scholarly journals The association between under-nutrition, school performance and perceptual motor functioning in first-grade South African learners: The North-West Child Health Integrated with Learning and Development study

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita E. Pienaar
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
South African ◽  
School Performance ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Motor Functioning ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
North West ◽  
Under Nutrition

Background: Early childhood is characterised by an immense spurt of growing and learning where under-nutrition can have adverse effects on the neuro-developmental health and school performance of children. A full understanding of the relationship between school performance and motor functioning skills and malnourishment in school beginners is still lacking.Aim: To determine the association between indices of under-nutrition and how it relates to school performance and motor functioning skills of first-grade learners.Setting: North West province (NWP) of South Africa (SA).Method: The baseline data of the stratified, randomised North-West Child Health Integrated with Learning and Development (NW-CHILD) longitudinal study were used. Grade 1 learners (N = 816, 420 boys, 396 girls, mean age 6.78+ years) from four school districts in the NWP of SA took part in the study. Indices of under-nutrition were determined by Z-scores (−2 standard deviation [s.d.]) for stunting (height-for-age [HAZ]) and wasting and underweight (Z-score for body mass index) using the 2007 World Health Organization reference sample. The Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Short Form and the Visual Motor Integration fourth edition were used to assess different aspects of motor functioning, while school performance in mathematics, reading and writing was assessed by teachers according to the National South African standards of assessments.Results: Both HAZ and Z-score for weight-for-age correlated significantly with school performance and motor functioning skills (r 2.0, p 0.05), while visual perception was moderately associated (r 0.30) with mathematics in HAZ and Z-score for weight-for-height (WHZ) children. Motor functioning of HAZ and WHZ children was significantly poorer (p 0.05) compared to typical children, while underweight was not associated with any outcome variables.Conclusion: Moderate forms of stunting and wasting influence school performance and motor functioning of school beginners negatively, while an association between visual perceptual abilities and inferior mathematics, reading and writing suggests a close link with inferior cognitive information processing in stunted and wasted children. These barriers should be addressed as poor scholastic success in Grade 1 may influence future school performance and the subsequent well-being of children.

scholarly journals Longitudinal effects of stunting and wasting on academic performance of primary school boys: The North-West Child-Health-Integrated-Learning and Development study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dané Coetzee ◽  
Wilmarié Du Plessis ◽  
Deidré Van Staden
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Integrated Learning ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Child Study ◽  
North West Province

Background: A worldwide occurrence like stunting and wasting affects both children’s health and academic performance.Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of stunting and wasting on academic performance amongst primary school boys over a period of 7 years (2010–2016) in the North West Province of South Africa.Methods: The study forms part of a longitudinal research design, the North-West Child-Health-Integrated-Learning and Development (NW-CHILD) study, stretched over a period of 7 years from 2010 to 2016. Baseline measurements and two follow-up measurements of boys (n = 181) formed part of this study. Two-way frequency tables and Analyses of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to analyse the data (p ≤ 0.05).Setting: The study was conducted in the North West Province of South Africa.Results: The prevalence of stunting (3.32% – 6.63%) and wasting (3.86% – 6.63%) increased each year from 2010 to 2016. Language, mathematics and overall average academic scores were affected statistically by stunting and wasting (p ≤ 0.05). Over a period of 7 years (overall), it was found that stunting and wasting influenced academic performance, especially concerning language and mathematic subjects.Conclusion: Stunted and wasted primary school boys in the North West Province of South Africa reported a strong negative association with academic performance, especially language and mathematic subjects. Limited data are available concerning stunting, wasting and academic performance, and further studies are therefore recommended to strengthen and support the findings of this study with regard to a better understanding of the effect.

Developing Scramble-Based Learning Method to Increase Students’ Reading and Writing Comprehension

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Dani Gunawan
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Learning Method ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Learning Technique ◽  
Increasing Trend

This study was directed to develop a learning technique, to analyze the obstacles faced by teachers in implementing the lesson, and to overcome the problems faced by teachers in enhancing elementary students’ reading and writing comprehension. In order to fulfill the mentioned goals, this study tried to use scramble-based learning technique. It was cconducted at SDN Gentra Masekdas 1, Kecamatan Tarogong Kaler involving 32 first grade students. A pilot study was conducted on 9 March 2017 for about 35 minutes. The first cycle started on 18 April 2017, while the second one was on 24 April 2017. It was found that there was an increasing trend after the implementation. The analysis proccess generated data as followed: during pilot study, eight students succeeded to reach the standard indicator with percentage of 25%. Cycle I generated 15 students with learning completion percentage of 46.8.%. And, during second cycle, there were 27 students who succeeded in reaching completion standard with completion percentage of 84.3%.

Systemic School Improvement Interventions in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
North West ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The North ◽  
Improvement Interventions ◽  
Academic Review

Looking at two smaller-scale systemic school improvement projects implemented in selected district circuits in the North West and Eastern Cape by partnerships between government, JET Education Services, and private sector organisations, this book captures and reflects on the experiences of the practitioners involved. The Systemic School Improvement Model developed by JET to address an identified range of interconnected challenges at district, school, classroom and household level, is made up of seven components. In reflecting on what worked and what did not in the implementation of these different components, the different chapters set out some of the practical lessons learnt, which could be used to improve the design and implementation of similar education improvement projects. Many of the lessons in this field that remain under-recorded to date relate to the step-by-step processes followed, the relationship dynamics encountered at different levels of the education system, and the local realities confronting schools and districts in South Africa's rural areas. Drawing on field data that is often not available to researchers, the book endeavours to address this gap and record these lessons. It is not intended to provide an academic review of the systemic school improvement projects. It is presented rather to offer other development practitioners working to improve the quality of education in South African schools, an understanding of some of the real practical and logistical challenges that arise and how these may be resolved to take further school improvement projects forward at a wider district, provincial and national scale.

scholarly journals Sleep and BMI in South African urban and rural, high and low-income preschool children

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale E. Rae ◽  
Simone A. Tomaz ◽  
Rachel A. Jones ◽  
Trina Hinkley ◽  
Rhian Twine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
South African ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Sleep Parameters ◽  
Z Scores

Abstract Background The extent to which income setting or rural and urban environments modify the association between sleep and obesity in young children is unclear. The aims of this cross-sectional observational study were to (i) describe and compare sleep in South African preschool children from rural low-income (RL), urban low-income (UL) and urban high-income (UH) settings; and (ii) test for associations between sleep parameters and body mass index (BMI). Methods Participants were preschoolers (5.2 ± 0.7y, 49.5% boys) from RL (n = 111), UL (n = 65) and UH (n = 22) settings. Height and weight were measured. Sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity were assessed using accelerometery. Results UL children had higher BMI z-scores (median: 0.39; interquartile range: − 0.27, 0.99) than the UH (− 0.38; − 0.88, 0.11) and RL (− 0.08; − 0.83, 0.53) children (p = 0.001). The UL children had later bedtimes (p < 0.001) and wake-up times (p < 0.001) and shorter 24 h (p < 0.001) and nocturnal (p < 0.001) sleep durations than the RL and UH children. After adjusting for age, sex, setting, SB and PA, for every hour less sleep obtained (24 h and nocturnal), children were 2.28 (95% CI: 1.28–4.35) and 2.22 (95% CI: 1.27–3.85) more likely, respectively, to belong to a higher BMI z-score quartile. Conclusions Shorter sleep is associated with a higher BMI z-score in South African preschoolers, despite high levels of PA, with UL children appearing to be particularly vulnerable.

Visual Literacy and Young Learners

2020 ◽  
pp. 190-208
Author(s):  
Hilde Tørnby
Keyword(s):  
Visual Literacy ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Visual Texts ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Distinct Sense ◽  
Visual Text ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Grade Classroom

This chapter explores visual literacy from theoretical and practical perspectives. Ideas of what is meant by visual literacy and why this is important are presented through a selection of studies. The impact that visual literacy may have on students' learning and development is further elaborated. A case study from a Norwegian first-grade classroom is included to shed light on the ways in which visual work in the classroom can be implemented. In addition, exemplars of students' written verbal and visual texts are thoroughly examined. A tendency in the material is that the illustrations are detailed and elaborate, and carry a distinct sense of the written text. Hence, the visual text may be understood as the more important text and may be vital in a child's literacy development.

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