Integrating Fundamental Movement Skills and Mathematics in Early Childhood: A Pilot Study

This project involved a co-design process involving researchers and kindergarten teachers to produce learning activities that integrated fundamental movement skills (FMS) and mathematics. We piloted the co-designed activities (i.e., motor-math program) in a local kindergarten and examined the effects on FMS proficiency, mathematics skills, and accrued physical activity (PA). The participants comprised pupils (N = 39) from two matched kindergarten classes, in which we compared the motor-math program with typical mathematics lessons. All participants wore pedometers to measure their number of steps during class, one day per week. FMS proficiency (i.e., locomotor, object control) and mathematics skills (numeracy, geometry, math problem solving) were measured before and after implementation. Significant improvements in locomotor and object control skills were found only in the pilot group (p < 0.001); there were no differences in the changes in mathematics skills between the pilot and comparison groups. During implementation days, the participants in the pilot group accrued significantly greater step counts (p < 0.001) than those in the comparison group. Participating in the motor-math program appears to have benefits associated with improvements in FMS proficiency and accrued PA time, suggesting a promising potential for integrated activities as a means of PA promotion in kindergarten settings. Future work that examines the effects of the integration of movement with mathematics should consider randomization, greater sample size, and a longer intervention period.

Gendered pathways to socioemotional competencies in very young children

Parent-child and teacher-child relationship closeness have been shown to be crucial for children's development of socioemotional competencies from preschool to school-age stages. However, less is known about the importance of developing close relationships with young infants and toddlers attending childcare group settings for their early socioemotional development. The current study aimed to address this gap and to explore how child gender may influence the associations. Participants included 378 Hong Kong Chinese children (196 girls; Mage = 22.05 months, SD = 9.81 months) enrolled in childcare centres, along with their parents and teachers. Parents reported on children's socioemotional competencies as well as their relationship closeness with children; teachers reported on their relationship closeness with children. Multiple group structural equation modelling was used to analyse the results. The findings showed that both parent-child and teacher-child closeness were positively associated with children's social competence, while teacher-child closeness was negatively associated with children's anxiety behaviour. Parents of girls reported greater parent-child closeness, higher levels of social competence, and higher levels of anxiety behaviours compared to parents of boys. Furthermore, teacher-child closeness was significantly associated with social competence exclusively among girls, while parent-child closeness was significantly associated with anxiety behaviours solely among boys. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of child gender in influencing the associations between parent-child closeness, teacher-child closeness, and children's socioemotional competencies in the earliest years.

The roles of different executive functioning skills in young children's mental computation and applied mathematical problem-solving

This study investigated the relationships of four executive functioning skills (including verbal working memory, spatial working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility) with young children's mental computation and applied mathematical problem-solving. Two hundred and twenty-five Chinese kindergarteners were tested with a battery of general cognitive, executive functioning and mathematics skills. Results showed that when children's age, gender, non-verbal intelligence, and listening comprehension skills were controlled, verbal working memory and cognitive flexibility were significant correlates of mental computation, whereas verbal working memory, spatial working memory, and cognitive flexibility were significant correlates of applied mathematical problem-solving. Inhibitory control was not significantly associated with the two domains of mathematics under investigation. The findings highlight the differential roles of different executive functioning skills in early mathematical skills and offer practical implication for helping young children in learning complex mathematical skills.

Next Directions in Measurement of the Home Mathematics Environment: An International and Interdisciplinary Perspective

This article synthesizes findings from an international virtual conference, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), focused on the home mathematics environment (HME). In light of inconsistencies and gaps in research investigating relations between the HME and children's outcomes, the purpose of the conference was to discuss actionable steps and considerations for future work. The conference was composed of international researchers with a wide range of expertise and backgrounds. Presentations and discussions during the conference centered broadly on the need to better operationalize and measure the HME as a construct - focusing on issues related to child, family, and community factors, country and cultural factors, and the cognitive and affective characteristics of caregivers and children. Results of the conference and a subsequent writing workshop include a synthesis of core questions and key considerations for the field of research on the HME. Findings highlight the need for the field at large to use multi-method measurement approaches to capture nuances in the HME, and to do so with increased international and interdisciplinary collaboration, open science practices, and communication among scholars.

How do phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and vocabulary contribute to early numeracy and print knowledge of Filipino children?

The current study investigated the contributions of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming (RAN), and vocabulary to early numeracy and print knowledge developmental trajectories. A total of 128 young Filipino children were tracked three times at mean ages of 4.5, 5.0, and 5.5 years. The initial level (the intercept) and the growth rate (the slope) of early numeracy and print knowledge were estimated. Results showed that phonological awareness, vocabulary, and age significantly predicted the initial level of early numeracy. RAN and vocabulary explained significant variance in the growth rate of early numeracy. Phonological awareness, RAN, and vocabulary accounted for unique variance in the initial level of print knowledge. Results highlight the differential roles of phonological awareness, RAN, and vocabulary knowledge in the development of early numeracy and print knowledge among Filipino children.

Home Literacy and Numeracy Environments in Asia

The home learning environment includes what parents do to stimulate children’s literacy and numeracy skills at home and their overall beliefs and attitudes about children’s learning. The home literacy and numeracy environments are two of the most widely discussed aspects of the home learning environment, and past studies have identified how socioeconomic status and parents’ own abilities and interest in these domains also play a part in shaping children’s learning experiences. However, these studies are mostly from the West, and there has been little focus on the situation of homes in Asia, which captures a large geographical area and a wide diversity of social, ethnic, and linguistic groups. Therefore, this paper aims to review extant studies on the home literacy and numeracy environments that have been conducted in different parts of Asia, such as China, the Philippines, India, Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Specifically, we explore how parents in these places perceive their roles in children’s early literacy and numeracy development, the methods they regard as effective for promoting young children’s literacy and numeracy learning, and the frequency with which they engage their young children in different types of home literacy and numeracy activities. We also examine studies on the relationship of the home literacy and numeracy environment with young children’s developmental outcomes, and the effectiveness of parent training programs to improve the home literacy and numeracy environments in these contexts. By examining potential trends in findings obtained in different geographical areas, we can initially determine whether there are characteristics that are potentially unique to contexts in Asia. We propose future research directions that acknowledge the role of cultural values and social factors in shaping the home learning environment, and, by extension, in facilitating children’s early literacy and numeracy development.

Parents' characteristics, the home environment, and children's numeracy skills: How are they related in low- to middle-income families in the Philippines?

The home numeracy environment is often assumed to play a role in early numeracy development. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive picture of the home numeracy environment of children living in low- to middle-income communities in the Philippines. Moreover, it examined the relations among various parents' characteristics, the home numeracy environment parents created, and their young children's numeracy skills. Data were collected from 290 families through parental questionnaires, numeracy tests for children, and numeracy tests for parents. Results of structural equation modeling showed that parents' education level, calculation fluency, own reported math activities, home numeracy resources and home numeracy activities all had direct associations with children's numeracy skills. Parents' calculation fluency and own math activities also had indirect links with children's numeracy skills through home numeracy resources and home numeracy activities. These findings provide insights into the question of which children are at risk for poor numeracy development and how to support children's early numeracy learning.

Cognitive and Affective Correlates of Chinese Children's Mathematical Word Problem Solving

Mathematical word problem solving (MWPS) involves multiple steps, including comprehending the problem statements, determining the arithmetic operations that have to be performed, and finding the answers. This study investigated the relative contributions of different cognitive and affective variables to children's MWPS. To achieve this goal, 116 third-grade Chinese children were tested. Results showed that after controlling for age and non-verbal intelligence, the abilities to solve direct and indirect mathematical word problems were positively correlated with the working memory component of executive function, reading comprehension ability, math fact fluency and math anxiety. Moreover, math anxiety was found to fully mediate the relationships between reading anxiety and MWPS. Implications of the findings on how to promote children's MWPS skills were discussed.

Family and individual variables associated with young Filipino children's numeracy interest and competence

Children's early numeracy outcomes set the foundation for mathematics learning in their future school years. This study examined how different family and individual variables were associated with the numeracy interest and competence of disadvantaged young children in the Philippines. The numeracy and literacy skills of 673 children living in low-middle income communities were tested. Their parents were also asked to complete a questionnaire on demographics, their home numeracy practices, attitudes about numeracy learning, and children's numeracy interest. Structural equation modelling analyses showed that children's numeracy interest was linked with their parents' practices and attitudes. Children's numeracy competence, on the other hand, was related to their gender, age, socioeconomic status, and literacy abilities. These findings suggest that family and individual variables might play different roles in disadvantaged children's early numeracy development. Moreover, parents can be encouraged to make effective use of home numeracy experiences to promote their children's numeracy competence. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? In developed countries, home environment is occasionally found to link with early numeracy development. Some individual variables are also found to play significant roles in early numeracy development. What does this study add? Among young Filipino children from disadvantaged backgrounds, home environment is related to numeracy interest. Family socioeconomic status plays a significant role in early numeracy competence. Early literacy and numeracy skills are interrelated with each other.

The role of early language abilities on math skills among Chinese children

Background

The present study investigated the role of early language abilities in the development of math skills among Chinese K-3 students. About 2000 children in China, who were on average aged 6 years, were assessed for both informal math (e.g., basic number concepts such as counting objects) and formal math (calculations including addition and subtraction) skills, language abilities and nonverbal intelligence.

Methodology

Correlation analysis showed that language abilities were more strongly associated with informal than formal math skills, and regression analyses revealed that children’s language abilities could uniquely predict both informal and formal math skills with age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence controlled. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the relationship between children’s language abilities and formal math skills was partially mediated by informal math skills.

Results

The current findings indicate 1) Children’s language abilities are of strong predictive values for both informal and formal math skills; 2) Language abilities impacts formal math skills partially through the mediation of informal math skills.

Correlates of cross-sex friendship satisfaction in Hong Kong adolescents

During adolescence, the number of cross-sex friends increases dramatically. This study focused on correlates of adolescents' cross-sex friendship satisfaction. Three hundred and twenty Hong Kong secondary four (10th grade) students were asked to rate their best cross-sex friends on the Friendship Satisfaction Scale (Tsuzuki & Matsui, 2000). Masculinity, school type, total number of cross-sex friends, and both generic and unique friendship motives significantly explained 48.9% of adolescents' satisfaction with their cross-sex friends. Thus, variables ranging from individual traits to opportunity structures can all be useful in understanding adolescents' cross-sex friendship development.

Impact of weak localization in the time domain

We find a renormalized "time-dependent diffusion coefficient," D(t), for pulsed excitation of a nominally diffusive sample by solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation with recurrent scattering. We observe a crossover in dynamics in the transformation from a quasi-1D to a slab geometry implemented by varying the ratio of the radius, R, to the length, L, of the cylindrical sample with reflecting side walls and open ends. Immediately after the peak of the transmitted pulse, D(t) falls linearly with a nonuniversal slope that approaches an asymptotic value for R/L>>1. The value of D(t) extrapolated to t=0 depends only upon the dimensionless conductance g for R/L<<1 and only upon kl(0) for R/L>>1, where k is the wave vector and l(0) is the bare mean free path.

Helping processes in a mutual aid organization for persons with emotional disturbance

To date, the notion of helpfulness of group processes has been equivocal in research on self-help groups. This article argues that findings drawn from the participants' subjective appraisals of helpfulness carry meanings different from those drawn from the correlational approach. In a mutual aid organization serving adults with mental health problems, the study found that, whereas universality, self-disclosure, and instillation of hope were the most valued processes, support and catharsis were the strongest correlates of benefits of participation. The authors propose a two-level hierarchy that distinguishes sustaining and beneficial factors. Different sets of factors should constitute the focus of facilitation at different stages of group development.

Assessment of optimistic self-beliefs: further validation of the Chinese version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale

The Chinese version of the General Self-efficacy Scale developed by Jerusalem and Schwarzer was tested in a sample of 74 Chinese adults with mild mental health symptoms. Analysis showed the scale was unidimensional and had good internal reliability (alpha = .92). The scale score also differentiated groups of different mental health status and correlated strongly with scores on the General Health Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies--Depression Scale. Test-retest reliability over six months was also adequate.

Performance of a hybrid bistable device using an acoustooptic modulator

Previous studies on acoustooptic hybrid bistable devices have been limited to the Bragg regime involving two diffracted orders, and no comparisons have been made between experimental results and theoretical predictions. In this paper, a model including both acoustooptic diffraction and a nonlinear feedback path is investigated. The Klein-Cook parameter Q has been brought into the investigation in that theoretical simulation results based on diffraction involving four diffracted orders are obtained. Experimental results are then presented and compared to theoretical predictions.

On the bonding of FeO2 in hemoglobin and related dioxygen complexes

The celebrated Fe(II)0(2) versus Fe(III) (02-) debate over the formal representation of the Fe02 moiety in hemoglobin can be resolved by consideration of the utility of each formalism. In the context of rationalizing the gross structural and electronic features of end-bound dioxygen, particularly in light of a new closely related chromium complex, the M(III)-(02-) formulation is both chemically reasonable and most useful. In conjunction with a qualitative molecular orbital overlap picture, the differing magnetic states of enc-bound M02 complexes and other geometrical features can be rationalized or predicted.