Language: English

ISSN: 0889-5643

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: The Montessori philosophy and environment offers opportunities for free movement within the classroom. Physical development includes the acquisition of fundamental movement skills (FMS) which children acquire through different opportunities for movement. Previous research has shown that Montessorian pre-schoolers were more physically active during the school day compared to those attending traditional pre-schools. This led to questioning whether this noted increase in physical activity had any effect on the learning of FMS. The purpose of this study was to examine the proficiency of FMS of children aged 3–6 years in three private Montessori pre-schools. This purposive sample consisted of 105 Montessori 3–6 year olds in the Western Cape, South Africa. FMS were evaluated using the Test of Gross Motor Development Second Edition (TGMD-2). About 51.6% of the 3 year olds mastered run but scored in the poor category for five out of the six object control skills. The majority of 4 year olds (75.7%) reached mastery only in run. Most of the 5 year olds achieved mastery in run (69%) and slide (65.5%), and only 51.7% in kick. About 87.5% of the 6 year olds achieved mastery in run and slide, only half of them in leap, hop, kick and catch. No area of FMS were mastered by all the participants, but overall, the performance ranged from ‘average’ to ‘above average’. This shows potential for improvement in FMS proficiency. Therefore, children, even in a Montessori environment, require specific instruction to achieve proficiency of all FMS.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/1476718X241241141

ISSN: 1476-718X

Language: English

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: Movement is life and the power for growth and development for healthy lifestyle. Poor motion or inactivity is the basis for poor development in children and morbidity and mortality in adulthood. As children grow, it is expected that certain developmental dimensions such as physical, socio-emotional and cognitive will develop. These dimensions form a very important aspect of the human life and need to be nurtured to develop appropriately. One of the means through which these dimensions could be nurtured is through body movement involving locomotive and non-locomotive motions. For proper development children need to be taken through conscious steps that will help their all-round development which primarily has been part of African communal settings for cultural integration and development. Era of technology has brought several challenges facing the active lifestyle of African Children thereby predisposing them to sedentary living and its disease risks. Some of these include mass movement from rural setting to urban settlements, use of technology and also social media, fear of the environment and security issues amongst others. There is the need to appraise the cultural effect of technology on active lifestyle of African children and reactivate a balance between technology and re-integration of cultural mediums of training and development in children’s education. To promote adequate physical movement among children, curriculum should integrate healthy cultural/physical activities in the school, and parent should encourage their children to do domestic activities and reduce the use of electronic gadgets such as electronic games, TV and labour saving devices.

Language: English

ISSN: 2508-1128

Abstract/Notes: This article explores the benefits and challenges of a Spanish language immersion preschool from the perspective of a non-Spanish speaking African American family.  Data explored include the decision to enroll, reactions from peers and family, home-school communication issues, language development, and family involvement.  In addition, recommendations for families considering this bilingual option are considered. The primary data used for this article come from 127 journal entries written by the mother of the child from the beginning of the preschool admissions process until the end of preschool.

Language: English

DOI: 10.18251/ijme.v12i2.306

ISSN: 1934-5267