Abstract
Questionnaire surveys, thread-tying tests to evaluate skillfulness in the fingers/hands, and a test to measure scholastic ability were conducted on 188 boys and 174 girls in elementary school from July to November, 2008. They were asked about their level of life independency, confidence towards meticulous work with their fingers/hands, intellectual curiosity, and interest towards homemaking classes. We analyzed how their skill or lack of skill in using their fingers/hands was related to the results of the questionnaires and the test scores. The results were as follows: 1) The mean number of knots made in a five-minute thread-tying test was 7.6 for boys and 11.9 for girls, showing a significant difference between boys and girls. Girls showed attitudes that were more positive towards independence in life and meticulous works with their fingers/hands than boys. (2) Boys and girls with higher skillfulness in their fingers/hands tended to be more independent in life and more confident when doing meticulous work with their fingers/hands. (3) The boys who received higher scores in the test also managed to make a large number of knots and were more independent in life and confident in doing meticulous work with their fingers/hands. No clear relationship with scores was detected for girls. (4) The level of intellectual curiosity seemed to have a close relationship with the level of independence in life and confidence in doing meticulous work using the fingers/hands. Therefore, it can be suggested that promoting independence in life and using one's finger/hands in daily life though homemaking education can stimulate intellectual curiosity and positive attitudes towards various activities in life.
