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…

Poor physical development in young children has been shown to impact readiness for school, behaviour, social development and academic achievement. This research sought to explore levels of physical development in young children in the term that they started school. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) was used to assess 115…

This study examined parental perception of the importance of friendship and five other educational outcomes from 101 Chinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorders between the ages of 3 and 12 years. Results showed Chinese parents considered friendship less important than social skills, emotional development, and physical skills and…

Exploring effective interventions to compensate for developmental delay in premature neonates and reduce their mothers' anxiety is of great significance. This research aimed at examining the effects of body massage on Iranian premature neonates' physical and motor development, and on their mother's anxiety and attachment. Forty premature neonates…

Learning to descend stairs requires motor and cognitive capacities on the part of infants and opportunities for practice and assurance of safety offered by caregivers. The American Academy of Pediatrics prescribes the age strategy to teach toddlers to safely descend stairs but without much consideration for individual differences in infants'…

Education is a lifelong endeavour that starts in the womb and lasts until death. It helps the individual to develop full potential by allowing to control the environment of his/her own successful life and living. The foundation of education begins in one's very early childhood and lays the foundation for later stages of educational progression.…

Aim: To investigate developmental trajectories in early childhood and predictors of class assignment. Methods: Data were available for Gen2 infants at 12 (n = 2275), 24 (n = 1845) and 36 (n = 2110) months of age in the Raine Study. Latent growth class analysis was used to identify developmental trajectories based on the Ages and Stages…

This study examined the effect of a six week combined movement and story-telling intervention on motor competence and naming vocabulary in British pre-schoolers. Using a cluster randomised design, three pre-school classes were allocated to one of a combined movement and story-telling intervention (n = 22), or a movement only (n = 25) or…

Perceptual development which depends on ability of learning and maturity, is the most important process of mental development. It is commonly believed that the mental development of children is limited due to city life. Children can learn perceptual elements through movement participation. This improves the cognitive development, which triggers…

The objective of this study was to evaluate gross motor competence and growth spurt in Canadian youth. Eighty-two children (38 boys, 44 girls) were assessed over a time period of five years. Growth rate was measured quarterly; motor competence was evaluated once per year using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Peak height velocity…

Infants in low-resource settings are at heightened risk for compromised cognitive development due to a multitude of environmental insults in their surroundings. However, the onset of adverse outcomes and trajectory of cognitive development in these settings is not well understood. The aims of the present study were to adapt the Mullen Scales of…

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between body composition and physical fitness parameters in children. 286 male and 311 female students have voluntarily participated in the study. Data on body composition have been obtained through the measurements of the students' height, body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, length (sitting…

Assessing children's movement competence (MC) offers numerous benefits for academics, practitioners, clinicians and children, allowing individuals to meet children's developmental needs and improve their MC. Yet, there is concern that currently available assessment tools only provide a single plane (fundamental movement skills) perspective of a…

Stunting has been negatively associated with children's development. We examined the range of height by testing hypotheses: (a) height is positively associated with children's development, with associations moderated by inflammation and (b) home environments characterized by nurturance and early learning opportunities is positively associated with…

Background: Standard physical education (PE) programs and the team-teaching methodology have rarely been evaluated to investigate their real efficacy in changing children's motor skills. Aims: The aims of this study are two-fold: The first aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of a PE program for improving coordinative motor skills in the team…