The definition of school readiness differs depending on one’s theoretical perspective; however, contemporary developmentalists agree that it is multifaceted and involves readiness of both the child and their environment to receive all available benefits conferred in the school setting. Readiness skills at the level of the child include development in several areas, such as cognitive, socio-emotional, and motor domains. School readiness at the level of the environment includes, but is not limited to, provision of quality community-based programs, professional development of early childhood education teachers, and supporting parental capacity to help their children grow and develop (1). The degree of readiness is dependent on the proficiency level of children in a number of important intellectual and developmental domains, such as movement ability and emergent literacy skills, among others (2). It is critical that the foundations of these domains are laid before entering school to prepare children for further growth in these areas and facilitate their success in the development of new and complex skills (3).

Two important child-level school readiness skills are movement and preliteracy skills. The importance and relevancy of preliteracy skills for school readiness has been demonstrated extensively. Preliteracy skills include an understanding of print knowledge (e.g., being able to distinguish between print and picture), vocabulary, phonological awareness (e.g., knowledge about the individual sounds of spoken words), and narrative knowledge (e.g., understanding how stories are sequenced and described) (4). When explicit attention is drawn to developing these emergent literacy skills in early childhood, children are better prepared for later academic interactions in the classroom (5). With foundational emergent literacy skills, children can develop new knowledge about alphabet principles and skill in word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension (4). Development of preliteracy skills not only facilitates these later literacy skills but has been shown to enhance social-behavioral and more general academic achievement (5).

Movement skills, specifically gross motor skills, involve whole body movements coordinated by large muscle groups; these skills include walking, running, jumping, hopping, galloping, throwing, and catching. Evidence from both experimental and observational studies show that attainment of these movement skills not only allows children to independently participate in physical activities (6) but also improves brain function (7, 8), social development (9, 10), self-concept (11), and academic achievement (12). Furthermore, children with motor skill deficits tend to demonstrate lower levels of physical activity (13), poorer self-esteem (14), lower levels of cognitive control (15), and poorer social function (16) compared to children with higher movement competence.

Beyond preparation for school entry, the development of movement skills is essential for long-term health and well-being via the influence of movement skills on life-long physical activity (6) and the subsequent physical and mental health benefits that accrue to individuals who lead an active lifestyle (17–19). According to the developmental model proposed by Stodden et al., movement skills are bi-directionally related to both perceived motor competence and health-related fitness (20). Through enhancement in actual and perceived movement skills, children will be more able and more motivated to engage in physical activity and thus maintain a healthy physical trajectory (20). There is strong theoretical and empirical support for the development of movement skills as the pivotal determinant that can set an individual on a positive health trajectory (6). Similarly, literacy skills in general are also essential for health, by ensuring individuals can make informed decisions about health care and healthy lifestyle choices (21). In children, early literacy and reading skills also have been positively related to self-regulation (22–24), which itself is related to positive mental and physical well-being later in life (25). In this sense, interventions designed to improve movement and preliteracy skills are foundational not only for school readiness but for long-term health and well-being as well.

Beyond possessing developmental skills (e.g., movement and preliteracy), school readiness includes being able to participate in classroom activities as well as attend and respond to instruction (26). While the strategy of direct and deliberate instruction is common in many preliteracy curricula [e.g., Justice and colleagues (27)—“experimental explicit intervention”], this is not always the case in movement skill programs. However, Robinson and Goodway (11) demonstrated that direct instruction, whether delivered in a low autonomy or a mastery motivational climate, improved the object control skills of preschoolers. Alhassan and colleagues (28) found significant gains in movement skills in preschool children following a direct-instruction movement-based intervention compared to a free-play program. These two experimental studies highlight the importance of using systematic and explicit instruction strategies to enhance skill levels because children do not inherently possess these skills. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that teaching both movement skills and preliteracy skills in a single program may have synergistic effects on the gains achieved in both skill domains. For example, Callcott and colleagues (29) taught preschool children movement skills and preliteracy skills simultaneously in their intervention and found gains in movement skill above those achieved by a group of children learning movement skills in isolation. Additionally, an intervention that teaches both movement and preliteracy skills appeals to parents, educators, and children. Parents and teachers are interested in and attentive to ways to help their children and students meet these movement-related and academic goals and children are naturally drawn toward activities like jumping, skipping, and reading story books because they are inherently fun and enjoyable.

The readiness of a child to enter into school also is influenced by the capacity of parents to teach and support their child’s development in these domains. Therefore, it is critical to include parents or caregivers in these direct-instruction programs to provide them with guidance on teaching strategies that can be implemented at home. In fact, this has been the recommendation from research for both movement and preliteracy skill interventions (30, 31). The systematic review by Veldman and colleagues (30) specifically noted the absence of parental or caregiver involvement in movement-based interventions for children beyond sending home educational handouts and subsequently recommended that parents should be actively engaged throughout the program and encouraged to practice the skills at home. Shared book preliteracy interventions have typically included and emphasized the role of parents and caregivers; however, these interventions do not use explicit instruction strategies for skill development (32). Interventions employing direct-instruction strategies are typically delivered by teachers (33) or trained researchers (34) without extension to parents. By excluding parents or caregivers in the delivery of effective preliteracy intervention the frequency and dose of the intervention is inherently limited to time spent with the interventionist; however, parents may have many opportunities to implement these lessons at home if they have been provided with the knowledge and tools to do so.

In summary, both emergent literacy and fundamental movement skills are important for school readiness, and confer long-term health and well-being benefits for children. However, there is a need for systematic evidence-based approaches that target children’s movement and preliteracy skills. At present, best practice suggests that these approaches need to involve direct-instruction teaching strategies with explicit and active involvement with parents or caregivers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the change in movement and preliteracy skills following a 10-week direct-instruction movement and preliteracy skill intervention for children aged 3–4 years.

Participation in our movement and preliteracy program led to positive improvements in gross motor skills, print-concept knowledge, and alphabet knowledge in 3- to 4-year-old children over time and these gains were sustained over a 5-week follow-up period. Participants in our study were measured four times to ensure a control, intervention, and follow-up period were captured; significant change occurred only after introduction of the intervention thus supporting the attribution of change to the intervention. Our results are consistent with the results of our quasi-experimental study published previously (35) as well as with the overall evidence supporting the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve movement skills in young children (30) as well as the wealth of evidence in favor of dialogic reading activities compared to passive reading strategies (27, 31, 33, 39, 43).

Furthermore, our results are consistent with extant literature supporting direct-instruction techniques compared to exclusive free-play in the development of movement skills or passive shared book reading activity in the development of preliteracy skills (11, 27, 28, 33, 34, 47). The current study demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of using direct-instruction techniques in a structured environment in combination with a short bout of free play to strengthen movement and preliteracy skills in young children. There is a large body of evidence supporting the use of free play in the development of important life skills including creativity, socio-emotional skills, and self-regulation (48, 49). However, free-play alone will not allow the maximal development of physical and academic skills because quality programs require planned instruction, clear goals, demonstrations of skill, opportunity for practice, and appropriate and timely feedback (11, 47, 50, 51). With respect to movement-based interventions, Robinson and colleagues acknowledged the critical need to provide explicit instruction to support the development of fundamental movement skills during early childhood and designed a study to test the effectiveness of such a program against a free-play recess intervention in preschoolers. Over a 9-week intervention period, children participating in the direct-instruction intervention demonstrated superior object manipulation skills compared to their peers in the recess group, and these skill gains were maintained at a 9-week follow-up (11). Within the preliteracy intervention research, there is also a wealth of evidence in support of explicit (direct-instruction) interventions as the best-practice approach as this is viewed as the most efficient method to improve preliteracy skills (27, 52). For example, Justice and colleagues (27) tested the effectiveness of an explicit preliteracy intervention against an adult-child shared book reading activity and re-telling activity and found that while both programs improved preliteracy skills, the direct-instruction program demonstrated larger gains in alphabet knowledge, print awareness, phonological segmentation, and rhyme production. Similarly, Hilbert and Eis (33) compared an explicit intervention developed by Laura Justice and Anita McGinty called Read It Again Pre-K! intervention against the usual curriculum in a Head Start program and found gains in picture naming ability. While our current study does not test the comparative effects of a direct-instruction intervention against a passive intervention, our results do provide evidence in support of the effectiveness of these explicit instruction techniques in both movement and preliteracy skill domains.

School readiness is about both the content of skill development as well as the process. Therefore, our intervention placed a large emphasis on teaching skills in a format reflective of a school day: that is, one in which children will need to attend to instructions, attempt the skill, self-regulate and learn from mistakes, persist with repetitions of skill execution, engage socially with teachers and peers, and creatively direct their own activities while being respectful and sensitive toward others. By placing children in this semi-structured environment they were not only able to improve their movement and preliteracy skills, but also were given the opportunity to develop self-regulation, pro-social skills, creativity, and a predilection toward learning—all of which define a child ready for school.

The results of this research have important implications on the promotion of health and well-being given the direct and indirect relationships with movement and emergent literacy skills. Improving the movement skill-set of preschool-aged children presumably enables participation in physical activities, which in turn, supports development of more complex movement abilities. Greater motor proficiency can lead to the strengthening of physical self-concept, which may positively reinforce children’s motivation to engage in physical activities and promote cumulative physical and mental health benefits. A gain in preliteracy skills could plausibly lead to gains in specific aspects of executive function because the learning process itself places demands on specific executive functions (i.e., inhibition, cognitive flexibility) (24). Given the relationship between executive function and mental and physical health outcomes (53), long-term health benefits may possibly result from this indirect impact of a preliteracy intervention on executive functions. However, future research will need to formally evaluate both the short- and long-term impact of this intervention on measures of social skills, self-regulation, executive function, physical activity, self-concept, and other areas of health and development.

Future research needs to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of this movement and preliteracy skill intervention on various other indicators of child development, school readiness, and the long-term impact throughout childhood.

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board at McMaster University with written informed consent from all subjects. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board at McMaster University.

CB designed the study, coordinated recruitment and data collection, designed the preliteracy component of the intervention and assisted with weekly implementation of the intervention, carried out the data analyses, and drafted the initial manuscript. EB assisted with study design, recruitment and data collection, design of the motor component of the intervention and weekly implementation of the intervention, and revised and approved the final manuscript as submitted. WC assisted with design of the intervention, selection and design of outcome measurements, and reviewed and approved the final manuscript as submitted. JC supervised the design and execution of all phases of the study and revised and approved the final manuscript as submitted. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.