Fine Motor Skills and Executive Function Both Contribute to Kindergarten Achievement

• Published in: Child development 2012-07, Vol.83 (4), p.1229-1244
• Main Authors: Cameron, Claire E., Brock, Laura L., Murrah, William M., Bell, Lindsay H., Worzalla, Samantha L., Grissmer, David, Morrison, Frederick J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Academic learning; Achievement; At Risk Students; Awareness; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive Ability; Cognitive development; Cognitive Processes; College Students; Developmental psychology; Educational Attainment; Educational evaluation; Educational psychology; Educational Status; EMPIRICAL ARTICLES; Ethnicity; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Home Visits; Humans; Intelligence - physiology; Kindergarten; Kindergarten education; Kindergarten students; Learning; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mathematics education; Minority Groups; Modeling; Motor ability; Motor Skills - physiology; Motors; Nursery schools; Outcomes of education; Parents; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Skills; Pupil and student. Academic achievement and failure; Questionnaires; Reading; Reading Comprehension; Reading Skills; School Readiness; Schooling; Socioeconomic factors; United States (Midwest); Vocabulary; Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement; Young Children
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01768.x

This study examined the contribution of executive function (EF) and multiple aspects of fine motor skills to achievement on 6 standardized assessments in a sample of middle-socioeconomic status kindergarteners. Three- and 4-year-olds' (n = 213) fine and gross motor skills were assessed in a home visit before kindergarten, EF was measured at fall of kindergarten, and Woodcock—Johnson III Tests of Academic Achievement were administered at fall and spring. Correlations indicated that EF and fine motor skills appeared distinct. Further, controlling for background variables, higher levels of both EF and fine motor skills, specifically design copy, predicted higher achievement on multiple subtests at kindergarten entry, as well as improvement from fall to spring. Implications for research on school readiness are discussed.