The first specific objective of this study was to compare the mean Beery VMI scores of a sample
of Canadian kindergarten children to those obtained by the American reference population. The findings
showed that the visual-motor integration skills of the Canadian sample were broadly comparable to the U.S-based norms. Therefore, these results support the use of the American Beery VMI norms with kindergarten children in Quebec, Canada. However, no clear argument can explain the significant difference found in the youngest
Canadian age group (68-69 months).This age group obtained a significantly higher score in comparison with the same U.S. age group. As Roselli and Ardila (2003) suggested, this surprising result might point to the influence of certain cultural
variables in visual-motor skills development. Thus, it would be advisable to conduct further research to confirm or refute this trend. The second specific objective was to examine possible gender differences in the Canadian sample.
In addition to being superior to the normative sample, the performance of the girls in this sample significantly differed from the performance obtained by the boys in the sample. This result is consistent with many findings from
previous research, which have clearly shown that boys tend to perform less well than girls in handwriting in elementary school and throughout their school years (Berninger & Fuller, 1992; Blöte & Hamstra-Bletz, 1991; Ziviani & Wallen, 2006).
Given these findings, the following questions may arise: Is there a gender difference in visual-motor
skills developmental trajectories? If so, is the gender difference specific to Canadian children?
The first specific objective of this study was to compare the mean Beery VMI scores of a sampleof Canadian kindergarten children to those obtained by the American reference population. The findingsshowed that the visual-motor integration skills of the Canadian sample were broadly comparable to the U.S-based norms. Therefore, these results support the use of the American Beery VMI norms with kindergarten children in Quebec, Canada. However, no clear argument can explain the significant difference found in the youngest Canadian age group (68-69 months).This age group obtained a significantly higher score in comparison with the same U.S. age group. As Roselli and Ardila (2003) suggested, this surprising result might point to the influence of certain culturalvariables in visual-motor skills development. Thus, it would be advisable to conduct further research to confirm or refute this trend. The second specific objective was to examine possible gender differences in the Canadian sample. In addition to being superior to the normative sample, the performance of the girls in this sample significantly differed from the performance obtained by the boys in the sample. This result is consistent with many findings fromprevious research, which have clearly shown that boys tend to perform less well than girls in handwriting in elementary school and throughout their school years (Berninger & Fuller, 1992; Blöte & Hamstra-Bletz, 1991; Ziviani & Wallen, 2006). Given these findings, the following questions may arise: Is there a gender difference in visual-motorskills developmental trajectories? If so, is the gender difference specific to Canadian children?
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