Play and Pre-Literacy Among Young Children

NCT02432443 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: INCH-0415
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 53
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

Children begin to develop fundamental motor skills (FMS), such as running and kicking, and pre-literacy skills, such as rhyming, during early childhood. These skills are very important as they lay the foundation for more complex movements and literacy skill development later in life, support overall healthy development in several areas, and help contribute to the child's readiness for school. A child with strong motor skills is well equipped to lead a life with healthy levels of physical activity, positive social interactions, positive self-perceptions, and greater cognitive and language abilities. These skills will not develop optimally on their own so it is essential to teach, challenge, and reinforce them at an early age; often this learning takes place at home prior to entering school. Most research on this topic has primarily focused on school-aged children or children with specific developmental challenges and less is known about teaching motor and pre-literacy skills to young children and giving parents the tools to practice these skills at home with their children. The aim of the present study is to examine the effect of a motor and pre-literacy program, which emphasizes parental involvement, on motor, pre-literacy, social skills, cognitive abilities, and self-competence in 3 to 4 year old children with typical development.

Conditions

Child Development

Keywords

Motor Skills; Pre-literacy Skills; Early Intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change from baseline in Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 at 11-12 weeks

  Baseline and 11-12 weeks

• Change from baseline in pre-literacy skills (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening: Preschool and Preschool Word and Print Awareness Test) at 11-12 weeks

  Baseline and 11-12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (9)

• Change from baseline in parental engagement in motor and pre-literacy activities at 15-16 weeks

  Baseline and 15-16 weeks.

• Change from baseline in Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-2 at 15-16 weeks

  Baseline and 15-16 weeks.

• Change from baseline in Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (Preschool-Kindergarten version) scale at 15-16 weeks

  Baseline and 15-16 weeks.

• Change from baseline in Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children (Preschool-Kindergarten version) scale at 11-12 weeks

  Baseline and 11-12 weeks.

• Change from baseline in pre-literacy skills (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening: Preschool and Preschool Word and Print Awareness Test) at 15-16 weeks

  Baseline and 15-16 weeks.

Study Arms (2)

Motor and pre-literacy program

EXPERIMENTAL

First group to receive the motor and pre-literacy program.

Behavioral: Motor and pre-literacy program

Wait-list comparison

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Second group to receive the motor and pre-literacy program after the experimental arm has completed the program.

Other: Wait-list Comparison

Interventions

Motor and pre-literacy program BEHAVIORAL

The program will run for 60 minutes once per week for 10 consecutive weeks and will consist of three components: direct FMS instruction, unstructured exploratory free-play, and an interactive storybook reading activity. The curriculum and teaching strategies to be used for the first two segments of our intervention have been successfully implemented in previous research to improve the motor skills of 4 year old children with autism (Bremer, Balogh, \& Lloyd, 2014). Specific strategies and books were selected from an existing evidence-based curriculum (Justice \& McGuinty, 2009). There will be active involvement of at least one parent in the direct instruction and reading components.

Motor and pre-literacy program

Wait-list Comparison OTHER

The participants will not participate in the motor and pre-literacy program for 10 weeks after enrollment and will continue with their normal daily life without any intervention. After the experimental arm completes the motor and pre-literacy program, the wait-list group will receive the exact same motor and pre-literacy intervention.

Wait-list comparison

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 36 Months - 59 Months
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• typical development

You may not qualify if:

• diagnosed with any developmental delay (e.g., autism, Developmental Coordination Disorder, etc.) or health conditions that may prohibit safe participation in the program (e.g., unstable heart condition).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• McMaster University: lead

Study Sites (2)

Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton

Hamilton, Ontario, L8H 4L8, Canada

Location

McMaster Innovation Park

Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 0A1, Canada

Location

Related Publications (17)

• Boethel M. Readiness: School, Family, & Community Connections. Annual Synthesis, 2004. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory [Internet]. 2004 [cited 2015 Feb2]. Available from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED484507.pdf

  BACKGROUND

• Bremer E, Balogh R, Lloyd M. Effectiveness of a fundamental motor skill intervention for 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study. Autism. 2015 Nov;19(8):980-91. doi: 10.1177/1362361314557548. Epub 2014 Nov 28.

  PMID: 25432505 BACKGROUND

• Clark JE From the beginning: a developmental perspective on movement and mobility. Quest [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2014 Dec 1]; 57(1):37-45. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00336297.2005.10491841 DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2005.10491841

  BACKGROUND

• Diamond A. Close interrelation of motor development and cognitive development and of the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex. Child Dev. 2000 Jan-Feb;71(1):44-56. doi: 10.1111/1467-8624.00117.

  PMID: 10836557 BACKGROUND

• Folio MR, Fewell RR. Peabody Developmental Motor Scales--2nd Edition. 1974

  BACKGROUND

• Gioia G, Espy KA, Isquith PK. Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources; 2005.

  BACKGROUND

• Gresham FM, Elliott SN. Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales. Minneapolis, MN: Pearson Assessments; 2008.

  BACKGROUND

• Harter S, Pike R. The pictorial scale of perceived competence and social acceptance for young children. Child Dev. 1984 Dec;55(6):1969-82.

  PMID: 6525886 BACKGROUND

• Invernizzi MA, Sullivan A, Meier JD, Swank L. Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening: Preschool Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia; 2004.

  BACKGROUND

• Isenberg JP, Quisenberry N. A position paper of the Association for Childhood Education International PLAY: Essential for all Children. Childhood Education [Internet] 2002 [cited 2015 Feb 22];79(1):33-39. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00094056.2002.10522763

  BACKGROUND

• Iverson JM. Developing language in a developing body: the relationship between motor development and language development. J Child Lang. 2010 Mar;37(2):229-61. doi: 10.1017/S0305000909990432. Epub 2010 Jan 25.

  PMID: 20096145 BACKGROUND

• Justice LM, Ezell HK. Word and print awareness in 4-year old children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy [Internet] 2001 October [cited 2015 Apr 2];17(3): 207-225. Available from: http://clt.sagepub.com/content/17/3/207.full.pdf+html

  BACKGROUND

• Justice LM, McGuinty AS. Read It Again-PreK!A Preschool Curriculum Supplement to Promote Language and Literacy Foundations. [Internet] 2009 [cited 2014 Oct 20]. Available from: http://arts-sciences.und.edu/communication-sciences-disorders/_files/docs/readitagain-prekmanual.pdf

  BACKGROUND

• Logan SW, Robinson LE, Wilson AE, Lucas WA. Getting the fundamentals of movement: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of motor skill interventions in children. Child Care Health Dev. 2012 May;38(3):305-15. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01307.x. Epub 2011 Sep 1.

  PMID: 21880055 BACKGROUND

• National Research Council (US) and Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development; Shonkoff JP, Phillips DA, editors. From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2000. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK225557/

  PMID: 25077268 BACKGROUND

• Bedard C, Bremer E, Campbell W, Cairney J. Evaluation of a Direct-Instruction Intervention to Improve Movement and Preliteracy Skills among Young Children: A Within-Subject Repeated-Measures Design. Front Pediatr. 2018 Jan 17;5:298. doi: 10.3389/fped.2017.00298. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 29387681 DERIVED

• Bedard C, Bremer E, Campbell W, Cairney J. A Quasi-Experimental Study of a Movement and Preliteracy Program for 3- and 4-Year-Old Children. Front Pediatr. 2017 May 1;5:94. doi: 10.3389/fped.2017.00094. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 28507981 DERIVED

Study Officials

• John Cairney, PhD

  McMaster University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 24, 2015
• First Posted: May 4, 2015
• Study Start: June 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2016
• Study Completion: August 1, 2016
• Last Updated: March 22, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-03

Locations

CA (2)