**Author details**

*Early Childhood Education*

**4. Conclusion**

success in early childhood.

who successfully develop fine motor skills are more likely to have success in class-

More significantly, the development of fine motor skills is also related to later academic achievement in young children. Results from a large-scale study using data from two longitudinal databases demonstrate the importance of fine motor skills in academic performance [55]. Specifically, data from the National Longitudinal Youth Study (NLYS) and the British Birth Cohort Study (BCS) examined the relationship on early fine motor skill tasks and later performance in math and reading. The authors from this study concluded children's fine motor performance was positively

To explain the relationship between academic performance and fine motor skills,

it may be first of all important to identify specific fine motor skills that support academic achievement (**Table 1**). For instance, visual motor integration is the ability to coordinate motor actions in response to visual stimuli. When children copy letters, numbers, or print from a chalkboard, they are using visual motor integration. If a child has poor visual motor integration, they will have a difficult time with this skill. Since the learning of math and many other subjects are still highly dependent upon these skills, it is somewhat easy to understand the significance of these skills [56]. Also, the dynamic tripod is a fine motor skill position required for handwriting in children. This is often a difficult skill for children to learn as it takes practice and instruction. In some cases, this is a skill that many public schools in the United States are no longer teaching to young children. If a child struggles with this foundational skill, the ability to perform homework or other writing tasks in class will become more difficult. Fortunately, these skills can be learned with structured lessons that provide children with an understanding of the necessary techniques to excel in handwriting.

In summary, it is important for early childhood educators and caretakers to address current practices and views on how best to prepare young children for school success. Academic preparation, while important, should not drive all curriculum and programmatic decisions. The lack of focus on fundamental children's needs including physical activity and development of motor skills is detrimental to

Early childhood educators and caretakers hold the key to changing the course of potentially lifelong negative health consequences which have their origins in early childhood. From a public health perspective, early childhood is a critical time in which habits for physical activity and motor skills are developed. Examining barriers to physical activity such as space, professional preparation, and available time are important first steps for caretakers and providers. In addition, childcare administrators can assist in ensuring opportunities for unstructured and structured physical activity with guided instruction to learn movement concepts, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills. Finally, looking at opportunities to increase movement through curricular integration can increase movement competence and academic

Recommendations for policy makers include increasing policies to support physical activity in schools and private day care settings. In addition, policy makers could shape public opinion on the importance of movement to young children by highlighting the issues in their respective communities. Providing clear guidelines through policy for physical activity time in accordance with the suggested amounts of physical activity times provided by the Society of Health and Physical Educators

the health and future success of young children.

(SHAPE) can increase opportunities for children.

room activities involving coloring, writing, and cutting with scissors.

correlated with future performance on both math and reading.

**48**

Michelle Hamilton\* and Jennifer Ahrens Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, United States

\*Address all correspondence to: mh42@txstate.edu

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
