Abstract/Notes: To determine whether preschool education benefits middle-class elementary school children, a study was conducted which compared the social, motor, and academic progress of kindergarten and elementary school children who had attended a Montessori preschool, another kind of preschool, or no preschool. The sample was chosen according to age, attendance at preschool, and social class. A total of 201 middle-class children between the ages of 64 and 128 months participated in the study. Of those children participating 151 had attended a nursery, day care, or private school prior to entry into kindergarten for 3 or more days a week, for either half or full days. Each of the three groups of subjects contained five age levels roughly corresponding to kindergarten through fourth grade levels. The Developmental Profile II, given in the form of a parent interview, and parent and teacher questionnaires were used to obtain background information and data on children's abilities. The profile indicated the child's development in months on physical, self-help, social, academic, and communication scales. Generally, results indicated that middle-class children in the primary grades, regardless of preschool background, seem to function at the same level. Results and implications are discussed, conclusions are offered, and graphs and tables of data are included in the report.

Language: English

Published: Puce, Ontario, Canada, Jul 1982

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori believed that preschool children were capable of practicing an elementary form of democracy, could direct their own learning and discipline themselves, and were able to thoughtfully control their behavior for the benefit of the group. She believed also that it was necessary to prepare the environment so that democracy would begin to evolve naturally. Toward this end Montessori provided multi-age grouping, limited amounts of materials, a low pupil/teacher ratio, and real tools rather than toys. She encouraged self-discipline by providing variety in learning activities and materials and, for younger students, "exercises in practical life" to promote a feeling of security. Teachers who value the qualities promoted by the Montessori approach and who wish to promote them in their classrooms must be willing to be facilitators or collaborators rather than directive teachers and must trust children to work with real materials in caring for the room, model appropriate

Language: English

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: Four experiments were designed to identify socioeconomic differences in preschool locus of control, develop a measurement technique for differentiating between internal and external locus of control in preschoolers, and study the effect of four kinds of preschool programs on locus of control. During the first experiment, the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview (SDRCI) was developed to assess internal locus of control development in preschoolers. When used with 24 4-year-olds in a Head Start program, the measure was found to have rater and retest reliability; the race of the interviewer did not significantly affect scores. The second experiment indicated that the performance of 32 preschool boys on a mirror-tracing task was positively related to internal locus of control as measured by the SDRCI. In the third study, investigators tested 55 Head Start preschoolers and 50 middle-class nursery school children with the SDRCI. Lower internal control scores were found for the Head Start children than for the middle-class nursery school group; no differences were found between black and white Head Start groups. A final study of 114 children found a nonsignificant tendency for Montessori preschool experience (and to a lesser extent, parent cooperative nursery school experience) to increase internal control, as measured by the SDRCI, more than Head Start or a more structured compensatory preschool program. (Author/BRT)

Language: English

Published: West Lafayette, Indiana, Aug 1973

Abstract/Notes: Early results from a Montessori nursery program initiated by Toronto, Canada, in 1971, to help inner-city children prepare for formal education indicate that the mothers of the 15 three- and four-year-old children were pleased with the program. Specifically, they felt that the children had increased their verbal skills, preparedness for junior kindergarten, and social maturity. However, not all mothers were pleased with the increased independence shown by some of the children. A study of the children's characteristics suggested that caution should be exerted in extrapolating the findings from other so-called disadvantaged children to inner-city children in one's own city. Other data are useful but the needs of a particular population must be carefully observed. When isolating deficiencies or identity needs, wholesale generalizations from superficial measures should not be made. Precise and explicit definitions should be made for such terms as deficient in language, intellectual motivation, or conceptual ability. Otherwise inadequate solutions are likely to result. (JS)

Language: English

Published: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Nov 1971

Abstract/Notes: A Head Start Program operating in Kansas City since 1965 was viewed as inadequate because enrollment was limited to about 600 children per year. The Model Cities Agency determined to provide a program for the remainder of the children in the Model Cities neighborhoods. The programs developed were differentiated administratively for the purposes of this evaluation and the program considered a single entity and referred to as Early Childhood Education. These questions were developed as evaluation goals: What specific educational approaches were provided?; To what degree do the children grow to the stated objectives?; Do these programs meet the emotional, social, physical, and intellectual needs of the program's four-year-old children?; Do these children grow differentially?; Are specified goals reached as anticipated by staff?; What program differences account for student growth differences?; Do parents in the parent education component change relevant to their children's development?; Are these programs complementary with kindergarten programs of urban schools?; What are the effects of staff development activities?; Is program administration effective?; Are children with special problems provided assistance in achievement of program objectives?; And what program changes should be made? Each question is treated in succession and is detailed. Summaries giving the main thrust are provided after each section. (RC)

Language: English

Published: Kansas City, Missouri, Sep 1971

Abstract/Notes: Understanding young children’s spelling abilities may provide unique insight into their overall linguistic development as well as assist in identifying children at risk for reading difficulties in ways that typical reading assessments cannot (Chua, Rickard Liow, & Yeong, 2016; Clemens, Oslund, Simmons, & Simmons, 2014; Hofslundsengen, Hagtvet, & Gustafsson, 2016; McBride-Chang, 1998; Ouellette & Sénéchal, 2017). Yet, spelling assessments are not commonly conducted before Kindergarten (age 5) and no normed instrument exists for 3- to 4-year-olds. When spelling assessments designed for 5-year-olds are administered to younger children, young children get lower scores (Clemens, et al., 2014; Puranik & Apel, 2010). These lower scores may reflect their less developed spelling ability (typical development) but they may also be influenced by aspects of development unrelated to spelling: lack of motor ability to write letters, working memory limitations, poor word choice of items to be spelled, and/or insensitive scoring systems (Apel, Wolter, & Masterson, 2006; Clemens, et al., 2014; Diamond, 2013; Puranik & Apel, 2010). These latter possibilities raise the question of what would happen if we controlled these factors. Would a preschool spelling assessment that did not require handwriting and that minimized working memory demands result in higher spelling scores than a handwritten assessment? Specifically, is a movable alphabet spelling assessment a more reliable, valid, and sensitive way of measuring spelling abilities in children younger than 5 than is a handwritten assessment? The present study employed a within-subjects quasi-experimental design in which the spelling of 3- to 4-year-old children was assessed using a movable alphabet and handwriting. Results indicated that (1) preschoolers scored higher on a movable alphabet spelling assessment than on a handwritten assessment, (2) word choice did influence results, (3) movable alphabet spelling scores were a significantly stronger predictor of phonemic awareness and letter knowledge scores than handwritten spelling scores, (4) children were more willing to attempt to spell words with the movable alphabet than with handwriting, and (5) assessment scores were not closely tied to age or measures of behavior. To date, few if any other studies have specifically evaluated the influence of different tools on capturing the spelling abilities of preschoolers. This study expands current knowledge about the influence of motor and working memory scaffolds on the word-building capacities of 3- to 4-year-olds.

Language: English

Published: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2017

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C.: National Institution of Education, 1984

Abstract/Notes: An introduction to the philosophy, psychology, and methodology associated with Montessori education for the preschool child.

Runtime: 11 minutes

Language: English

Published: Burton, Ohio, 1998

Language: English

Published: Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1983

ISBN: 0-89859-271-2 978-0-89859-271-9