Performance of fine motor accuracy skills and preschool children's Jawi writing skills.

Abstract

Preschool children in Malaysia have access to an early childhood education curriculum that includes components of fine motor proficiency through the acquisition of writing skills for a variety of characters. The purpose of this study is to determine the importance of fine motor accuracy abilities and Jawi character writing skills in preschool children, as well as to suggest the key components of Jawi writing skills test instruments. This study enlisted the participation of 22 youngsters (11 boys and 11 girls) aged 5 to 6 years old from a selected kindergarten. The Jawi Writing Skills Test and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Instrument (BOTMP-2) were administered to each kid. ndependent T Test analysis indicated a significant difference forJawi Writing Skills Testbetween gender (t = 1.75, p <0.05)and BOTMP-2 Fine Motor Precision Test between 5 and 6 year old children (t = 4.59, p <0.05). The performance of the BOTMP -2 Fine Motor Precision Test items and the performance of each character on the Jawi Writing Skills Test had a moderate correlation (r value ranging from 0.318 to -.622). The findings suggest that fine motor precision skills can influence children's mastery of Jawi writing skills. Precision skills and fine motor integration, aswell as observation towards motor skill movements, may be included in the construction of jawi writing skills testing instrument.