The role of teaching practices in the development of children’s interest in reading and mathematics in kindergarten

This study examined the extent to which teaching practices observed in kindergarten classrooms predict children’s interest in reading and mathematics. The pre-skills in reading and mathematics of 515 children were measured at the beginning of their kindergarten year, and their interest in reading and mathematics were assessed in the following spring. A pair of trained observers used the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; Stipek & Byler, 2004) to observe the teaching practices used by 49 kindergarten teachers. The results revealed that in classrooms in which the teachers placed greater emphasis on child-centered teaching practices than on teacher-directed practices, the children showed more interest in reading and mathematics.     

Concordance of mothers' and fathers' ratings of children's behavior

Behavior rating scales and checklists are frequently used in the assessment of children and adolescents. These instruments are often completed by parents. There is little in the literature comparing mothers' and fathers' responses to such scales. Results of the present study indicate that mothers and fathers often differ in their perceptions of the behavior of their children. The need for separate norming by parent seems to be indicated.     

Early childhood language gains,kindergarten readiness,and Grade 3 reading achievement

In this preregistered study, we used latent change score models to address two research aims: (1) whether preschool-aged children's language gains, over a year of early childhood education, were associated with later performance on state-mandated, literacy-focused kindergarten readiness and Grade 3 reading achievement assessments, and (2) whether gains in language, a more complex skill, predicted these outcomes after controlling for more basic emergent literacy skills. There were 724 participating children (mean = 57 months; 51% male; 76% White, 12% Black, 6% multiple races, and 5% Hispanic or Latino). We found that language gains significantly predicted kindergarten readiness when estimated in isolation (effect = 0.24 SDs, p < .001), but not when gains in letter knowledge and phonological awareness were also included.     

Eye movements in shared book reading with children from kindergarten to Grade 4

Previous studies have revealed that preschool-age children who are not yet readers pay little attention to written text in a shared book reading situation (see Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005). The current study was aimed at investigating the constancy of these results across reading development, by monitoring eye movements in shared book reading, for children from kindergarten to Grade 4. Children were read books of three difficulty levels. The results revealed a higher proportion of time, a higher proportion of landing positions, and a higher proportion of reading-like saccades on the text as grade level increased and as reading skills improved. More precisely, there was a link between the difficulty of the material and attention to text. Children spent more time on a text that was within their reading abilities than when the book difficulty exceeded their reading skills. This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (CLLRNet) to Jean Saint-Aubin and to Mary Ann Evans. This article was part of Annie Roy-Charland doctoral exam.     

Academic responding during instruction and reading outcomes for kindergarten students at-risk for reading difficulties

The purpose of this study was to investigate the academic responding of students at-risk for reading difficulties in beginning reading instruction. Opportunities for kindergarten students at-risk for reading difficulties to respond academically during teacher-facilitated reading instruction in the general education classroom were examined in relation to student reading achievement as well as social behaviors. Student academic responding during teacher-facilitated instruction significantly predicted end of year reading achievement. Teacher perceptions of students’ social skills (positive correlation) and problem behaviors (negative correlation) were significantly correlated with academic responding. When academic responding and teacher perceptions of social behaviors were examined together, only teacher perceptions of academic competence and problem behaviors predicted spring outcomes.     

Effects of a multimedia enhanced reading buddies program on kindergarten and Grade 4 vocabulary and comprehension

Reading buddies programs, which pair older and younger students to read books together on a regular basis, are common in many U.S. elementary schools. Yet, the research base on these programs is limited. Therefore, we conducted a quasiexperimental study of a reading buddies program targeting vocabulary and comprehension. The program we studied paired fourth-grade students with kindergarten students to read, talk, play, and write together. In all, 16 Grade 4 classrooms and 16 kindergarten classrooms participated in the treatment group and in the comparison group. The treatment included 10 one-hour sessions implemented over the course of roughly 10 weeks. Analyses revealed effects of treatment on proximal measures of vocabulary for both kindergarteners and fourth-grade students. However, there were no effects on distal measures for either group. Teachers' perceptions of the program are presented, and findings are discussed in light of the extant literature.     

A comparison of fathers' and mothers' speech with their young chidren.

The verbal interaction of 12 mothers and 12 fathers with their 19-month-old girls and boys in 2 situations was assessed. In 1 situation, all 3 family members were together, while in the other, each parent was alone with the child. Analyses indicated that when all 3 family members were together, fathers spoke less and took fewer conversational turns than mothers. Other than these significant differences, fathers' speech to their children was not different from mothers' speech on a range of quantitative and qualitative measures.     

The use of ICT in kindergarten for teaching addition based on realistic mathematics education

The purpose of this study is to investigate if information and communications technology (ICT) helps improve kindergarten students’ basic mathematical achievement regarding addition. Our research compares the level of mathematical competence of the students taught using our ICT oriented learning method which specifically takes advantage of ‘Realistic Mathematics Education’ (RME) for the concept of addition, as opposed to traditional teaching methodology. The designed software consisted of a story and several activities with and without the use of computers for addition. It was designed following the background of the RME theory. The study dealt with kindergarten students in Crete, who were divided into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group consisted of 165 students who were taught addition with the support of computers. There were 170 students in the control group which were not exposed to the computer oriented curriculum. Students in both groups were pre-tested and post-tested for their mathematical achievement. The results of the study indicated that teaching and learning through ICT is an interactive process for students at the kindergarten level and has a positive effect for the learning of addition using the background of the RME theory. Also, the most important result of this study was that this teaching intervention appeared to be more effective for the kindergarten students with medium-level mathematical abilities.     

Covariation between reading and arithmetic skills from Grade 1 to Grade 7

This study examined the extent to which reading and arithmetic skills show covariation at Grade 1 and at Grade 7, to what extent this covariation is time-invariant or time-specific, and to what extent different antecedents will predict these time-invariant and time-specific portions of the covariation. The reading and arithmetic skills of a total of 1335 Finnish children were assessed at the end of Grade 1 and then again at the end of Grade 7. Phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), counting, and parental education levels were measured in kindergarten; working memory at Grade 1 and nonverbal reasoning at Grade 3. The results showed that reading and arithmetic had a substantial amount of covariation at grades 1 and 7, and that most of the covariation between these grades was time-invariant and could be predicted by RAN, counting, letter knowledge, working memory, and nonverbal reasoning. The time-specific portion of the covariation between reading and arithmetic in Grade 1 was predicted by phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and counting; while time-specific covariation in Grade 7 was predicted by parental education level and nonverbal reasoning.     

Classroom interaction and literacy activities in kindergarten: Longitudinal links to Grade 1 readers at risk and not at risk of reading difficulties

The purpose of the present study is to establish how the quality of kindergarten classroom interactions and the frequency of literacy activities affect reading development among Grade 1 children—both those who are at risk and not at risk of developing reading difficulties. Interaction was assessed in terms of classroom organization, and the level of emotional and instructional support offered in 49 kindergarten classrooms in Finland using the CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System). Kindergarten teachers also recorded the frequency of literacy activities in their classrooms. The phonological awareness and letter knowledge of 515 children (i.e., their pre-reading skills) were assessed at the end of kindergarten, as were their reading skills at the start and at the end of Grade 1. Eighty-seven of these children were identified in kindergarten as being likely to develop reading difficulties. The results showed that emotional support and classroom organization in kindergarten were positively associated with the development of children’s reading skills across Grade 1, especially for those prone to reading difficulties. They also showed that frequent literacy activities in kindergarten were positively related to children’s reading skills shortly after entering Grade 1. All the positive longitudinal associations were stronger for those children seen to be at risk of developing reading difficulties than for those not at risk.     

Layers of reading intervention in kindergarten through third grade: changes in teaching and student outcomes

In this study, students and their teachers participated in a layered approach to reading intervention in kindergarten through third grade that included professional development for teachers in scientifically based reading instruction, ongoing measurement of reading progress, and additional small-group or individual instruction for students whose progress was insufficient to maintain grade-level reading achievement. Reading outcomes were compared with historical control groups of students in the same schools. The findings revealed overall improvements in reading, improved reading for students who began the study in high-risk categories, and decreases in the incidence of reading disability at the end of third grade. Implications for scaling up are discussed.     

Predictors of reading literacy

Two reading literacy/text comprehension tests with different demands (on-line comprehension vs. memory-based comprehension) were administered to 6,104 15-year-old students from all German states and school types. The combined and specific effects of proximal and distal variables from small-scale psychological research as well as from large-scale educational studies on each text comprehension measure were investigated. Metacognitive knowledge, decoding speed, and the number of books at home (as an indicator for family background) were found to have specific and large effects on on-line comprehension and accounted for 46 percent of the variance with the highest effects for metacognition. Metacognitive knowledge was also highly predictive when the effects of specific prior knowledge and thematic interest on memory-based text comprehension were estimated simultaneously. In addition, students who showed relative strength in building up a coherent representation of specific texts (memory-based text comprehension) were characterised by high amounts of prior knowledge and thematic interest thereby underlining the importance of these student characteristics for learning.     

建构主义与数学教学

随着社会对人才数学修养的要求不断提高，传统数学教学的弊端日益显现出来，建构主义学习理论的许多观点和主张具有合理性，对数学教学的改革有借鉴意义。     

Predictors of mothers' use of spanking with their infants

OBJECTIVES: This study describes mothers who report spanking their infants in the first 13 months of life. METHODS: Two hundred forty-six (246) mothers were interviewed in the Mother-Baby Unit of a large university-affiliated hospital in a large southeastern city of the United States. Ninety-three percent (93%) of those mothers were reinterviewed in their homes when infants were 6-13 months of age. RESULTS: Younger mothers, those who endorsed fewer alternatives to corporal punishment, and those who experienced their infants as "difficult" were significantly more likely to spank their infants. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the importance of more anticipatory guidance from physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals about discipline in the first few months of life, particularly given the risks associated with spanking infants and popular support for corporal punishment.     

Early mathematics assessment: validation of the short form of a prekindergarten and kindergarten mathematics measure

In recent years, there has been increased interest in improving early mathematics curricula and instruction. Subsequently, there has also been a rise in demand for better early mathematics assessments, as most current measures are limited in their content and/or their sensitivity to detect differences in early mathematics development among young children. In this article, using data from two large samples of diverse populations of prekindergarten and kindergarten children, we provide evidence regarding the psychometric validity of a new theory-based early mathematics assessment. The new measure is the short form of a longer, validated measure. Our results suggest the short form assessment is valid for assessing prekindergarten and kindergarten children’s numeracy and geometry skills and is sensitive to differences in early mathematics development among young children.     

外语阅读教学中的词汇教学

正如Wilkins所说：“没有语法,很多东西无法传递,没有词汇则任何东西都无法传递”。近年来,词汇学习策略得到中外学者的重视。Krashen等人对词汇的学习策略进行了研究,如：伴随性习得、关键词、上下文等。实际上融词汇教学于阅读之中。在阅读教学中提高词汇习得也不失为一种好的策略。     

幼儿园音乐教学教法的探索和研究

随着我国学前教育的不断发展,幼儿园音乐教学也随之不断改进,但是许多幼儿园老师依然觉得课堂教学效果达不到预期目标。文章针对幼儿园教师的音乐教学存在的问题进行研究,提出了提高教学有效性的几点措施。     

加强实践教学与幼儿园实现无缝对接

实践教学是学前教育专业学生培养中的重要教学环节,实践教学的效果与学生日后的实际工作成效有着重要的关系。对于幼儿教师来说,实践教学就是帮助学前教育专业在校学生深入幼儿园一线,了解幼儿一日生活活动,并收获实践经验,有助于提升自身实践能力。若不制定合理的实践教学方案,将会浪费实践教学机会,达不到实践效果。因此本文通过分析实践教学的有效方式,加强实践教学与幼儿园的无缝对接,进而提高实践教学环节的绩效。