Associations among socioeconomic status and preschool-aged children's, number skills, and spatial skills: The role of executive function

Predicting individual differences in preschoolers' numeracy and geometry knowledge: The role of understanding abstract relations between objects and quantities

Preschoolers' mathematics knowledge develops early and varies substantially. The current study focused on two ontogenetically early emerging cognitive skills that may be important predictors of later math skills (i.e., geometry and numeracy): children's understanding of abstract relations between objects and quantities as evidenced by their patterning skills and the approximate number system (ANS). Children's patterning skills, the ANS, numeracy, geometry, nonverbal intelligence (IQ), and executive functioning (EF) skills were assessed at age 4 years, and their numeracy and geometry knowledge was assessed again a year later at age 5 (N = 113). Above and beyond children's initial knowledge in numeracy and geometry, as well as IQ and EF, patterning skills and the ANS at age 4 uniquely predicted children's geometry knowledge at age 5, but only age 4 patterning uniquely predicted age 5 numeracy. Thus, although patterning and the ANS are related, they differentially explain variation in later geometry and numeracy knowledge. Results are discussed in terms of implications for early mathematics theory and research.

Comparative Analysis Between Directly Measured and Parent-Evaluated Executive Function: Predicting Children's Academic Achievement and Social Development in a One-Year Longitudinal Study

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine differences between directly measured and parent-evaluated executive function in predicting children's academic achievement and social development, and to explore the mediating roles of peer status and social competence in the effects of executive function on social behavior.

Patients and Methods

The study followed 106 first-grade children in an elementary school in China for one year. Regression and mediation analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 21.0 to test the hypotheses.

Results

First, in a comparison of the predictive role of directly measured and parent-evaluated executive function, directly measured executive function played a more important role in predicting academic achievement, while parent-evaluated executive function played a greater role in predicting social development. Second, parent-evaluated executive function influenced social behavior primarily through social competence and peer status, with social competence playing a more significant mediating role than peer status.

Conclusion

Compared with previous studies, the results of the present study provide more direct evidence for the relationship and differences between directly measured and parent-evaluated executive function, further suggesting that they have different efficacy and predictive goals, while the present study also describes the pathways through which executive function influences social behavior: the mediating role of peer status and social competence. This suggests that, on the one hand, educators or researchers need to choose appropriate measures of executive function for their own purposes and, on the other hand, in order to promote the development of children's social behavior, they need to focus on the development of children's executive function, social competence and peer relationships.

Diversity of spatial activities and parents' spatial talk complexity predict preschoolers' gains in spatial skills

Children's spatial activities and parental spatial talk were measured to examine their associations with variability in preschoolers' spatial skills (N = 113, Mage = 4 years, 4 months; 51% female; 80% White, 11% Black, and 9% other). Parents who reported more diversity in daily spatial activities and used longer spatial talk utterances during a spatial activity had children with greater gains in spatial skills from ages 4 to 5 (β = .17 and β = .40, respectively). Importantly, this study is the first to move beyond frequency counts of spatial input and investigate the links among the diversity of children's daily spatial activities, as well as the complexity of parents' spatial language across different contexts, and preschoolers' gains in spatial skills, an important predictor of later STEM success.

Time spent playing predicts early reading and math skills through associations with self-regulation

Children's play time has declined in recent decades, which could negatively impact early self-regulation-a vital component of school readiness. To date, studies have not fully explored how the time spent playing relates to children's self-regulatory skills, and in turn, their early reading and math competencies. Using data from time diaries and direct assessments of self-regulation, prereading, and math skills, this study examined how minutes spent playing at home predict these skills in a sample of 128 children followed from age four to five. Additionally, it considered whether self-regulation explained links between play time and prereading and math. Results showed that the time spent playing positively related to children's self-regulation. Moreover, through its association with self-regulation, play time had indirect effects on prereading and math skills measured one year later. Results suggest that fostering opportunities for play time during the preschool years may help to boost school readiness skills.