Physical Activity of Preschoolers in the Age of Digitalization in Education

Abstract

Modern education set priorities in the formation of a wide range of projective settings, the achievement of which, according to the developers of new education programs, including programs on physical development, will help to create a physically strong child having an individually-acceptable level of morphological development and motor preparedness, and ready for systematic assimilation of general educational programs in elementary school. The authors have incentives to answer the question: is there a direct or inverse linear relationship between preschoolers' physical and intellectual development, i.e. is the development of regulatory functions a consequence of the great physical activity. With all this, the technologization and digitalization of the surrounding developing subject-spatial environment of the preschooler is also a significant characteristic that determines their cognitive, as well as physical development. Based on the foregoing, the aim of the research is to study the dependence of preschoolers' physical development on the surrounding digital educational space. The leading method applied in the research is the questionnaire method; parents of one hundred 3-6-year-old preschool children were interviewed in preschool educational institutions of the city of Kazan. It allowed us to identify the tendency to advance children's development since modern parents give emphasis to cognitive activities, while less attention is paid to children's motor and physical development. The findings provided in the paper suggest that physical development and children's ability to regulate their behavior depends on the content of curricula aimed at educating parents and educational staff in order to increase children's readiness for schooling and healthy lifestyles, as well as the promotion of a healthy lifestyle; all this should not be negatively affected by digital educational space.