Week 8 Reading Summaries

Saam, J., & Nowak, J. A. (2005). The effects of full-day versus half-day kindergarten on the achievement of students with Low/Moderate income status. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 20(1), 27-35. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/203881915?accountid=10910

This comparative study gives us information about how long children ‘should’ spend at kindergarten during the day and how the length of day could have significant results on child achievement levels with different income status. Interviews were conducted and gave the results required to distinguish between what type of program children should be enrolled in when they get to kindergarten age and which program is best suited for children whose families who have an income status that is low to moderate.  The comparison is between spending half a day at school versus spending the full day and which is easier to help in the transition process from home to the school setting.  There are basic requirements that kindergarten educators have to teach children, with constant changes and improvements being made to the program in order to cater for all ability levels. Some results show that attending a full day has no significant benefits for social or some academic levels when compared to half day attendance, whereas some research shares conflicting results that agree with children attending a full day for reasons that are somewhat hard to describe to parents reading the study. There is of course more time in the school day that will encourage children to participate in more activities and as a result practice what they are learning more often. Children are known to exhaust themselves during both programs and show no difference in attention span or interest in learning.  Due to an increased time spent at school during the full day program social relationships are stronger with not only peers but with educators and additional interactions. Within certain subjects that are heavily involved such as mathematics and the arts children thrive on the extra instruction and benefit greatly with higher understanding. The satisfaction felt by students with their efforts and parents with the results achieved through full day programs are better than half days but also increased from results showing a high student attendance.

Milesi, C., & Gamoran, A. (2006). Effects of class size and instruction on kindergarten achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28(4), 287-313. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197222121?accountid=10910

Many studies have been performed on class sizes within the kindergarten age groups where benefits are proven for smaller numbers of children promoting higher levels of involvement and results. Within this study it is important to distinguish between the individual student achievements as well as the achievements earned by the whole class. Many of the findings did not provide consistent results causing authors to not only study children’s academic results based on class size but also how class size effects varieties of students groups including race or economic backgrounds. A varied comparison has been made where some academic subjects are not affected or any further understood with a smaller class size with different backgrounds not being related directly to class size. Along with level of communication the skills in giving instructions effectively needs to be leant by educators as this creates higher levels of understanding and achievements. While instructions play a large role in the ability to interpret the information correctly, group size in the classroom does not have any connections to instructions as it is important to have instructions given clearly and at the right level for the individuals in the class. The reduction in class size has become a popular modern day occurrence for many schools within the state with a focus on child progression and schooling costs. Smaller class sizes have an increased fee to cover the cost of employing an educator with qualifications at the same level as surrounding schools. Parents are willing to pay this extra fee due to their children getting a larger portion of the teacher’s attention, focussing more on the individual student and how well they are able to understand the context of the lesson. Class size is the topic of many parents reasoning for sending their children to specific school with clear benefits listed and some with no differences to achievement effects. Smaller classes are becoming increasingly popular as educators can spend more time focussing on the needs of individual students using instructions directed at an appropriate level for all the understand effectively.

Week 7 Reading Summaries

Shrock, P. (1992). Nurturing the unborn child: A nine month program for soothing, stimulating and communicating with your unborn baby. Pre- and Peri-Natal Psychology Journal, 7(1), 85-86. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198777855?accountid=10910

Studies have proven that communication is a very important technique for bonding with you child and assisting with their growth and development. Young children especially benefit from this type of language connection, including the youngest children of who are not yet born. Research has begun on mothers who have learnt a variety of new methods to communicate with their unborn child through emotional and spiritual connections. Researching these levels of communication has become a common scientific study where parents feel priority is to ‘make a connection’ through the womb and develop an emotional bond with their child. Believed to help in the growth of the unborn and experience an amazing process of response. Using ultrasound the unborn babies are viewed as responding to different communication methods including touch and sounds. Senses have already started to work and can react to movements and emotions felt by the mother that may be as simple at patting her stomach. A recent psychiatrist ‘Thomas Verny’ has completed a book titled “Nurturing the Unborn Child” along with Pamela Weintraub detailing advice in which parents to be can use to develop emotional attachment with their baby during the pregnancy length. During the pregnancy, the foetus may develop certain senses and react to different levels of communication at different ages and growth development. Abilities to communicate with the unborn is part of the advice given along with methods to help parents communicate with each other and become aware of each other’s anxieties and reduce the stress levels to benefit the baby who is able to sense the mothers stress will develop in a calm nature. The pregnancy is divided into months when discussing “Womb Harmonics” with a guided plan for each giving summarized exercises that will teach mothers to relax and produce confidence when communicating their growing unborn child. This is a valuable book for parents who are expecting as they can increase the bond shared between mother and father as well as with their unborn baby using new methods of communication through the womb.

Locuniak, M. N., & Jordan, N. C. (2008). Using kindergarten number sense to predict calculation fluency in second grade. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(5), 451-9. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/194229399?accountid=10910

Recent studies have shown that the results of numeracy from the kindergarten age group can be used to assist with placement and fluency predication in the later years. A variety of tests were conducted including memory and reading whilst including numeracy as the specific aspect measured. The use of numbers and the connections between the knowledge and combinations related are used heavily to predict how the child with succeed and develop further in the future years of schooling. At this stage there are two categories used being ‘at risk’ or ‘not at risk’ to assess children in fluency and relate their early abilities to encourage and progress in later number skills. Fluency in early childhood is defined as how simple it is for children to interpret and act out the skill with precision. Basic calculation would normally be simple for most children to grasp and take an interest in, however some find it difficult and need different instruction methods to understand the topic. It is important that children understand the basics concepts of math in order to use this fluency to help daily routines and numeracy involved in life. There is a brief summary of the subjects in which children partake in, labeling the areas children will struggle in if they are not able to grasp the concept leading up to it. Fluency in numeracy calculation creates a dependency on other subjects and experiences throughout the schooling career, where children who are able to fully understand the concepts and interpret the skills required had advantages above other children. The subjects are designed to lead on from one another through the years describing the high importance to understand the basics in order to ‘survive’ the coming subjects. Each subheading shares different methods useful to help young children learn, interpret and understand each skill, also including what each skill involves and how they connect to the following topic. The study included 198 young children from various kindergartens under similar math curriculum and created a test for the children in all mathematical concepts. The results were calculated and showed that child fluency was dependent on the exposure levels at an early age. This concluded that children with more mathematical experience did better in the fluency test which in turn will enable children to progress at a faster rate with higher understanding in future mathematical subjects.