1,721,046 research outputs found
Subjects at risk for developmental coordination disorder: Emotional and cognitive aspects
No full textThe study was directed to an evaluation of intellectual and emotional profiles of children at risk for Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The participants were 136 children (aged 6-10 yrs). On the basis of a test for the evaluation of gross-motor abilities (TGM; Ulrich, 1985), two groups of children were identified: «risk for DCD» and controls. Participants were administered an intelligence test (K-BIT; Kaufman and Kaufman, 1990), and self-report questionnaires for the evaluation of anxiety and depression (TAD; Newcomer, Barenbaum and Bryant, 1995; Scala d'ansia per l'età evolutiva; Busnelli, Dall'Aglio and Faina, 1987; CDI; Kovacs, 1992). Results highlight significantly higher levels of anxiety in subjects at risk for DCD
Apprendere nella scuola dell’infanzia. Lo sviluppo dei prerequisiti
No full textLa scuola dell’infanzia rappresenta un periodo importante per lo sviluppo dei prerequisiti dell’apprendimento, ovvero per sviluppare quelle competenze di base che permettono ai bambini di essere preparati alla successiva acquisizione degli apprendimenti scolastici. La fase evolutiva dell’età prescolare richiede però che vengano rispettati alcuni principi importanti, relativi al carattere ludico, esperienziale e multi-sensoriale delle attività proposte.Il volume prende in esame i prerequisiti delle competenze di lettura, abilità matematica, scrittura e comprensione del testo, presentando i modelli teorici di riferimento e discutendo alcuni aspetti applicativi: quali abilità è importante osservare nei bambini in età prescolare? Come osservarle? E come potenziarle nel contesto quotidiano? Inoltre, viene considerato il ruolo delle competenze attentive e delle funzioni esecutive, illustrando anche in questo caso proposte di attività per la scuola dell’infanzia. Il libro propone una modalità di lavoro, basata su modelli teorici, che favorisce l’espressione del potenziale dei bambini, permettendo un passaggio più “fluido” alla scuola primaria. È destinato a insegnanti, educatori e genitori e può costituire un riferimento per studenti universitari in formazione su tematiche psicologiche e scolastiche
Disentangling the Impact of Bilingualism and SES in Literacy Skills of Language-Minority Bilingual Children and Monolingual Peers Exposed to French
Full text linkIn the present study, we aimed to disentangle the impact of bilingualism and socioeconomic status (SES) on literacy in language-minority bilingual children (LMBC) and monolinguals exposed to French. We also wanted to explore the role of these two factors on cognitive and language skills, i.e., verbal knowledge (VK), morphosyntactic comprehension (MC), and phonological short-term memory (PSTM), well known to be important predictors of literacy acquisition. We compared LMBC with low and medium-high SES, and monolinguals with low and medium-high SES. All the children attended Grades 3, 4, and 5. We found that LMBC underperformed monolinguals on VK and MC. Low SES children showed lower scores compared to medium-high SES children on VK, MC, and PSTM. With regard to literacy, LMBC underperformed monolinguals on text and irregular word reading. Low SES children underperformed medium-high SES children only in regular word reading and pseudoword spelling. As a whole, bilingualism had an effect on measures involving lexical components, while SES had a more widespread effect on cognitive and language skills. The results are discussed considering implications for research, clinical, and educational settings
How parents’ perceived value of the heritage language predicts their children’s skills
Full text linkThe growing field of family language policies (FLPs), defined as overt and explicit planning in relation to language use among family members, has garnered increasing interest. FLPs influence child–caretaker interactions and are closely linked to child language development and acquisition. This study investigates the impact of FLPs on children’s proficiency in their heritage language (HL). Employing a multi-method approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 53 multilingual parents to explore their beliefs, ideologies, and language management within the family context. Concurrently, their children were administered standardized tasks in their heritage language (HL) to assess receptive vocabulary skills and morphosyntactic comprehension. Our findings indicate that parents’ perceived value of the HL significantly correlates with their children’s language performance, going beyond the influence of reported domestic language usage
Symbolic versus non-symbolic training for improving early numeracy in preschoolers at risk of developing difficulties in mathematics
No full textBackground: Children's understanding of symbolic (e.g., Arabic digits) and non-symbolic (e.g., sets of dots) magnitudes plays a key role in their mathematics achievement, but only a few studies directly compared the effects of symbolic and non-symbolic interventions on mathematical abilities. Aims: This longitudinal study compared the impact of symbolic and non-symbolic trainings in a group of preschoolers at risk of developing difficulties in mathematics (RM), analyzing their post-intervention performance both in early math skills (last preschool year) and in mathematics achievement in 1st grade. Methods: Eighty-nine RM children and 66 typically developing controls were selected from among 604 preschoolers. RM children were assigned to three intervention conditions: no intervention, symbolic or non-symbolic intervention. Results: Results showed specific effects on tasks related to the training (e.g., effects of symbolic training on symbolic tasks) and some effects of generalization (e.g., effects of symbolic training on non-symbolic tasks). In 1st grade, children attending the symbolic intervention showed a mathematics achievement profile similar to that of typically developing peers. Conclusions: These results suggest the importance of training the symbolic processing of numbers at preschool age, allowing at risk children to catch up with their peers before entering formal schooling
Oral language predictors of word reading and spelling: A cross-linguistic comparison in bilingual and monolingual children
Full text linkThe current study investigated linguistic predictors of word reading and spelling skills in a cross-linguistic comparison (French vs. Italian) in heritage bilinguals (HBs) and their monolingual peers. The sample included 265 children (French: n = 113; 67 monolinguals and 46 HBs; Italian: n = 152; 82 monolinguals and 70 HBs) attending Grades 3, 4, and 5 while performing oral language, reading, and spelling tasks. The battery included verbal knowledge, morphosyntactic comprehension, nonword repetition, word reading (speed and accuracy), and spelling tasks. Results showed that for reading speed, there were no main effects of single predictors, but a significant interaction of morphosyntactic comprehension by language of schooling emerged. For reading accuracy, there was a main effect of verbal knowledge and syntactic comprehension, with a significant interaction of verbal knowledge and language of schooling. Finally, spelling accuracy was predicted only by linguistic status. The results suggest different pathways for word reading and spelling, with oral language skills’ main role in reading accuracy and linguistic status's main role in spelling skills, possibly hindered by linguistic exposure and lexical access. Discussions are focused on potential implications for multilingual settings and cross-linguistic research
Parents’ and Children’s Emotional Well-Being and Language Beliefs in Heritage Bilingual Families
Full text linkThe present study aimed to examine how parents' psychological characteristics and positive beliefs about multilingualism predict children's emotional well-being in 51 multilingual families with an immigrant background. Parents were interviewed to assess their beliefs about multilingualism and completed a battery of questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, psychological distress, parental competence, quality of life, and acculturative stress. They also completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), which assessed their children's socio-emotional and behavioral characteristics. The results from regression analyses showed that parents' depressive symptoms were significant concurrent predictors of children's conduct problems. In contrast, higher acculturation stress was associated with more emotional problems and better prosociality in children, although the stronger predictor for the latter variable was parents' self-efficacy. Positive beliefs about bilingualism were not related to children's well-being. The discussion highlights the importance of targeting parents' depressive traits and acculturation stress as possible risk factors for children's emotional and behavioral problems. Conversely, fostering parental self-efficacy may promote children's prosociality
Magnitude Comparisons, Number Knowledge and Calculation in VeryPreterm Children and Children With Specific Learning Disability: A Cross-Population Study Using Eye-Tracking
Full text linkDifficulties in mathematics have been described in very preterm children, but their origins are not well understood and may differ from other populations with specific learning disability. Very preterm children, children with learning disability, and typically developing children were compared in mathematics skills, using standardized tools, experimental tasks, and eye-tracker measures. We assessed symbolic and nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, number knowledge, calculation, as well as cognitive skills of 103 Italian-speaking fourth and fifth graders. Compared to typically developing peers, very preterm children showed delays in number knowledge, slower reaction times in nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, and an atypical gaze exploration characterized by more and shorter fixations that lacked a target preference. The profile of mathematics skills of very preterm children appeared different from that of children with learning disability. Although both populations showed mainly preserved cognitive skills and slower reaction times in nonsymbolic magnitude comparisons, children with specific learning disability showed more severe impairments in calculation and were slower in symbolic magnitude comparisons, compared to very preterm children. Including eye-tracking measures in preterm follow-up programs and planning tailored interventions are recommended
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