Active: journal of physical education, sport, health and recreation (Jun 2019)
Basic Motor Ability: Aquatic Learning for Early Childhood
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the impacts of aquatic learning on the basic motoric abilities of early childhood. Experimental research of one group pretest-posttest design was applied in this study. This study involved eight kindergarten students: aged 5-6 years. This study was conducted twice a week for 4 weeks; 60 minutes per meeting. The instruments were structured observation, field notes, and documentation of the child’s basic motor consisting of 9 aspects, namely water orientation, water entry, breath control, body position, buoyancy, arm propulsion, arm recovery, leg action, and combined movement. The data analysis technique used was paired sample t-test. The results showed an increase in basic motor skills of early childhood with P <0.05. From 9 aspects of assessment, the aspect of arm propulsion got the highest increase of 31.25% while the water orientation aspect got the lowest increase of 16.7%. The highest achievement of all aspects is achieved in the aspect of water orientation, which indicates that all children can do it well. Therefore, there was a positive influence of the provision of aquatic learning on improving basic motor skills for early childhood