Roopa language and movement program: an integrative perspective on child education

Introduction: Children’s condition is considered of paramount importance in terms of movement and statues of early age education. On one side, children are biologically inclined toward movement and on the other side their parent’s preference toward straight and categorical education like second language starts, which is quite contrary to their biological characteristics to make them staying put while learning. Looking for reconciliation, this study investigates the effect of Neshaat language and movement integrative program on children’s gross motor development and their second language (English) learning. Methods: The sample included 50 boys and girls with an average age of (5.12±1.32) who voluntarily participated in the study. In a semi-experimental method the children were randomly divided into one experimental group (n=25) and one control group (n=25). The experimental group attended the Neshaat program for 3 months (2 sessions in a week) and the control group also carried out the second language learning process with the same material conventionally, i.e. learning language without movement in a class. The data were analyzed though dependent and independent t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The results showed that this integrative program is relative to the conventional methods, which significantly increases the children’s gross motor development (t=4.010, p<0.001) and improved the children’s second language learning (t=3.895, p<0.001). Conclusion: This result was in line with researches around the world that supports the hypothesis that physical activity and academic achievement are linked in a positive way.