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Children who learn
how to swim at a young age are reaching many developmental milestones earlier
than the norm.
Researchers from the Griffith Institute for Educational Research surveyed
parents of 7000 under-fives from Australia,
New Zealand and the US over three
years. A further 180 children aged 3, 4 and 5 years have been involved in
intensive testing, making it the world’s most comprehensive study into
early-years swimming.
Lead researcher Professor Robyn Jorgensen says the study shows young
children who participate in early-years swimming achieve a wide range of skills
earlier than the normal population.
“Many of these skills are those that help young children into the
transition into formal learning contexts such as pre-school or school.
The research also found significant differences between the swimming
cohort and non-swimmers regardless of socio-economic background.
While the two higher socio-economic groups performed better than the
lower two in testing, the four SES groups all performed better than the normal
population.”
The researchers also found there were no gender differences between the
research cohort and the normal population.
As well as achieving physical milestones faster, children also scored
significantly better in visual-motor skills such as cutting paper, colouring in
and drawing lines and shapes, and many mathematically-related tasks. Their oral
expression was also better as well as in the general areas of literacy and
numeracy.
“Many of these skills are highly valuable in other learning environments
and will be of considerable benefit for young children as they transition into
pre-schools and school.”
The study is a joint project between Griffith University, Kids Alive Swim Program and Swim Australia.
You can read the Full Report HERE
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