The effectiveness of a psychomotor sport program on the grapho-motor skills of first graders | Die Förderung graphomotorischer Fertigkeiten von Erstklässlern durch psychomotorische Übungen im Sportunterricht

Stachelhaus, A.,Strauss B

Abstract

This longitudinal study evaluates the effectiveness of a psyehomotor sport program on the grapho-motor skills of first graders. The children were studied at three points in time (before and after a training intervention as well as after a six-month latency in a follow-up) with respect to their grapho-motor performances as well as their fine motor performances. The total sample of 264 pupils (average age: 6.7 years) was divided into one experimental (EG, n = 138) and two control groups (CG 1: n = 65; CG 2: n = 61). The EG received a 10-week special psyehomotor program (ÜPS!, Stachelhaus, 2005), which was conducted during the PE lessons at school (3 × 45 min. per week). CG 1, at the same time, had regular PE lessons, while CG 2 received a play program that constrasted with the ÜPS! All subjects were assessed by the Graphomotor Test Battery (Rudolf, 1986) and a tapping test for children (Punktiertest, Schilling, 1979). These tests require fine motor accuracy and precision as well as fine motor rapidness. Results show a significant increase in grapho-motor accuracy and precision for the EG immediately after the treatment as well as after 6 months of latency in comparison to the control groups. In terms of fine-motor rapidness, results show an increase of speed for the EG as well as for both of the CGs. It was concluded mat these results indicate a strong effect of psyehomotor education on accuracy and precision of grapho-motor skills but not on the speed. © Hogrefe Verlag Göttingen 2005.