Caroline Cohrssen

Improving Preschoolers’ Numerical Abilities by Enhancing the Home Numeracy Environment

ABSTRACT Research Findings: Young children develop numeracy competencies during interactions with more knowledgeable others. Such interactions typically occur in the home numeracy environment (HNE). In this study a nonintensive intervention procedure was developed to improve both the HNE and numerical competencies. All parents of 113 Australian children (age 4 years, 5 months, on average at the beginning of the study) were invited to participate in a 2-part intervention that included attending 1 group meeting at which information regarding the HNE was provided and participating in an additional individual session that introduced them to the principles of counting. The HNE and children’s numerical competencies were assessed before and after the intervention. Participating and nonparticipating families did not differ on any of the study variables at the beginning of the study, yet not only did the intervention group significantly improve their HNE, but children in this group also showed significantly greater numerical competency development compared with the nonparticipating group. Practice or Policy: Results indicate that less intensive interventions can have effects on the HNE and children’s numerical competencies. Consequently, even on small budgets interventions should be undertaken.

Children’s mathematical and verbal competence in different early education and care programmes in Australia

This study investigated the relationship between children’s attendance at different types of early childhood education and care programmes and their mathematical and verbal skills. Analyses of data from 1314 children participating in an Australian longitudinal study, the E4Kids project, revealed no relationship between children’s verbal ability and the early childhood education and care programme attended, but mathematics results tell a different story. At the first measurement, children who consistently attended only informal care outperformed children who either consistently attended a formal early childhood education and care service type or attended a mix of formal and informal care. The development of mathematical and verbal competencies between first and second measurements, 1 year later, did not differ between children who attended different types of early childhood education and care. Early childhood educators in Australia are required to provide programmes that incorporate both mathematical concepts and language development. However, many early childhood educators describe uncertainty about how to support children’s mathematical learning. Further professional development and support in this area is necessary.

Is That What We Do? Using a Conversation-Analytic Approach to Highlight the Contribution of Dialogic Reading Strategies to Educator-Child Interactions during Storybook Reading in Two Early Childhood Settings.

In Australia, much emphasis in early childhood education is placed on the importance of supporting young children’s literacy development, and book-reading occurs frequently during typical early-childhood education and care programmes. Reading a story to a child presents an opportunity for rich language-learning through reciprocal and extended conversations that link the story to the child’s world, introduce new vocabulary and encourage extended thinking and articulation of this thinking. Dialogic reading is a particular approach to book-reading that encourages the child to engage actively with the story. This paper presents data in the form of excerpts from transcripts of two book-reading sessions with young children. A conversation-analytic approach was applied to reveal and deconstruct dialogic reading prompts that occur within the data, thus revealing the interactional phenomena underpinning the dialogic reading strategies observed in two different book-reading episodes. The implications for applying such strategies to support sustained dialogue during storybook-reading are discussed.

Parents supporting learning: a non-intensive intervention supporting literacy and numeracy in the home learning environment

ABSTRACT In Australia, emphasis in early childhood education policy is placed on the importance of the role of the family as a childs first educator, and finding effective ways to raise the effectiveness of parents in supporting childrens learning, development and well-being. International studies demonstrate that the home learning environment (HLE) provided by parents is closely associated with childrens cognitive outcomes: literacy activities at home are likely to predict childrens literacy abilities and numeracy activities at home are likely to predict childrens numeracy abilities. However, studies focusing on building the capacity of primary caregivers to increase informal learning opportunities, such as enhancing childrens literacy and numeracy learning in the HLE, have rarely been the focus of research. This study uses a sample of 113 four-year-old children to explore the association of specific aspects of the HLE with different child outcomes while controlling for child and family characteristics. In addition, a non-intensive, yet purposeful and systematic intervention to draw parents’ attention to the principles of dialogic reading and the principles of counting was introduced. Study findings suggest that parents responded positively to this approach, and that literacy and numeracy aspects of the HLE were specific predictors for childrens numeracy and literacy competencies.

The Sooner, the Better

As reading to children plays an important role in language development, primary caregivers are often encouraged to read to their children from a very young age. However, little is known about the age at which such reading should start. The linguistic skills of 104 children were assessed shortly before school entry. Their parents were asked how old their children were when they first read to them and how often they had read to their children. Almost half of the study children were read to before they were 6 months old. The age at which children were first read to was closely associated with family characteristics such as socioeconomic status, the frequency with which children were read to as preschoolers, and with children’s linguistic and cognitive competencies. The findings imply that reading books to very young children indeed contributes meaningfully to a favorable home literacy environment and supports children’s language development.

Supporting children to resolve disputes

Teacher intervention in children’s disputes most commonly features cessation strategies, despite evidence showing the value of modelling problem-solving behaviours. Existing research has categorized strategies used by teachers in early childhood settings, but in this article we aim to illustrate how these practices are realized. Using the method of conversation analysis, we are able to show how children respond to different interventions, and in particular, how successful modelling of problem solving can be achieved with 4-year-old children. The extracts in this article make a case for the close study of teacher–child interactions and demonstrate how educators can support children to resolve their own disputes.

Bilingual children’s language learning in Australian early childhood education and care settings

Abstract Early language ability is a strong predictor of later language and reading outcomes. Whilst young children with home languages that differ from the dominant language spoken in their country of residence may lag behind their peers in literacy and academic achievement, effective supports for young dual-language users may be overlooked in mainstream learning contexts. We used data from the Australian E4Kids longitudinal study to test how N = 343 bilingual children’s development of verbal abilities was associated with the overall attendance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings with varying quality (kindergarten/preschool and other formal ECEC programmes) and with environmental room quality (ECERS-R) and quality of teacher–child interactions (CLASS). Bilinguals’ English language development was followed during the two years prior to school entry and during their first year of school. A comparison of formal ECEC settings revealed programmes of significantly higher quality in kindergarten settings and the development of bilingual children’s verbal abilities in the three-year period was significantly predicted by the total hours spent in kindergarten programmes, but not by total hours spent in all types of ECEC setting. No additional effect on the children’s verbal ability was found for ECEC programme quality.

Mathematics Knowledge in Early Childhood: Intentional Teaching in the Third Turn

Research that focuses on the quality of interactions in early childhood settings has shown the importance of attuned responses to facilitate children’s learning. This chapter details the practices of teachers designed to provide opportunities for children to demonstrate, explore and extend their mathematics knowledge. In other words, what intentional teaching looks like, and how it can be achieved in practice. Video-recorded observations of play-based numeracy activities across six early childhood education settings illustrate opportunities for learning and the importance of teacher talk, which is both evaluative and productive in facilitating participation of children with varying competencies.

Play-Based Mathematics Activities as a Resource for Changing Educator Attitudes and Practice:

This multiple case study explored early childhood educators’ implementation of a suite of play-based mathematics activities with children aged 3 to 5 years in six different early childhood education and care programs in Melbourne, Australia. Educators approached the enactment of the activities differently; however, those educators who used the activities reasonably frequently and with attention to the underpinning mathematical concepts reported an increase in their self-confidence in supporting children’s mathematical thinking. For these educators, increasing self-confidence, in conjunction with children’s enthusiasm, led to increased frequency and further gains in self-confidence. Some educators did not implement the activities and no change in attitude was observed. New ways to support early childhood mathematics teaching practice, as a means to challenge entrenched attitudes and beliefs, are needed.

Final report to the Partner Organisations for the Effective Early Education Experiences (E4Kids) Study

The Effective Early Educational Experiences (E4Kids) study was conceived almost a decade ago, after the release of Starting Strong II: the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) provision (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006). Since then, governments across Australia expanded investments in early childhood provision, both to promote the development of young children and to address women’s labour market participation. Since 2007, Australia also transformed its policy approach through the implementation of a National Quality Framework (NQF). The NQF aims to improve educational and developmental outcomes for children through their participation in ECEC programs. Longitudinal evidence on the transformative power of high-quality programs to raise the outcomes of young children, especially of children living in disadvantaged circumstances, was a key driver.