Abstract/Notes: This study aimed to examine the effects of Montessori Education on children’s self-regulation skills in the preschool period. The study had a 2 × 2 mixed design, wherein the dependent variable was self-regulation levels of 3, 4, 5-year-old children (experimental group: 62, control group: 53) and the independent variable was education based on the Montessori Method whose influence on children’s self-regulation skills was examined. The study employed the Demographic Information Form, the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA). The study results yielded a significant difference in posttest mean scores for Self-Regulation and Attention/Impulse Control between experimental and control group children, while there was no significant difference in Positive Emotion. There was a significant difference for Self-Regulation and Attention/Impulse Control between the pretest and posttest mean scores of experimental group children, whereas the analyses indicated no significant difference between pretest and posttest mean scores of control group children for Self-Regulation, Attention/Impulse Control and Positive Emotion.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2021.1928107

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0300443920790105

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275

Abstract/Notes: Virtual preschool seems to contradict the Montessori Method, a hands-on, sensorial-based early childhood curriculum. However, many virtual Montessori schools, borne out of the temporary need for isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, seek to continue this new implementation of Montessori education permanently. This qualitative study examined how eight preschool teachers in one US-based virtual Montessori program described how they made sense of implementing the Montessori curriculum in an online setting, how they understood the academic and social experiences of their preschool students, and what advantages and disadvantages they perceived for children in the enactment of Montessori education in the virtual format. Using a thematic analysis, this study found that teachers described many adaptations to Montessori education in the virtual format, including to the materials and to the class structure. They felt that their offerings generally met the academic and social needs of their students, while staying as true to the Montessori Method as possible. Teachers found various advantages in the enactment of virtual Montessori school, including the potential to reach children and families who would otherwise not have access to Montessori education in their local communities. Teachers also found various disadvantages, including the uncertainty of the future of the program, and the interference of the screen in a child’s path towards deep concentration, and did not feel that virtual Montessori preschool was an adequate stand-alone replacement for in-person Montessori preschool. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of other virtual Montessori preschools, on the experiences of children completing a full three-year cycle in the virtual Montessori Children’s House program, and on the academic and social readiness of children emerging from virtual Montessori preschool programs for both in-person Montessori and traditional elementary school.

Language: English

Published: Linköping, Sweden, 2022

Abstract/Notes: Okul öncesi dönemde geliştirilmesi gereken en önemli becerilerden biri bilimsel süreç becerileridir. Montessori yaklaşımı çocukların tüm gelişim alanlarını destekler ve temel bilişsel süreç becerilerine katkıda bulunur. Bu çalışmada okul öncesi eğitimine devam eden 48-72 aylık çocukların bilimsel süreç becerilerinin Montessori eğitim programı sürecinde incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma grubunu bir ilin merkezinde yer alan bir devlet anaokulunun Montessori sınıfında öğrenim gören 14 çocuk ve Montessori anaokulunda bulunan 4 Montessori sınıfında öğrenim gören 46 çocuk olmak üzere 60 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak Aydoğdu ve Karakuş (2017) tarafından geliştirilen, geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışmaları yapılmış olan " Okulöncesi Öğrencilerine Yönelik Temel Beceri Ölçeği (OÖYTBÖ)" kullanılmıştır. Bu ölçekte; gözlem, sınıflama, çıkarım yapma, ölçme ve tahmin becerilerine yönelik 20 soru yer almaktadır. Çocukların ön uygulama ve son uygulama puan ortalamaları arasında; sınıflama, ölçme, gözlem, çıkarım ve tahmin becerilerinde son uygulama lehine anlamlı farklılıklar tespit edilmiştir.Bu bulgu çocukların bilimsel süreç becerilerinde Montessori okulunda aldıkları eğitim sonrasında eğitim öncesine kıyasla önemli bir gelişim olduğunu göstermektedir. Cinsiyet değişkenine bakıldığında ölçeğin tüm boyutlarında, kız ve erkek öğrencilerin ön uygulama ve son uygulama puan ortalamaları arasında anlamlı farklılık olmadığı belirlenmiştir. / The Montessori method supports all areas of development of children and contributes to basic cognitive process skills. In this context, one of the important skills can be considered as scientific process skills. In this study, it is aimed to examine the scientific process skills of preschool children (48-72 months) during a Montessori education program. This study was conducted as a longitudinal research design. The study group consisted of 60 children aged 4-6 years, living in a province center. The study group consisted of 14 children from a Montessori class of a public kindergarten and 46 children from 4 Montessori classes in a Montessori kindergarten. Basic Skills Scale for Preschool Students (BSSPS), which was developed by Aydoğdu and Karakuş (2017), was used as data collection tool. This scale includes questions about observation (four questions), classification (four questions), inference (four questions), measurement (four questions) and prediction (four questions) skills (20 questions in total). The reliability coefficient (KR- 20) of the 20-item scale was .74. The average difficulty of the scale was .69. The substance discrimination index of each question ranged from .23 to .56. In the analysis of the data, dependent samples t-test and two-factor ANOVA test were used. As a result of the study, significant differences were found between the pre- and post-application mean scores of the participants, in favor of the post-application according to classification, measurement, observation, inference and prediction skills. According to the two-factor ANOVA test, which was used to test whether the changes observed between the pre- and post-application scores of female and male participants are significant, the scientific process skills scores of male and female students do not differ significantly after the education process.

Language: Turkish

ISSN: 2147-1606

Abstract/Notes: Social and emotional behaviors of 56 Ss with and without Montessori preschool experiences as 3-, 4-, and 5-yr-olds were assessed upon entrance into 1st grade. Social and emotional behaviors were rated with the Classroom Behavior Inventory (CBI) by independent researchers and teachers. Self-concept of the selected sample of children was assessed using the Inferred Self-Concept Scale. The observed social and emotional behaviors were correlated with the children's scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) to examine possible relationships between social and emotional behaviors and achievement level. No differences in social and emotional behaviors of Ss entering 1st grade with and without the Montessori preschool experiences were observed. Nor were there any differences in the self-concept of Ss with and without the preschool experience. Positive task-oriented behaviors as observed with the CBI were found to be positively related to achievement level as measured by the MRT. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Language: English

ISSN: 0009-4005

Abstract/Notes: Follow-up of achievement test and IQ data on low-income black youths who had participated for 1 year in Bereiter-Engelmann, DARCEE, Montessori, or Traditional prekindergarten was continued through ninth and tenth grades. Stable trends persisted. Montessori males and DARCEE females were high; Montessori males were performing at about grade level on reading and math; IQs parallelled achievement test results. Additional tests of fluid intelligence, task persistence, self-esteem, divergent thinking, task approach, and aspirations and expectations were administered in ninth and tenth grades. Results from program comparisons and factor analyses were consistent with those on IQ and school achievement. The possibility of relationships between techniques used in the different preschool programs and sex differences in children's developmental level was discussed.

Language: English

DOI: 10.2307/1130027

ISSN: 0009-3920, 1467-8624

Language: English

DOI: 10.2307/1129185

ISSN: 0009-3920, 1467-8624

Abstract/Notes: This article presents and analyses a didactic proposal based on manipulative material (Knobless Cylinders) used in a Montessori classroom of 3-6-year-old pre-schoolers. Choosing this material is justified in relation to the competencies/strategies/skills used during the development of mathematical patterning. Numerous studies emphasise the importance of patterns in mathematics and experimental sciences instruction from early childhood onward. However, there are several educational factors that have not yet been clarified, such as meaningful learning, the overuse of abstract visual patterns that are distant from the student’s previous life experience, etc. This article discusses the sequence of proposed activities and certain critical issues.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2022.2032786

ISSN: 0300-4279, 1475-7575

Language: English

ISSN: 0009-3920, 1467-8624

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of the study was to investigate and compare teachers’ and parents’ beliefs about children’s self-care behaviors considering child (age, gender, having sibling), parent (socioeconomic status) and teacher-related (teaching experience) characteristics and to investigate and compare the beliefs about the self-care implementations. Explanatory mixed-methods design was used. The data was gathered from 208 early-childhood educators in nine central districts of Ankara and 531 parents whose children were educated in these teachers' classrooms. Quantitative data were collected with the “The Beliefs on Young Children’s Self Care Behaviors Survey” and “demographic information form”. Then, semi-structured interviews were done with 10 preschool teachers and 11 parents on a voluntary basis. According to results of the study, teachers believed the development of self-care behaviors as children grow, despite no dramatic changes in their observations according to age. The parents also had similar beliefs, and their observations about the certain behaviors changed. Considering children’s gender, the participants believed girls having better self-care skills, despite no dramatic differences in their observations. Considering the “having sibling”, parents’ observations differed in certain behaviors unlike teachers’ observations. Participants believed positive impact of having sibling on self-care. Moreover, as considering SES, teachers’ observations did not change according to SES unlike parents’ observations. Participants had different beliefs about the effect of SES on self-care. Besides, according to teaching experience, the observation of “self-protection from accidents” behaviors increased systematically. Additionally, some problems were encountered in self-care implementations. The participants’ belief about the factors negatively effecting the implementations were similar.

Language: English

Published: Ankara, Turkey, 2022