Self Regulation and Fine Motor Skills
Young kids find it difficult to learn to write since they must combine their still-developing fine motor abilities with an understanding of written language in order to produce a mark that has meaning. The problem gets worse when children are required to create a range of written items, each with its own set of demands (for example, writing individual letters vs. words). Researchers wanted to take a closer look to determine the relationship between self regulation and fine motor skills in young children.
Although self-regulation and fine motor skills are both important for writing, we still don’t know exactly how they work together to help children learn to write.
If you work with preschoolers, you most likely have observed that the ability for young children to self-regulate is associated with functional skills at school such as fine motor tabletop activities or pre-writing skills.
Self Regulation Skills Curriculum – Move Work Breathe
HOW DOES SELF REGULATION PLAY A ROLE IN WRITING TASKS?
Self regulation is a complex skill. For this research study it was defined as the “deliberate application of controlling, directing, and planning skills to behavioral responses to achieve social, academic, or personal goals.”
Specific examples include executive function skills such as the ability to:
- pay attention
- transition focus for one activity to another
- working memory to remember instructions
- have self-control such as raising your hand instead of calling out.
STUDY ON SELF REGULATION AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS
A recent study was published in the Early Childhood Research Quarterly. The researchers investigated whether self-regulation modifies the link between fine motor abilities and early writing development, as well as whether this relationship varies depending on writing task difficulty.
To address this, two samples of over three hundred 3- to 5-year-old children from Head Start programs were assessed at the beginning and end of the preschool year on fine motor skills, self-regulation, and a variety of writing activities.
To evaluate self regulation the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task was used. Four tasks were used to measure writing tasks: name writing, letter writing, word writing, and story writing.
RESULTS OF THE STUDY
To determine the potential association between fine motor skills and self-regulation on early writing skills the data was analyzed and revealed the following after controlling for demographic factors:
- self-regulation was important at the beginning of the year for children with higher levels of fine motor skills when completing a challenging writing task.
- self-regulation was also important at the end of the school year for both 1) children with lower fine motor skills but only for the simpler writing tasks and 2) for children with higher fine motor skills on the more challenging writing tasks.
For each writing tasks, data analysis indicated that age and sex were significant predictors of these tasks.
The relationship between self-regulation and writing varies depending on task difficulty, according to study findings. When children write, self-regulation and fine motor abilities may compensate for deficits in one or both skills.
REFERENCE
Chandler, M. C., Gerde, H. K., Bowles, R. P., McRoy, K. Z., Pontifex, M. B., & Bingham, G. E. (2021). Self-regulation moderates the relationship between fine motor skills and writing in early childhood. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 57, 239-250.
Color Your Name or Any Word
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