2008.). Nažalost, nema svako dijete mogućnost za zdravi motorni razvoj, štoviše većina djece s posebnim potrebama započinje školovanje sa socijalnim, kulturnim i obrazovnim posebnim potrebama. Cilj je ove studije ocijeniti razlike između normalno razvijene djece iz prvoga razreda osnovne škole i djece s posebnim potrebama u područjima spremnosti za školu i motornih sposobnosti. Baterija 7 testova spremnosti za školu (DIFER) i 7 motornih testova provedena je na uzorku od 19 djece s posebnim potrebama (M = 7,56; SD = 0,87) i 25 normalno razvijene djece (M = 7,53; SD = 0,35). Značajne razlike (F = 5,43; P ≤ 0,05) među skupinama uočene su u oba područja; djeca s posebnim potrebama značajno su zaostajala za vršnjacima iz većinske skupine. U predškolskim i osnovnoškolskim ustanovama u kojima su u velikom broju upisana djeca s posebnim potrebama iz nižega socijalnog sloja treba se primijeniti neposredni oblik razvoja motornih vještina. Razvojni program pružio bi daljnju pomoć za pripremu djece s posebnim potrebama za akademsko postignuće.Ključne riječi: akademsko postignuće; djeca prvog razreda; motorni razvoj