Investigation of the motor development levels of 4-5 years old children who are educated in preschool education institutions (public and private)

The main purpose of this research is to determine the importance of movement education in children and to observe whether there is a difference between the education given in private and public schools and the motor skill levels of children. Motor development is a process that begins before birth and extends until death and includes movement skills at its core. In its most general definition, it covers changes in behaviors that require movement throughout life. It is examined in two dimensions: gross motor (large muscle) and fine motor (small muscle). Motor development is not only the development of muscle, bone and movement skills, but is in relationship and interaction with all developmental areas. Supporting the child in this area and developing movement skills ensures that all areas of development are supported. It can be said that as the individual's movement increases, all areas of development are supported positively. Nowadays, it is difficult for children to support their motor development skills as there are fewer places to play. The limited level of support for this area of development may affect other areas of development. Therefore, it is important to prepare a suitable environment for movement education in schools. In this study, it was examined whether there was a difference in the development of motor skills with movement training applied in private and public schools. The research was conducted in kindergartens and nursery classes of private and public schools in Hendek district of Sakarya province. The study group of the research consists of 176 preschool children, aged 4-5, studying in the 2023-2024 academic year. In order to collect data in the study, "CHAMPS Motor Skills Protocol" was applied to the students. When the findings obtained in the research were examined, a significant difference was found in the child's motor skill level according to the variables of age, sports training, duration of movement training in the classroom, family economic status, and type of school attended. On the other hand, it was determined that there was no significant difference in terms of the variables of the child's gender, number of siblings, mother and father education level, and mother and father employment status. Key Words: Pre-school education, Motor development, CHAMPS Motor Skills Protocol, Movement, Movement training