The place of kindergarteners in academia has grown more important in recent years. Increased emphasis on learning at the kindergarten level, however, should not blind educators to the developmental levels of four- and five-year-olds, who may learn most effectively by playing creatively and exploring new language skills. (PGD)

Reviews the ValueTale series of books which are designed to demonstrate how positive values influenced the lives of famous people. Concludes that they fall short of their goal. Points out that the series attempts to teach concepts beyond the understanding of the intended learners. (KO)

The main purpose of this study was the exploration of the relationship between first graders' performance on traditional readiness measures and their performance on an instrument based on Piagetian tasks. All correlations among the predictive indices considered were significant (p less than .01), as were the correlations of these measures with…

Suggested are a few topics or techniques which should not be presented in planetarium astronomy until appropriate levels of potential comprehension are reached. (EB)

Argues that teachers should encourage critical thinking among primary school students. Asserts that readiness exercises can help students develop the mental reasoning skills necessary for critical thinking. Suggests (1) posing questions that elicit reflective responses; (2) encouraging students to ask questions to obtain information; and (3)…

Many parents question whether their children are ready for kindergarten and whether they can succeed. Teachers must determine where students stand as they guide them through their kindergarten skills. Parents can hone their children's kindergarten-readiness skills at home by providing creative, challenging activities that prepare them for the…

Assessing readiness among young children today implies undertaking a broad range of observations and activities in an atmosphere where children can feel comfortable and interested. Until recently, readiness meant readiness for reading. A mental age of six and a half was accepted as the prerequisite for beginning reading instruction. There has…

Within the multidisciplinary setting of the Brookline Early Education Project, the present investigation examined the relationship between observations of parents, pediatricians, psychologists and teachers. The study was designed to examine two questions: (1) Are systematically collected parent reports of their children's current development…

To examine language outcomes related to language acquisition and academic readiness, this study followed a group of toddlers with slow expressive language development (SELD) through their kindergarten year. Subjects were 27 children between 20 and 34 months who produced fewer than 50 words or no 2-word combinations on L. Resconla's (1989) Language…

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…

This study examined the views of 176 kindergarten teachers regarding those skills children need to be successful in kindergarten. Teachers ranked 149 skills within 5 domains: gross motor, fine motor, general knowledge and school readiness, language, and social. Findings indicated that items related to academic readiness were not seen as critical…

Noting that the latest messages communicated to the public about the learning problems of American children emphasize children's lack of social maturity and premature school entry, this book examines the many complex issues surrounding school readiness and entry. The 15 chapters are divided into 4 sections. The first section includes an…

This paper describes the scope and findings of a separately published comprehensive review of research on optimum age of entry into first grade, covering the literature from 1915 to 1976. (Not included was research on reading, the gifted, mentally retarded, and materials in popular journals.) Findings noted the inadequacy of chronological age as a…

The purpose of this research study was to build and pilot a psychometric instrument, the Primary Childhood School Success Scale (PCSSS), to identify behaviors needed for children to be successful in first grade. Fifty-two teacher responses were collected. The instrument had a reliability coefficient (Alpha) of 0.95, a mean of 13.26, and a variance…

The Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (CSAB), a school-readiness test, is administered to all public school students at the beginning of Grade 1 in South Carolina. This test is designed to measure a student's readiness to begin the formal school curriculum. The number of beginning first graders tested in 1992 (54,357) represented a decrease from…