Bala, Gustav; Popovi?, Boris; Sabo Erne - Influence of the kindergarten period on the development of children's psychosomatic characteristics

摘要

A battery of 11 anthropometric measures, 4 cardio-respiratory tests, 4 school-readiness tests, and 16 motor tests was administrated on a sample of 660 pre-school children (333 boys and 327 girls) just about to enrol in the first grade to analyse the influence of the kindergarten period on the development of the children’s psychosomatic characteristics. The entire sample of children was divided into six groups by gender and the duration of kindergarten attendance (kindergarten period of 5, 3 years or 8-9 months).The results show that the entire education and motor activities in kindergarten contribute significantly to the development of children’s psychosomatic characteristics, especially in terms of their school readiness and motor abilities. The greatest school readiness was found in those children who have attended kindergarten for a long period, and the worst in those children who have attended kindergarten for only one school year or less before enrolling in the first grade.