Preschool to kindergarten transition patterns for African American boys

This study focused on the transition patterns of African American boys from preschool to kindergarten using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) dataset. Analyses were conducted to examine whether socioeconomic status, parenting (i.e., emotional support, intrusiveness), and attendance in a center-based program predicted likelihood of being in a particular transition pattern. Four patterns emerged from the data: (1) Increasing Academically, (2) Early Achiever: Declining Academically & Socially, (3) Low Achiever: Declining Academically, and (4) Consistent Early Achiever. There was heterogeneity in the school transition patterns of African American boys, with many showing stability from preschool to kindergarten. Family income and parenting practices and interactions were associated with an increased probability of being in the group that showed a significant increase in academics, suggesting the importance of parents’ provision of enriching opportunities and experiences for African American boys as they transition from preschool to kindergarten.     

Theory of mind,attention, and executive function in kindergarten boys

The present study explored the relationship between theory of mind (ToM), attention, and executive function in 66 kindergarten boys drawn from four rural school districts. Three stories designed to test understanding of first and second order mental states were administered. Executive function and attention were assessed, respectively, by scores on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and the Behavior Assessment Scales for Children, Second Edition (BASC‐2). Analyses indicated that children identified by teachers as evidencing attention difficulties scored lower on false belief measures and were more likely to be identified as exhibiting behavioral difficulties associated with executive dysfunction than children identified as evidencing fewer attention difficulties. Attention and executive function were predictive of total ToM scores.     

Sex differences in hemispheric specialization: Hypothesis for the excess of dyslexia in boys

Conclusions Sex differences exist in the prevalence of dyslexia as well as in overall verbal ability. These sex differences may reflect sex differences in hemispheric specialization: males show strong left hemisphere specialization for verbal processing and strong right hemisphere specialization for spatial processing whereas females show greater bihemispheric participation in both verbal and spatial processing. The greater hemispheric specialization observed in males may have implications including: (1) lower verbal ability than in females, (2) higher spatial ability than in females, (3) reduced potential for shifting language to the right hemisphere after early life left hemisphere injury, and (4) diminished capacity to compensate for unfavorable left-right anatomic asymmetries of the posterior language zone. Lower overall verbal ability as well as an inability to spare certain language skills effectively in the face of either unfavorable cerebral asymmetries or early life left hemisphere insults may partially explain the excess of developmental language disorders (and dyslexia in particular) in boys. Dr. Hier is a neurologist at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital, an Instructor in Neurology at the Harvard Medical School, and Clinical and Research Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. The work reported in this paper was supported in part by NINCDS Fellowship NS05917-01 and presented at a meeting of the New Branch of The Orton Society in October 1978.     

Mathematical thinking of kindergarten boys and girls: similar achievement, different contributing processes

The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in the relations between verbal, spatial, mathematics, and teacher–child mathematics interaction variables. Kindergarten children (N = 80) were videotaped playing games that require mathematical reasoning in the presence of their teachers. The children’s mathematics, spatial, and verbal skills and the teachers’ mathematical communication were assessed. No gender differences were found between the mathematical achievements of the boys and girls, or between their verbal and spatial skills. However, mathematics performance was related to boys’ spatial reasoning and to girls’ verbal skills, suggesting that they use different processes for solving mathematical problems. Furthermore, the boys’ levels of spatial and verbal skills were not found to be related, whereas they were significantly related for girls. The mathematical communication level provided in teacher–child interactions was found to be related to girls’ but not to boys’ mathematics performance, suggesting that boys may need other forms of mathematics communication and teaching.     

Prediction of kindergarten reading success from preschool report of parents

Most screening techniques for school learning difficulty have utilized data obtained from the child during an examination session. However, the child's potential for school learning difficulty may be assessed more reliably by parent report. The Minnesota Child Development Inventory was used to obtain parent observations on 59 children before the start of the kindergarten year. At the end of the kindergarten year, measures of reading skill were obtained by two group tests (Lippincott Reading Readiness Test and Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test) and one test administered individually to each child (Wide Range Achievement Test). Results indicated that the parent report on a number of variables from the MCDI correlated highly with postkindergarten success in reading (multiple r = 0.79). Although follow-up in the primary grades will be needed to determine whether these relationships hold, the data are provocative in suggesting that greater attention should be given to parent reports in evaluating a child's school readiness.     

幼儿园中的情感管理

人们的日常生活中存在着各种各样的管理现象 ,人人都要接触到它。在幼儿园中园长如何以科学、有效的方法 ,激发教职工的活力 ,促进她们的成长 ,组织和创建好一支相对稳定、业务精良的保教队伍 ,是幼儿园管理的立足点。幼儿园要力求把管理的着力点 ,放在人的管理上 ,努力创建一个“团结务实、开拓进取、充满活力”的集体。教职工每天走出自己的小家 ,来到幼儿园这个大家 ,如果这个大家庭的成员友好相处 ,那么每一个成员都会感到家庭般的温暖 ,获得心理上的愉悦 ,增强工作的愿望。因此 ,园长应当好这个大家庭的协调员、联络员 ,以身作则 ,真正…     

公办与民办幼儿园园本课程内容的比较

提高幼儿园内部研发机制,建立多元的幼儿园外部研发体系,才能建立真正的"本园化"的园本课程。     

幼儿园数学教学如何实现快乐学习

数学具有很强的抽象性,而幼儿年龄小、活泼好动,如果只是采用一般的教学方式,难以激起幼儿的学习主动性。为此,要按照幼儿的身心特点充分运用生动故事、学唱儿歌、趣味游戏、角色表演、现代信息技术等营造愉悦而轻松的教学氛围,以激起幼儿参与数学学习的主动性与积极性,引导幼儿快乐地学数学,真正地爱上学习,从而促进幼儿的身心健康发展。     

Temporal processing in dyslexia

The temporal processing capabilities of 15 children with dyslexia versus 15 age-matched and 15 reading-matched controls in a word identification task were examined. The hypothesis underlying the present experiment was that word recognition would be inferior in children with dyslexia, relative to controls, when the task demanded the temporal integration (sequencing) of two-syllable words. Such a hypothesis must predict that one-syllable word recognition does not distinguish between these two populations and that these effects cannot be accounted for in terms of eye movement differences. To test this hypothesis, one- and two-syllable words displayed for 100, 300, and 3,000 msec were required to be identified. The results yielded evidence of decreased accuracy of word identification by the children with dyslexia in the two-syllable, 300-msec condition, as predicted. A second experiment was unable to uncover any differences in eye movement behaviors that could account for the effects observed in the first experiment. The results are discussed in terms of potential sequential processing deficits in individuals with dyslexia.     

Gender ratio in dyslexia

This paper is based on a study carried out in Great Britain on a national sample of 11,804 ten-year olds. The first section describes an attempt to pick out cases of “specific developmental dyslexia” (Critchley 1970), a constellation or syndrome of difficulties which some believe to be recognizable clinically. When specified criteria for dyslexia were used, 269 children qualified as dyslexic (2.28 percent of the sample). These included 223 boys and 46 girls, for a ratio of 4.51 to 1. Two possible difficulties in interpreting these data are discussed, and a defense is offered of the criteria used. Since some recent research papers report a gender ratio much nearer 1:1 (Shaywitz et al. 1990; Wadsworth et al. 1992; Lubs et al. 1993), those papers were examined for possible differences in procedure; it was found that the definition of dyslexia they used was “poor reading in relation to intelligence.” We carried out a further analysis on our own data using the same criterion. Of the 494 children who qualified as dyslexic on the basis of discrepancy criteria alone (4.19 percent of the sample), 314 were boys and 180 were girls for a ratio of 1.69 to 1. It seems, therefore, that the apparent differences in gender ratio reported in the literature have arisen because different criteria for dyslexia have been used. We argue that the definition based on clinical criteria leads to a more powerful taxonomy and that the widespread equation of “dyslexia” with “poor reading” is a hindrance to progress.     

Behavioral risk factors in kindergarten

Interpersonal and work-related classroom behaviors of 650 kindergarten children were assessed to identify behaviors critical for success. Thirty kindergarten teachers participated, providing behavioral ratings on all students in the fall and spring and global adjustment assessments mid-year and spring. Relative risk, a concept and methodology adopted from epidemiology, was estimated for combinations of behavioral risk factors derived from teachers' ratings. Results of the analyses of relative risk demonstrated a consistent and highly significant risk for casivity (i.e., being classified at mid-year and spring as a case of maladjustment) associated with subnormal ratings on behaviors relating to work (work-related skills) as opposed to social interaction (interpersonal skills). The findings suggest that (a) current educational concepts of “readiness” may need to be expanded beyond academic knowledge to include independent working skills, and (b) teaching of social interaction skills, while important, should not be emphasized in preschool programs at the expense of work-related skills.     

我爱我的幼儿园

孩子应该像娇嫩的花草树木一样栽种在一个大花园里那儿有宽广的空间、清新的空气．和煦的阳光．教师如辛勤的园丁般关怀，呵护着他们．陪伴孩子健康，快乐地成长。这就是幼儿园教育最初的理念[编按]     

浅议幼儿园膳食管理

《幼儿园教育指导纲要》指出:幼儿园必须把幼儿的生命和幼儿的健康放在工作的首位,幼儿园的膳食管理工作尤为重要,为此,本文简单对幼儿园的膳食管理进行了初步的探讨。