The early learning world is full of news these days about babies learning math, new money for home visiting efforts and the importance of confident teachers. Check out the news below as you drink that second cup of coffee.

Babies may be smarter than many thought: Infants can begin to organize numbers, space and time, suggesting they sort their new worlds in a clearer way than some thought, ScienceDaily reported  this week, citing new research.

"We've shown that 9-month-olds are sensitive to 'more than' or 'less than' relations across the number, size and duration of objects,” Stella Lourenco, an Emory University psychologist who led the research, said in the story.

"If we are not born with this system, it appears that it develops very quickly …Either way, I think it's amazing how we use quantity information to make sense of the world,"  Lourenco added.

Check out the article.

$1.5 Billion for Home Visiting: The federal government is getting ready to start sending out $1.3 billion for home visiting programs and Washington State could win $1.3 million in the first round, the Children’s Alliance reports. Earlier this year, Congress and President Barack Obama approved the money as part of the huge health care reform law.

Confident Teachers Help with Reading: Confident teachers may help preschoolers with early literacy, HealthDay News reports via the U.S. News & World Report.

Highly confident teachers and emotional support in the classroom play important roles in helping preschoolers learn language and literacy skills, a new study has found. – Health Day. “Preschoolers' Skills Get Boost From Confident Teachers,” 6/11/10.

Parents and teachers know sleep matters and now research suggests preschoolers who have regular and early bedtimes score better on math, literacy and language tests.

The study found regular bedtime “was the most consis­tent predictor of positive developmental outcomes at age four.”

Scores for receptive and expressive language, phonological awareness, literacy and early math abilities were higher in children whose parents reported having rules about what time their child goes to bed. – “Study Links Regular Bedtimes to Better Language, Reading and Math Skills in Preschool Children,” 6/7/10.

The problem is researchers also found many kids do not get enough sleep, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which released a summary of the study this week. Preschoolers should sleep at least 11 hours a night, the group recommends.

“Getting parents to set bedtime routines can be an important way to make a significant impact on children's emergent literacy and language skills,” Erika Gaylor, PhD, lead author of the study and an early childhood policy researcher at the non-profit SRI International, said in a statement. “Pediatricians can easily promote regular bedtimes with parents and children, behaviors which in turn lead to healthy sleep.”

The group also recommends telling and reading bedtime stories as part of a routine that will help kids fall asleep. Yesterday, The Juggle reported a different study found links between poor sleep and bad behavior among grade schoolers.

(Thanks to Bloomberg BusinessWeek for highlighting this research.)

Are the Kids All Right? Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd kicks off a series of hearings  today on the “State of the American Child.”

Hearings will examine all aspects of children’s lives: their health from birth to adulthood, their educational experience in and out of the classroom, and their life at home with their families and in their communities; with the focus of the hearings being on the inter-connectedness of all these aspects and how they shape and define the lives of our children. – “Dodd Launches Landmark Series of Hearings: The State of the American Child.”

We will try to check back and see if senators find answers to the hearings’ questions, which include:

• What do our children need to succeed?
• How are we doing in providing those resources?

Little blocks, big blocks, square blocks, round blocks, wooden blocks, foam blocks, cardboard blocks ... blocks everywhere!
 
BLOCKFest is a building extravaganza for parents and children 8 months to 8 years of age. Block play helps children develop early math, science and literacy skills while having lots of fun.
 
This week on Learning for Life, see BLOCKFest in action at a local event and learn more about how this traveling program, developed by Idaho Parents As Teachers and sponsored locally by Thurston Early Childhood Coalition, helps families give their children a good start with important skills.

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org.

Past Learning for Life series and specials are available for viewing on Thrive's Web site.

It is a quiet day on the early learning front, but there are a few interesting developments, including a new list of great math books for preschoolers.

The list compliments fresh research on how preschoolers can grasp more advanced mathematical ideas than many thought – measuring, basic geometry and relationships. Now, the Erikson Institute is developing a list of books “that are great for early math lessons.”

So far, it includes:

• “Tikki Tikki Tembo” by Arleen Mosel
• “The Doorbell Rang” by Pat Hutchins
• “One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab” by April Sayre
• “Five Creatures” by Emily Jenkins
• “Color Farm” by Lois Ehlert

The list is the brainchild of Mary Hynes-Berry, who works at the Institute’s Early Mathematics Education Project. You can add your favorite early learning math books on the Institute’s Facebook page here.

Texting Helps Literacy? While it wasn’t focused on preschoolers, a new British study found that children who send a lot of text messages may be improving their spelling, the BBC News reports.

So when pupils replace or remove sounds, letters or syllables - such as "l8r" for "later" or "hmwrk" for "homework" - it requires an understanding of what the original word should be.

Instead of texting being a destructive influence on learners, the academics argue that it offers them a chance to "practise reading and spelling on a daily basis". – Phone texting 'helps pupils to spell,' BBC, 1/20/10.

Siblings Matter: Finally, parents may think they play the biggest role in raising their children, but helpful siblings also are major players, Sixty Second Parent reports.

"We know that having a positive relationship with siblings is related to a whole host of better outcomes for teenagers and adults," (Laurie) Kramer (an applied family studies professor in the human and community development department at the University of Illinois) said.

 

 

Math matters.

We all know math is a big deal from kindergarten to 12th grade, but preschoolers need to start studying it, and not just counting and shapes, but more difficult topics, such as geometry, according to the latest buzz among education leaders.

The good news is these experts suggest early education students often actually like math – I know my son does.

It is now obvious why math matters. Politicians, parents and policy researchers worry about the nation’s relatively weak math and science skills and how that impacts our global competitiveness. But, preschoolers don’t have to worry about economics, instead they can focus on the fun sides of math, as long as it’s taught the correct ways, researchers say.

Over at The Early Ed Watch Blog, Lisa Guernsey has the freshest and some of the most down-to-earth ideas on math for the preschool set, and she offers an important reason why we should care.

“Two years ago, in an influential article in the journal Developmental Psychology, researchers reported that mathematics skills trumped reading skills as one of the best predictors of success in the later school years. As policy makers and educators continue to search for the best ways to close the achievement gap, you can bet that math education for young children will be attracting more and more attention,”  -- “Make Way for Morning Math: A Modest Proposal for Lifting Math Achievement,” 11/5/09.

Guernsey doesn’t call for a frenzy of flashcards. Instead, she suggests that parents add math to their daily routines. (Check out her full article, it’s a good read.)

At my house, we counted jellybeans this Halloween and occasionally do math at the breakfast table. Now we are going to ask the kids to count how many cookies mom and dad eat after they go to bed and then calculate the new total. It sounds like we should add some pizza-based fractions.

There is a lot of information about math and early learning. Here are a few reports and commentary to get started:

•  
  •  “Math and Science in Preschool: Policies and Practice,” March 2009, National Institute for Early Education Research.
  • “Yet More Evidence: It’s Time to Strengthen Math, Science in Pre-K,” Preschool Matters…Today blog, NIEER, 10/23/09.
  • “Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity” National Research Council’s Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics, 2009. Preview it here. You can also read a free executive summary on this website.

My kindergartener has always liked math, whether he was organizing his blocks, learning to count to ten or tackling basic addition.

Now, a new report from the National Research Council calls for a systemic approach to teaching math in preschool. It argues preschoolers are not only ready for mathematics, but that basic arithmetic can help close the achievement gap.

This is particularly the case for economically disadvantaged children, who start out behind in mathematics and will remain so without extensive, high-quality early mathematics instruction. —“Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood: Paths Toward Excellence and Equity.” In fact, academic activities such as mathematics can be a context in which social-emotional development and the foundations of language and literacy flourish.

The report later suggests math could follow on the success of the early literacy effort, which has taken hold at so many schools.  This idea doesn’t sound farfetched in our high-tech world.

Given the increasing importance of science and technology in everyday life and for gaining entry into many careers, it's crucial that we give all children a strong foundation in math and that we start many years before they enter formal schooling. —The report, as quoted by ScienceDaily.   

While we may not be able to argue with the importance of arithmetic, the report adds another layer of recommendations to those already weighing down early learning educators and policymakers. For example, authors offer the common suggestion of more training, but many preschools already struggle to pay for training in established subjects and skills.

Yet, the report suggests this is an investment we can’t skip because math is a key to resolving one of pre-k’s greatest challenges: closing the achievement gap.
How would you get math into preschool?

(Thanks to ScienceDaily and Pre-K Now for breaking the news and highlighting this report.)

I came across United Kingdom-based research this morning that shows both medium and high quality preschools pay dividends by bolstering math and English achievement later in school.

Children gained most benefit from having attended high quality pre-school provision, but medium quality provision also led to better Mathematics and social/behavioural outcomes in Year 6 than low quality or no pre-school (the ‘home’ group). – Effective Pre-School and Primary Education 3-11 Project (EPPE 3-11): Influences on Children's Cognitive and Social Development in Year 6.

The research brief suggests low-quality preschool offers little long-term social and cognitive help, and can hinder some development.

Low quality pre-school has little enduring benefit in terms of academic and social/behavioural outcomes in the longer term and was even associated with some poorer social outcomes in comparison with the ‘home’ group, although not for ‘Pro-social’ behaviour. – Effective Pre-School and Primary Education.

The paper is full of interesting findings, such as how quality early learning helps girls versus boys, kids with special needs and disadvantaged children. 

For academic outcomes, particularly Mathematics, and for all social/behavioural
outcomes, having attended a high quality preschool is found to be of particular benefit for boys, children with special educational needs (SEN) and disadvantaged children – Effective Pre-school.

In fact, researchers suggest children from poor families benefit more from quality preschools than their more advantaged peers. Plus, they highlighted the importance of a good home life.        

Thus the disadvantage of not attending pre-school is countered if children have good early years learning experiences at home. Similarly, the disadvantage of poor Early years HLE is ameliorated by high quality pre-school. Both aspects of early influence still show an impact on longer term development up to age 11.

I would love to hear the thoughts of researchers and advocates on the benefits and limits of these findings.

Any thoughts?

(Thanks to the National Institute for Early Education Research for highlighting this report.)