The impact of junior kindergarten on math skills in elementary school children
Authors: Linda S. Pagani, Denis Larocque, Richard E. Tremblay, and Pierre Lapointe
Overview
Abstract (English)
Using data from the first cycle of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, this study examines the impact of junior kindergarten on children’s later skills in math, above and beyond regional differences and individual/ household factors. It was hypothesized that earlier schooling would better prepare children for first formal learning of arithmetic, resulting in a more developed knowledge-base for optimal performance at the middle and end of elementary school. We also hypothesized that junior kindergarten attendance would reduce the performance gap between children from economically disadvantaged and those from advantaged families. Our results suggest that earlier schooling did not provide the cognitive boost that would lead to better performance in arithmetic, especially for girls. These results are above and beyond a number of controls (sex, age, region, SES, family functioning, family configuration, education, and family size). Junior kindergarten attendance did not help bridge the performance gap based on economic advantage/disadvantage. Primary school children from poor families who attended junior kindergarten did not perform on a par with their middle-class peers. This study makes an important case for enrichment in the central conceptual structures related to intuitive and informal mathematical knowledge through games and activities potentially featured in the junior kindergarten curriculum.
Abstract (French)
Please note that abstracts only appear in the language of the publication and might not have a translation.
Details
Type | Journal article |
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Author | Linda S. Pagani, Denis Larocque, Richard E. Tremblay, and Pierre Lapointe |
Publication Year | 2004 |
Title | The impact of junior kindergarten on math skills in elementary school children |
Volume | 19 |
Journal Name | Canadian Journal of School Psychology |
Number | 2-Jan |
Pages | 117-136 |
Publication Language | English |
- Linda S. Pagani
- Linda S. Pagani, Denis Larocque, Richard E. Tremblay, and Pierre Lapointe
- The impact of junior kindergarten on math skills in elementary school children
- Canadian Journal of School Psychology
- 19
- 2004
- 2-Jan
- 117-136