Abstract/Notes: Research findings indicate that executive function (EF), social-emotional skills, and pre-academic competence significantly promote children's school readiness and later success. School readiness broadly refers to a combination of skills necessary to function successfully in school and lack thereof may increase the risk of children's school problems. Therefore, it is essential for school systems to provide appropriate and timely support to the development of these fundamental skills. The present study focused on three particular preschool programmes: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and the traditional play-based (British Columbia Early Learning Framework: BCEFL) programmes in Western Canada. Although they are popular, there is little empirical research that examines and compares the benefits of these programmes to the development of school readiness skills. As such, the present study aimed to 1) determine the effectiveness of these three preschool programmes in Western Canada on the development of children's school readiness; and 2) examine other sources of influences in the child, family and school in relation to the development of school readiness skills. Overall, 119 preschool children (48 Montessori, 42 Reggio Emilia, 29 BCELF) participated in the study. Observation was conducted once in the autumn of 2015 for each classroom using the CLASS observation tool. Teachers and parents of participating children filled in a series of questionnaires regarding the quality of their relationship with their child and their perceptions of daily EF and social-emotional skills of their child. The researcher also assessed individual children's fluid intelligence, EF, and pre-academic competence. The results showed that 1) although Montessori education appeared to be the most effective in facilitating numeracy skills, no curriculum stood out as notably more effective than any of the others at improving other areas of school readiness skills; 2) well-run classrooms where teachers were effective in time, behavioural, and attention management were most effective in promoting children's numeracy skills; 3) EF, social-emotional skills, and pre-academic competence exhibited an overlapping developmental process over time; 4) relational quality in both home and school environments significantly affected the development of school readiness skills, especially social-emotional skills; and 5) adults' perceptions of children's EF and social-emotional skills had a significant consequence for how teachers and parents formed their relationships with their children.

Language: English

Published: Oxford, England, 2018

Abstract/Notes: Preschools have become an important beginning step in education. This sequential mixed methods study sought to determine if the Montessori preschool setting provides greater academic achievement in reading readiness, specifically phonemic awareness, in preschoolers as compared to a conventional elementary standards-based preschool setting. Social constructivist theory and sociocultural theory were used as theoretical frameworks. Qualitative data was comprised of interviews with kindergarten teachers who agreed unanimously that preschool had a positive impact on students’ academic ability upon entrance to kindergarten. However, all four teachers had a negative connotation pertaining to Montessori students and the Montessori Method based solely on students’ behavior and students’ lack of conformity. For the quantitative data, multiple two sample t-tests were conducted to determine the effect of preschool experience on all 90 participants’ reading readiness scores upon entrance to kindergarten based upon DIBELS FSF and PSF and their KRA assessment scores, while taking socio-economic status into consideration. T-tests were used to compare the results from 30 Montessori students, 30 conventional standards-based elementary students, and 30 students with no preschool experience. All three sub-groups were matched equally based on socio-economic status. Montessori students outperformed the other two school groups on all three assessments. The difference in scores when separating Montessori students by socio-economic status is the most significant finding to come from this study. Montessori students considered low income had statistically lower scores on all three assessments when compared to Montessori students who are not considered low income.

Language: English

Published: Findlay, Ohio, 2019

Abstract/Notes: Previous research on Montessori preschool education is inconsistent and prone to analytic flexibility. In this preregistered study, disadvantaged preschoolers in a French public school were randomly assigned to either conventional or Montessori classrooms, with the latter being adapted to French public education. Adaptations included fewer materials, shorter work periods, and relatively limited Montessori teacher training. Cross-sectional analyses in kindergarten (N = 176; Mage = 5–6) and longitudinal analyses over the 3 years of preschool (N = 70; Mage = 3–6) showed that the adapted Montessori curriculum was associated with outcomes comparable to the conventional curriculum on math, executive functions, and social skills. However, disadvantaged kindergarteners from Montessori classrooms outperformed their peers on reading (d = 0.68). This performance was comparable to that of advantaged children from an accredited Montessori preschool.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13575

ISSN: 0009-3920, 1467-8624

Abstract/Notes: Vad har en förändrad barndom för betydelse för yngre barns lärande och utbildning? Denna rapport försöker förstå och förklara denna betydelse med hjälp av forskare från forskningsfältet Barndom, lärande och ämnesdidaktik på Lärarutbildningen på Malmö högskola. I rapporten tas begreppen barndom, lärande och ämnesdidaktik upp som sammanflätade och ömsesidigt relaterade till varandra. I fem olika artiklar presenteras: Förskolans ledarskap i en nystartad förskola ; Hur dokumentation och bedömning i förskolor med olika pedagogiska inriktningar kan se ut ; En översikt över historiedidaktisk forskning med inriktning mot yngre barn ; Svenskämnesundervisningens innehåll i skolans tidigare år ; En kartläggning av forskning om de yngre barnen i det idrottsvetenskapliga intresseområdet [What does a changed childhood mean for younger children's learning and education? This report attempts to understand and explain this significance with the help of researchers from the research field Childhood, learning and subject didactics at the Teacher Education at Malmö University. The report addresses the concepts of childhood, learning and subject didactics as intertwined and mutually related to each other. Five different articles are presented: Preschool leadership in a newly started preschool; What documentation and assessment in preschools with different pedagogical orientations can look like; An overview of history didactic research with a focus on younger children; The content of Swedish subject teaching in the school's previous years; A survey of research on the younger children in the sports science area of interest]

Language: Swedish

Published: Malmö, Sweden: Malmö högskola, 2010

Series: Rapporter om utbildning , 1

Language: English

Published: Eugene, Oregon, 1979

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This study aims to investigate the impact of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity on preschool and kindergarten-aged children’s on-task behavior and focus. The research took place over four weeks in a Montessori early childhood classroom with 15 children aged three to six. Each day, children participated in 12-15 minutes of physical activity, including running, jumping and marching, vigorous enough for them breathe hard. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative data tools to examine effects on ability to focus and to be on-task during the following two hours. The increased movement had a positive impact on the children’s transition to the next activity and on the rate of children being on task for up to two hours. Continued research is needed to determine effectiveness on focus.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2021

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English