Abstract
The effects of instructing kindergarten students (five-year-old in their first year of public school) on patterning were tested. Up to nine students in each class were randomly assigned to three groups in each of six classes, i.e., as many as three from a class in each group. One group received instruction on complex patterns similar to those employed by other researchers with first graders. Another group was instructed in early literacy, and another in early mathematics. For each group, the experimental instruction was scheduled in a counterbalanced order for 15 minutes in the morning, five days per week for most of the school year. When tested in late May-early June, the children taught patterning scored significantly better on a test of patterning. There were no significant differences on tests of mathematics and early literacy. However, there were correlations between the children’s patterning scores and some literacy scales.
Highlights
Instruction of preschoolers in “patterning” has been a staple of early education in some English-speaking countries for half a century
Children were subsequently randomly assigned to the patterning or literacy or mathematics conditions with the restriction that no more than three children per class be in each condition After attrition—one teacher withdrew her class and the families of other children moved—the final sample consisted of 14 children in the patterning condition, 13 in the math condition, and 15 in the literacy condition
The patterning children’s patterning scores were 36% higher than those of the children taught literacy, and 27% higher than those of the children taught mathematics
Summary
Instruction of preschoolers in “patterning” has been a staple of early education in some English-speaking countries for half a century. In the USA, it has been part of the Common Core for public education (Common Core) and has been recommended by professional organizations (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics or NCTM, 1993; NCTM /National Association for the Education of Young Children (2010/2014)). This form of instruction, termed “patterning”, typically consists of teaching children to recognize repeating patterns in which the elements alternate, e.g., ABABAB or ABBABB or AABAAB or AABBAABB. Instructional manuals exist (Ducolon, 2000; Jarboe & Sattler, 2003) but in any event the instruction is relatively easy for any adult to carry out
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