Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this paper, through a review of current research, is to compare and contrast the Montessori Method and traditional programs and to identify the extent of the social and academic benefit from each. Researchers have found that there are some academic advantages to both programs. However, the academic gains that a child makes in traditional prekindergarten programs appear to diminish as the child gets older. Socially, children who have attended Montessori programs appear to enjoy school and have better relationships with peers and teachers than those in traditional program. An important thing to note is much of this research is inconclusive because of sampling bias due to study design. It is my recommendation that some of the aspects of Montessori education be incorporated into the traditional programs and that this continue as a supplement to the regular school day. Perhaps if students continue to be provided with additional support as they are in prekindergarten, the academic gains experienced as a result could be longer lasting.

Language: English

Published: Marquette, Michigan, 2009

Abstract/Notes: The present study examined currently popular children’s television shows to determine the prevalence of violent, prosocial, educational, and fantastical content (including fantastical events and anthropomorphism). Network, style, and content ratings were collected for 88 shows using a combination of Common Sense Media and laboratory ratings applied to two randomly-selected episodes of each show. Overall, currently popular children’s television shows were most often animated and contained little violent, prosocial, or educational content, but a great deal of fantastical content. Interrelations among variables were also examined. Shows with fantastical events were both more violent and more prosocial than shows without, and shows with anthropomorphism were more prosocial than shows without. The network on which a show aired predicted violent, prosocial, and educational content, but not fantastical content. Children’s television today is not as violent as might be believed, but nor is it particularly prosocial or educational. It is highly fantastical. The implications of the landscape for children’s behavior, learning, and cognition are discussed.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2019.1605916

ISSN: 1748-2798

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: The present study involved the evaluation of the effectiveness of four types of preschool programs on the educational development of lower and middle class children. Middle class children were exposed to "unit" and "cognitive" based preschool programs; lower class children were exposed to "day care" and Montessori programs. Comparison of the children's performances in cognitive, behavioral-social, sensory-motor, and language areas to appropriate control groups indicated that the type of program presented was not significant. However, preschool educational experience, irrespective of program, was significant in facilitating educational development. Furthermore, middle class children excelled beyond the lower class children. (Author)

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Executive functions (EFs; e.g., reasoning, working memory, and self-control) can be improved. Good news indeed, since EFs are critical for school and job success and for mental and physical health. Various activities appear to improve children's EFs. The best evidence exists for computer-based training, traditional martial arts, and two school curricula. Weaker evidence, though strong enough to pass peer review, exists for aerobics, yoga, mindfulness, and other school curricula. Here I address what can be learned from the research thus far, including that EFs need to be progressively challenged as children improve and that repeated practice is key. Children devote time and effort to activities they love; therefore, EF interventions might use children's motivation to advantage. Focusing narrowly on EFs or aerobic activity alone appears not to be as efficacious in improving EFs as also addressing children's emotional, social, and character development (as do martial arts, yoga, and curricula shown to improve EFs). Children with poorer EFs benefit more from training; hence, training might provide them an opportunity to "catch up" with their peers and not be left behind. Remaining questions include how long benefits of EF training last and who benefits most from which activities.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/0963721412453722

ISSN: 0963-7214, 1467-8721

Abstract/Notes: This study tested the hypothesis that curriculum type (Montessori and constructivist) moderates the impact of temperament (specifically activity level and attention-persistence) on the classroom behavior of 3- to 5-year-old children. Mothers enrolled in Montessori and constructivist preschools filled out the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory. The children’s teachers filled out the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire and the Preschool Adjustment Questionnaire. A near-significant trend suggested that temperamentally active boys were more likely to be perceived by their teachers as having behavior problems if they were enrolled in Montessori programs than if they were enrolled in constructivist programs. There was no such trend for girls. There was no evidence that temperamental attention span persistence moderated the impact of curriculum type on either boys’ or girls’ behavior. The findings thus give modest support to the notion that parents should be advised to select constructivist early childhood programs especially for boys who are temperamentally predisposed to be highly modifying their teaching practices to better accommodate the needs of these children active. In addition, directors and teachers in Montessori programs may consider

Language: English

DOI: 10.1207/s15566935eed1102_3

ISSN: 1040-9289, 1556-6935

Abstract/Notes: Research on the outcomes of Montessori education is scarce and results are inconsistent. One possible reason for the inconsistency is variations in Montessori implementation fidelity. To test whether outcomes vary according to implementation fidelity, we examined preschool children enrolled in high fidelity classic Montessori programs, lower fidelity Montessori programs that supplemented the program with conventional school activities, and, for comparison, conventional programs. Children were tested at the start and end of the school year on a range of social and academic skills. Although they performed no better in the fall, children in Classic Montessori programs, as compared with children in Supplemented Montessori and Conventional programs, showed significantly greater school-year gains on outcome measures of executive function, reading, math, vocabulary, and social problem-solving, suggesting that high fidelity Montessori implementation is associated with better outcomes than lower fidelity Montessori programs or conventional programs.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/j.jsp.2012.01.001

ISSN: 0022-4405

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in young children's multiple intelligence and social behaviors based not only on Montessori and general programs of day care centers but also on their gender and social- demographic factors. The subjects were 329 young children (182 boys and 147 girls aged from four to five) from two day care centers in Cheongju city. The instruments used in this study were HAPI (Hillside assessment of Perceived Intelligence) to measure the surveyee's multiple intelligence and Park & Lee's scale to measure their social behaviors. The frequencies, percentiles, mean, standard deviations, Cronbach a, t-teat, F and LSD were used to analyze the collected data through SPSS WIN program. The results of this study are as follows: 1) As for young children's multiple intelligence, there are differences according to young children's gender, order of birth, parents' level of education and teacher's working period out of social-demographic factors. 2) As for the young children's social behavior, there are differences according to young children's gender, mother's level of education and teacher's working period out of social-demographic factors.

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-0851, 2234-3768

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of young children's team centered problem-based learning strategies(team centered PBL) on the self-efficacy and academic interests in young children's mathematics. For these purposes, the data were collected by questionnaire from 27 young children living in S-city. They were respectively assigned to experimental group and comparative group. The experimental group was trained four weeks with the 12th sessions through the team centered PBL. Before administrating the experimental procedure, both groups took the pretest for measuring their self-efficacy and academic interests. After the experimental sessions, they also took the posttests to measure both of them. The major results of this study were as follows: First, the experimental group trained through the team centered PBL strategies has got higher scores on the self-efficacy questionnaire than the comparative group. Second, the former which got higher scores on the self-efficacy also gained more scores on academic interests test than the latter. In light of these results, it suggests that young children's self-efficacy in the kindergarten could be acquired through team centered PBL strategies. / 본 연구의 목적은 유아 수학에 대한 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략이 유아의 자기효능감과 학습흥미에 어떤 영향을 미치는지를 밝혀내는 것이다. 이를 수행하기 위해 경기도 S시 소재의 H유치원만 5세반 실험집단 14명에게 4주 동안 총 12차시에 걸쳐 유아 수학 관련 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략을 실시하였다. 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략이 종료된 후에 유아 수학 관련 자기효능감검사와 학습흥미검사의 결과를 비교집단 13명의 결과와 비교 분석하였다. 본 연구에서 밝혀진 주요 결과로는 첫째, 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략을 받은 실험집단이 그렇지 않은 비교집단보다 유아 수학에 대한 자기효능감 점수가 유의미하게 높았다. 둘째, 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략으로 자기효능감이 높아진 실험집단이 그렇지 않은 비교집단보다 유아 수학에 대한 학습흥미에서도 유의미하게 높았다. 이 같은 연구결과는 수업시간에 유아들에게 수학 관련 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략이 제공될 경우, 유아들의 수학 관련 자기효능감과 학습흥미가 향상될 수 있음을 의미한다. 따라서 유아들의 수학 관련 자기효능감과 학습흥미 향상을 위해 모둠별 문제중심 학습전략을 적용해 볼 필요성이 있을 것이다.

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-9417