Influence of Self-Regulation on the Development of Children's Number Sense

The present study examined predictive power of behavioral self-regulation, family and child characteristics on children's number sense. The participants consisted of 101 kindergarten children. A subsample of 30 children was randomly chosen for the reliability procedures of Assessing Number Sense and Head, Toes, Knees and Shoulders instruments. Thus, data from 71 children were used for further analysis. Multiple regressions using stepwise method were computed for determining whether self-regulation, family income, parents' level of education, gender, and age related to and were predictive of scores on number sense. Results of the study indicated that behavioral self-regulation, mothers' education level, gender and age are significant predictors of number sense, and behavioral self-regulation was the most influential predictor, followed by mothers' education level, gender and age. Findings are discussed in terms of influential factors of number sense in early childhood. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Choice-driven peer play, self-regulation and number sense

Peer play provides ample opportunities for the use and development of self-regulatory and mathematical skills. This study aimed at examining whether children's engagement in solitary low-level play, interactive play and competent play influences their self-regulatory and number sense skills. The effect of demographic variables and children's social skills on these skills was also investigated. The participants in this study were 149 children (Mean age=68 months, SD=3.71) from public and semi-independent kindergarten programs in a city in southwest Turkey. Children's play was observed during free play time, and their self-regulation and mathematical skills were measured. Teachers rated children's social skills. Binary logistic regression was used as an analytical tool. The results showed that children's engagement in peer play significantly improved their chances of having higher number sense and self-regulatory skills. In particular, interactive play significantly contributed to children's self-regulatory and number sense skills. Moreover, child age, family income, and social skills were influential factors for these skills. The findings show the importance of peer play for supporting the development of self-regulatory and mathematical skills

Influence of Self-Regulation on the Development of Children's Number Sense

The present study examined predictive power of behavioral self-regulation, family and child characteristics on children's number sense. The participants consisted of 101 kindergarten children. A subsample of 30 children was randomly chosen for the reliability procedures of Assessing Number Sense and Head, Toes, Knees and Shoulders instruments. Thus, data from 71 children were used for further analysis. Multiple regressions using stepwise method were computed for determining whether self-regulation, family income, parents' level of education, gender, and age related to and were predictive of scores on number sense. Results of the study indicated that behavioral self-regulation, mothers' education level, gender and age are significant predictors of number sense, and behavioral self-regulation was the most influential predictor, followed by mothers' education level, gender and age. Findings are discussed in terms of influential factors of number sense in early childhood. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

in relation to their mathematics and Turkish scores in middle school

Number sense and self-regulation are considered foundational skills for later school learning. This study aimed to investigate the predictive power of kindergarten children's number sense and self-regulation scores on their mathematics and Turkish language examination scores in the 5th and 6th grades. The participants in this study were 5th grade (n = 46) and 6th grade (n = 28) students, whose number sense and self-regulation skills were measured when they were in kindergarten in 2009 and 2010. Data were analyzed through multiple regression. The results showed positive and mid-level correlations. The children's kindergarten number sense and self-regulation scores significantly predicted their 5th and 6th grade mathematics and Turkish language examination scores. Self-regulation was the stronger predictor of mathematics scores, whereas number sense scores were the better predictor of Turkish language examination scores. The findings from this study provide further evidence as to the critical role of children's early skills in middle school mathematics and language achievement

Early childhood teachers’ roles in free play

In the world of child play, where do adults stand? What is the place of adults in children’s play? These questions have been considered in the literature regarding play in efforts to provide children with ample play opportunities. This study aims to examine teachers’ roles in free play. In this study, data are used to examine the type of roles teachers most frequently use during free play. Participants of the study were 141 public school early childhood teachers. Results showed that the leader role was the least preferred, while the onlooker-stage manager role was the most frequently chosen among the five teacher roles in free play. Moreover, participating teachers’ involvement in play is influenced by children’s age groups, years of teaching experience, number of children in the classroom and number of learning centres. © 2017 TACTYC

A Turkish view on fathers' involvement in children's play

The purpose of this study is to examine fathers' participation in and views about play. This study was conducted in the southwestern part of Turkey and its sample consisted of 97 fathers who had a child attending randomly chosen public early childhood institutions. The Parents' Participation and Views on Play instrument was developed and used to collect data. Independent sample t tests and a series of repeated measures analysis of variance procedures were conducted to assess the influence of independent variables on the fathers' participation in and views on play. The results of the study indicated that fathers frequently participated in their children's play, and they hold positive views about play. Fathers' socio-demographic characteristics such as income, working status, family type and children's gender influenced their participation and views about play. Results are discussed in relation to the literature on parent-child play and suggestions for further research are presented. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Parent and Teacher Variables

The main objective of this study was to examine whether parents' home-based mathematics activities, early childhood teachers' mathematics activities, their attitudes towards early childhood mathematics, and teacher-child relationships predict 5-6 years of children's number concept skills. The sample of this study, which used survey and quantitative methods, consisted of 199 children who were enrolled in preschools and kindergartens located in elementary and middle schools in the centre of Denizli, their parents, and 100 teachers. According to the results of stepwise multiple regression analysis, it was determined that significant predictors of children's number concept skills were respectively; parents' activities related to mathematics content, preschool teachers' mathematics activities in the classroom, conflict between teacher and child, and teachers' attitudes towards early mathematics education environment. The findings were discussed and suggestions were made

Parents’ expectations from preschool education institutions

The purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ expectations from preschool education institutions. By using stratified sampling method, the sample consisted of 1465 parents who had children enrolled in preschool education in 2010-2011. Data were gathered by using a demographics information form and Parents’ Expectations from Preschool Institutions questionnaire developed by the first author. Parents’ expectations were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results show that parents’ expectations from early childhood institutions varied according to their level of education, income, and region in which they live. Parents who graduated from elementary school and the ones who had low-income had higher expectations from early childhood institutions in education-family subscale than others. Parents who lived in Marmara and Mediterranean regions had higher expectations when compared to parents who lived in other regions. © 2015 (publisher). All rights reserved