This paper provides for the elementary school teacher an introduction to the problem of mathematics readiness. The first part outlines the four developmental stages as seen by Piaget, and the manner in which schemata develop through the process of assimilation and accommodation. The second part consists of seven Piagetian tasks which a teacher may…

This paper examines research studies that have concluded that elementary school children can learn more difficult and abstract social studies concepts than are taught in the traditional social studies curriculum. Research studies that focus on constraints on cognition, the use of embedded concepts, and understanding knowledge restructuring and…

Children's learning of consumer economics concepts in two types of preschool teaching conditions was compared. Children in the Ausubelian program (high proportion of teacher-directed learning activities) achieved a significantly higher level of performance than did children in the Piagetian program (high proportion of child-directed activities.)…

Findings from two studies of fourth grade children learning the concept of mathematical equivalence are presented. The questions studied were: (1) Can knowledge conveyed in gesture but not in speech be tapped by a recognition technique; and (2) Does having implicit knowledge that is expressed in gesture but not in speech have implications for…

Perceptual-motor activities are being recognized as possible contributors to the general readiness of children for learning through the development of perceptual-motor abilities. The contribution of perceptual-motor activities to specific perceptual readiness skills is being reexamined. Readiness programs are generally designed to help children to…

Two studies explored the possibility of inducing conservation understanding in intellectually normal preschoolers and mildly mentally retarded children of comparable mental age. Retarded children, MA 3-10 to 5-0, received Verbal Rule instruction. Three- and 4-year-old children were given Verbal Rule training in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design…

Egocentrism was investigated as an influencing factor in the development of the perceptual abilities needed to understand and interpret topographic maps. Attainment of an adequate concept of space, and the ability to accurately perceive spatial relationships (perspectives) are considered fundamental. Piaget and Inhelder identified three stages of…

In a study of mathematics learning, taking a rule-oriented approach, students were taught to trade objects of type A for objects of types B and C. Children ranging from ages 7 to 9 were given rules for converting A to B and B to C and were then presented with the task of converting A to C. Of the 30, 6 succeeded. Of the 24 who failed, half were…

The development of economic reasoning in young children is examined from the theoretical perspective of Piaget's work on cognitive development. To determine a possible correlation between grade level and the type of reasoning children use to approach economic problems, 70 urban children, preschool through grade 3, answered questions which measured…

A paradigm for learning economic concepts based on cognitive development and learning theory is offered as a guideline for teaching and research. Discussion is divided into two sections. The first section establishes the model's theoretical framework, which is based on two propositions. The first of these is that economic knowledge is not a fixed…

This is the final report of the project entitled "A Study to Determine the Degree of Relationship between Linguistic Concepts and Structures in French as a Mother Tongue and Stages of Psychological Readiness of Students at the Junior and Intermediate Levels." The project's primary aim was to determine the psychological readiness, with…