First Grade Primary School Children Research Articles

THE SOFT TOYS AS A CONSOLATION PLAY-OBJECT IN SCHOOL AFTER THE COVID PERIOD. THE “TEDDY BEAR PROJECT” IN PRIMARY ART CLASSROOM

Right after the post-COVID era, first-grade primary school children not only had to adapt to the school environment but also to make up for the social and emotional isolation they had experienced in the previous two years. Pupils experienced great difficulties in terms of their emotional response to the relational social networks that develop during their integration into primary school. This need, created the "Teddy bear project", a project that was shared with all first-grade classes in an experimental primary school in Greece. The project was carried out in three phases, during which, the students worked with their teddy bears in the art workshop. The transitional soft toys provided the children with feelings of comfort, companionship and intimacy. The children had the opportunity to observe themselves through their dolls and their classmates through their own dolls. Children developed empathy for others and made connections through their play-objects to themselves, their classmates and the school environment.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0005/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Impact of school closure due to COVID-19 on phonemic awareness of first-grade primary school children

The purpose of the present research was to disclose the impact of school closures due COVID-19 on phonemic awareness of first-grade primary school students. The research sample comprised two cohorts. Cohort-1 consisted of 59 first-grade primary school students, while there were 193 students in Cohort-2. A total of 252 first-grade primary school students were recruited into the research sample. Data were collected with the Phonemic Awareness Test which was specifically designed for the research. Mediation analysis was used for data analysis. Results of the mediation analysis indicated that school closures due to COVID-19 led to significant decreases in phonemic awareness of first-grade primary school students. Results are also discussed along with student–teacher interactions.

Association Between Age of Achieving Gross Motor Development Milestones During Infancy and Body Fat Percentage at 6 to 7 Years of Age

ObjectivesThe later achievement of gross motor milestones during infancy is associated with adiposity in early childhood. However, the associations between gross motor development and adiposity after entering primary school are unclear. This study examined the associations between the ages at which six gross motor milestones were achieved and adiposity during early school years.MethodsThis retrospective study was conducted in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected from 225 first-grade primary school children (mean age, 6.9 years; 39% girls). Adiposity was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and expressed as body fat percentage. Data describing the ages of achieving six gross motor milestones (holding head up, sitting, crawling, standing supported, walking supported, and independent walking) were obtained from the Maternal and Child Health Handbooks.ResultsMean body fat percentage was 21.7%. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that later ages of achieving crawling (p < .001 [95% confidence interval: 0.33–1.16]), standing supported (p < .001 [95% confidence interval: 0.64–1.65]), and walking supported [p = .013 (95% confidence interval: 0.13–1.07)] were associated with increased fat. However, the ages of achieving holding head up (p = .053), sitting (p = .175), and independent walking (p = .736) were not statistically significant.ConclusionsAchieving crawling, standing supported, and walking supported later predict increased body fat when aged 6–7 years. The practice of observing gross motor milestone achievements may allow early targeted interventions to optimize body composition before beginning school and thereby, potentially prevent childhood obesity.

Difference on sleeping between school-days and weekends in elementary school children, data from 8 provinces in China

To understand the differences on sleeping-time between school-days and weekends among elementary school children. This cross-sectional study was conducted from September to November, 2010. A stratified random cluster sampling strategy was used to select the participants, under diverse geographical and economic levels in eight provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions, in mainland China. A total number of 20 603 elementary school children aged from 6-12 years old were chosen as research subjects to record their time of sleeping during school-days or weekends. Among the 6-12 year old, their time of sleeping was longer on weekends than that on school-days, while the average sleeping time during the weekends was longer in boys than in girls (t = 3.35, P < 0.05). However, there was no linearly decreasing trend along with the increase of age regarding the time of sleeping on weekends, in girls. Proportions of serious lack of sleep, lack of sleep or with sufficient sleep during the weekends were 13.63% (2 809/20 603), 27.27% (5 618/20 603) and 59.10% (12 176/20 603). The proportion of sufficient sleep (over 50%) was significantly higher on weekends than that on school-days (less than 30%), however, nearly one third of the first grade primary school children were sleep insufficiently even on weekends. Nearly 10.00% of the children under seriously or moderately lack of sleep on school-days were still in a serious lack of sleep state on weekends. The three groups who were categorized as serious lack of sleep (less than 9 h), lack of sleep (9-10 h) or having sufficient (over 10 h) sleep on school-days accounted for 29.75%, 64.48%, 86.44%, respectively, when compared with the national regulation set as 10 h daily sleep for the children in China. The proportions of those whose time of sleep on weekends was less than school-days in the three groups as the same, moderate (within 1 h), with 1 h caught-up or over, were 9.41%, 22.77%, 43.32%, 24.50%, respectively. The percentage of pupils who caught up sleep appropriately (within 1 h) on weekends among those who were serious lack of sleep in school-days would exceed 40.00% while the proportions among those who lack of sleep or having sufficient on school-days were 54.00% and 30.00%. The percentage of children who slept less on weekends than on school-days among those having sufficient sleep on school-days appeared the highest, nearly 20.00%. However, the proportions among those who lack of sleep or seriously lack of sleep on school-days were 3.45% and 8.16%, respectively. We found that the elementary school children who could catch up time of sleep or lack of sleep on weekends coexisting in our study. This situation called for attention and the sleeping habit in primary school children should also be urgently improved.

Effects of Dental Caries on Nutritional Status Among First-Grade Primary School Children

The aim of this study was to explore association between caries prevalence and nutritional status among first-grade primary school children. A cross-sectional study of 212 students was conducted. All students were weighed and measured and then the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Each student underwent dental examination and was interviewed. Overall, caries prevalence was 80.2% and the average decayed, missing, and filled surfaces (dmfs) were 12.4 +/- 12.3. Although none of the students was in the underweight category, 45.8% were in low percentile (5th < BMI-for-age < 15th). Multiple logistic regression showed that each extra carious surface (dmfs) increased the odds of being at risk for underweight (5th < BMI-for-age < 15th) by 3.1% after adjusting for gender and dental visits. Our findings stressed that caries has significant implications on overall child health and health personnel should increase awareness of negative impacts and promote healthy nutritional choices for children.