Preparedness of senior preschool children with mental retardation to learn ball games

Abstract

Introduction. Ball games, being a unique motor activity, combine the opportunities for favourable psychomotor, social and personal development of children. According to World Health Organisation experts, the value of ball games as a means and form of physical activity lies in the fact that they improve cognitive abilities and physical fitness of children with intellectual disabilities and hyperkinetic behaviour / hyperactivity syndrome. However, in order to achieve effective results in teaching ball games to children with disabilities, their level of physical fitness and functional abilities needs to be taken into account. The aim of the study was to examine and assess the level of readiness of senior preschool children with mental retardation to learn ball games, with further comparison of the findings with survey results in respect of children without developmental disabilities. Materials and methods. The research involved two groups of senior preschool children attending preschool institutions of Belgorod (Russian Federation). The diagnostic ball game exercises recommended in the programme “Play to your heart’s content”, as well as the methods of mathematical statistics (Student’s t-test), were used. Results. Talking of preschool children’s readiness to master ball games, we mean a well-formed orientative framework of motor actions with a ball in the form of knowledge and ideas about the motor task, mastering the ways to effectuate these actions, motivation towards achieving the result. The obtained data confirmed that children with mental retardation have insufficient readiness to master ball games and exercises. The optimal and average level of readiness to master ball games and exercises is recorded in 54.83% of children with mental retardation and in 80.64% of children without developmental disabilities. A total of 45.16% of children with mental retardation and 19.35% of children without developmental disabilities have problems of visuomotor coordination, attention development, low control and regulation of own actions, low level of coordinating a motor act with external environment. The processing of the obtained results shows statistical reliability of differences (p<0.05) in average indicator values (score) in game exercise performance within the modules “Football” and “Basketball” between children with mental retardation and children without developmental disabilities. Conclusion. The data obtained on the level of readiness of preschool children with mental retardation to master ball games testify to the need to identify due goals and content of individual assignments towards overcoming existing problems, the feasibility of organising child-adult interaction aimed at conveying and mastering motor experience.