Journal articles on the topic 'Taiwanese preschool children'

Pencil grip is an aspect of handwriting that has been addressed by occupational therapists who treat children with handwriting difficulties. However, there has been little research investigating the developmental progression of pencil grip in Taiwanese children. Without knowledge of normal development, therapists cannot justify a diagnosis of “unusual” or “bizarre” pencil grips. This study was designed to investigate the developmental progression in pencil grips in Taiwanese children. The subjects were 326 children aged 2.5 to 6.4 years. The type of grips each child used to perform a drawing task was videotaped. A developmental assessment of pencil grips compiled by Schneck and Henderson was used to rate children's grip positions. A developmental pregression was noted and 14 grip patterns were identified. About half of the 3- to 3.4-year old children were able to employ a mature grip when drawing in a 7.89 cm x7 cm box. By the age of 4, about three fourths of the children were able to use mature grips to draw. For children aged 5 years and older, the percentage increased to more than 90%. Comparison of the results with those of Schneck and Henderson (1990) suggests that Taiwanese children 3.5 to 5.9 years of age are more advanced than American children of the same age. In addition, the percentage of Taiwanese children using the lateral tripod is much higher than that of American children. Possible reasons for these differences are proposed. Implications for occupational therapy and suggestions for future studies are discussed.

In this research I investigated the views preschool educators in Taiwan on play and the role of play in the curriculum. Adopting a qualitative methodology, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 educators at preschools affiliated with elementary schools. The results indicate that preschool educators generally agree that, in addition to being a source of happiness for children, play also promotes learning and development. Thus play is seen as a meaningful learning activity which has a unique and valuable role in the preschool curriculum. However, the findings also indicate that participants need to give more attention to observing and understanding their children’s abilities, interests, and developmental stages, so as to adopt a suitable role in various types of play and find the optimal balance between play and structured learning.

Occupational aspirations have mainly been investigated with teenagers, high school students, and adults. Following Gottfredson's (1981, 2002) theory of circumscription and compromise, in which it is proposed that occupational aspirations originate in the preschool years, in this study the occupational aspirations of 1,044 preschool children in Taiwan were explored. Children who attended 38 kindergartens and were between the ages of 5 and 6, expressed their preferences about and gender orientations towards occupations and careers. In general, the occupations Taiwanese children said they most desired to pursue were teaching, being police officers, and working as doctors. Most children can recognize the occupations of their parents at this stage, and the results in this research show that children still identify strongly with their parents' stereotypical occupations. More boys than girls showed a preference for masculine-dominated occupations. More girls than boys showed a preference for nontraditional occupations. Factors that influence occupational aspirations were found to be parental identification and identifying with the role of teachers.

This paper aims to examine to what extent preschool Mandarin Chinese-speaking children can create an autonomous replica play narrative. Twenty-four Taiwanese children, 12 four-year-olds and 12 six-year-olds, participated in this study. The focus of investigation is on the linguistic resources (i.e., temporal and referential devices) the children use to maintain story lines and to mark shifts between types of talk in replica play. Developmental shifts are evident in these children's use of temporal and referential devices to build up a coherent play narrative. The four-year-olds exhibit a great difficulty sustaining their narrative talk, making use of temporal devices, and managing reference in their replica play. The six-year-olds, in comparison, use clearer reference and more temporal and causal connectives, but their ability to achieve autonomy in play narratives is limited. Developmental differences found in this study, in general, accord with crosslinguistic results.

Similar to some other countries in East Asia, Taiwan has been experiencing a dramatic increase in children born to cross-border mothers. This phenomenon has drawn national attention to the school performance gap between children of Taiwanese and immigrant mothers. The present study focuses on the factors associated with these academic performance differences, in particular differential access to social capital or resources, and the community context. Drawing on data from a stratified sample of 940 elementary students in a county in central Taiwan, the researcher first illustrates the educational disadvantage of children born to Southeast Asian mothers. Second, the shortage of within-family social capital is shown to contribute to the performance gap between schoolchildren within different maternal ethnic backgrounds. Third, students’ preschool experience, educational attitudes, and behaviors all have positive association with their academic performance. In addition, the effects of within-family social capital and of maternal ethnic background can be moderated by community characteristics that show a broad picture of human capital, and socioeconomic status and heterogeneity of residents within school districts.

Many studies have shown a link between being competent in early mathematics and achievement in school. Early math skills have the potential to be the best predictors of later performance in reading and mathematics. Movement and songs are activities that children like, making it easier for teachers to apply mathematical concepts through this method. This study aims to develop audio-visual learning media in the form of songs with a mixture of western and traditional musical idioms, accompanied by movements that represent some of the teaching of early mathematics concepts. The stages of developing the ADDIE model are the basis for launching new learning media products related to math and art, and also planting the nation's cultural arts from an early age. These instructional media products were analyzed by experts and tested for their effectiveness through experiments on five children aged 3-4 years. The qualitative data were analyzed using transcripts of field notes and observations and interpreted in a descriptive narrative. The quantitative data were analyzed using gain score statistics. The results showed that there was a significant increase in value for early mathematical understanding of the concepts of geometry, numbers and measurement through this learning medium. The results of the effectiveness test become the final basis of reference for revision and complement the shortcomings of this learning medium. Further research can be carried out to develop other mathematical concepts through motion and song learning media, and to create experiments with a wider sample. Keywords: Early Mathematical Skills, Movement and Song Idiom Traditional, Audio-visual Learning Media References An, S. A., & Tillman, D. A. (2015). Music activities as a meaningful context for teaching elementary students mathematics: a quasi-experiment time series design with random assigned control group. European Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 3(1), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep15999 An, S., Capraro, M. M., & Tillman, D. A. (2013). Elementary Teachers Integrate Music Activities into Regular Mathematics Lessons: Effects on Students’ Mathematical Abilities. Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.21977/d99112867 Austin, A. M. B., Blevins-Knabe, B., Ota, C., Rowe, T., & Lindauer, S. L. K. (2011). Mediators of preschoolers’ early mathematics concepts. Early Child Development and Care, 181(9), 1181–1198. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2010.520711 Barrett, J. E., Cullen, C., Sarama, J., Miller, A. L., & Rumsey, C. (2011). Children ’ s unit concepts in measurement : a teaching experiment spanning grades 2 through 5. 637–650. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-011-0368-8 Basco, R. O. (2020). Effectiveness of Song, Drill and Game Strategy in Improving Mathematical Performance. 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Mathematics Learning in Early Chidhood Paths Toward Excellence and Equity. The National Academies Press. Geary, D. C. (2011). Cognitive predictors of achievement growth in mathematics: A 5-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 47(6), 1539–1552. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025510 Geary, D. C. (2012). Learning Disabilities and Persistent Low Achievement in Mathematics. J Dev Behav Pediatr., 32(3), 250–263. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0b013e318209edef.Consequences Gejard, G., & Melander, H. (2018). Mathematizing in preschool : children ’ s participation in geometrical discourse. 1807. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2018.1487143 Harususilo, Y. E. (2020). Skor PISA Terbaru Indonesia, Ini 5 PR Besar Pendidikan pada Era Nadiem Makarim. https://pusmenjar.kemdikbud.go.id/ Hsiao, T. (1999). Romanticism with Deep Affection: Selected Articles About the Music of Hsiao Tyzen (Hengzhe Lin (ed.)). Wang Chun Feng Wen Hua Fa Xing. Kasuya-Ueba, Y., Zhao, S., & Toichi, M. (2020). The Effect of Music Intervention on Attention in Children: Experimental Evidence. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14(July), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00757 Kołodziejski, M., Králová, P. D. E., & Hudáková, P. D. J. (2014). Music and Movement Activities and Their Impact on Musicality and Healthy Development of a Child. Journal of Educational Revies, 7(4). Kristanto, W. (2020). Javanese Traditional Songs for Early Childhood Character Education. 14(1), 169–184. Litkowski, E. C., Duncan, R. J., Logan, J. A. R., & Purpura, D. J. (2020). When do preschoolers learn specific mathematics skills? Mapping the development of early numeracy knowledge. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 195, 104846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104846 Logvinova, O. K. (2016). Socio-pedagogical approach to multicultural education at preschool. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 233(May), 206–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.203 Lopintsova, O., Paloniemi, K., & Wahlroos, K. (2012). Multicultural Education through Expressive Methods in Early Childhood Education. Ludwig, M. ., Marklein, M. ., & Song, M. (2016). Arts Integration: A Promising Approach to Improving Early Learning. American Institutes for Research. Macdonald, A., & Lowrie, T. (2011). Developing measurement concepts within context : Children ’ s representations of length. 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-011-0002-7 Mans, M. (2002). Playing The Music- Comparing Perfomance of Children’s Song and dance in Traditional and Contemporary Namibian Education. In The Arts in Children’s Live (pp. 71–86). Kluwer Academic Publishers. Maričić, S. M., & Stamatović, J. D. (2017). The Effect of Preschool Mathematics Education in Development of Geometry Concepts in Children. 8223(9), 6175–6187. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.01057a Missall, K., Hojnoski, R. L., Caskie, G. I. L., & Repasky, P. (2015). Home Numeracy Environments of Preschoolers: Examining Relations Among Mathematical Activities, Parent Mathematical Beliefs, and Early Mathematical Skills. Early Education and Development, 26(3), 356–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2015.968243 Moreno, S., Bialystok, E., Barac, R., Schellenberg, E. G., Cepeda, N. J., & Chau, T. (2011). Short-term music training enhances verbal intelligence and executive function. Psychological Science, 22(11), 1425–1433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611416999 Nketia, J. H. K. (1982). Developing Contemporary Idioms out of Traditional Music. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 24, 81. https://doi.org/10.2307/902027 Nyota, S., & Mapara, J. (2008). Shona Traditional Children ’ s Games and Play : Songs as Indigenous Ways of Knowing. English, 2(4), 189–203. Östergren, R., & Träff, U. (2013). Early number knowledge and cognitive ability affect early arithmetic ability. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(3), 405–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2013.03.007 Pantoja, N., Schaeffer, M. W., Rozek, C. S., Beilock, S. L., & Levine, S. C. (2020). Children’s Math Anxiety Predicts Their Math Achievement Over and Above a Key Foundational Math Skill. Journal of Cognition and Development, 00(00), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2020.1832098 Papadakis, Stamatios, Kalogiannakis, M., & Zaranis, N. (2017). Improving Mathematics Teaching in Kindergarten with Realistic Mathematical Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(3), 369–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0768-4 Papadakis, Stamatios, Kalogiannakis, M., & Zaranis, N. (2018). The effectiveness of computer and tablet assisted intervention in early childhood students’ understanding of numbers. An empirical study conducted in Greece. Education and Information Technologies, 23(5), 1849–1871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9693-7 Papadakis, Stamatis, Kalogiannakis, M., & Zaranis, N. (2016). Comparing Tablets and PCs in teaching Mathematics: An attempt to improve Mathematics Competence in Early Childhood Education. Preschool and Primary Education, 4(2), 241. https://doi.org/10.12681/ppej.8779 Paul, T. (2019). Mathematics and music : loves and fights To cite this version. PISA worldwide ranking; Indonesia’s PISA results show need to use education resources more efficiently, (2016). Phyfferoen, D. (2019). The Dagbon Hiplife Zone in Northern Ghana Contemporary Idioms of Music Making in Tamale. 1(2), 81–104. Purpura, D. J., Napoli, A. R., & King, Y. (2019). Development of Mathematical Language in Preschool and Its Role in Learning Numeracy Skills. In Cognitive Foundations for Improving Mathematical Learning (1st ed., Vol. 5). Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-815952-1.00007-4 Ribeiro, F. S., & Santos, F. H. (2020). Persistent Effects of Musical Training on Mathematical Skills of Children With Developmental Dyscalculia. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(January), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02888 Roa, R., & IA, C. (2020). Learning Music and Math, Together as One: Towards a Collaborative Approach for Practicing Math Skills with Music. In I. T. (eds) Nolte A., Alvarez C., Hishiyama R., Chounta IA., Rodríguez-Triana M. (Ed.), Collaboration Technologies and Social Computing. Col (Vol. 26, Issue 5, pp. 659–669). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58157-2_10 Sarama, J., & Clements, D. H. (2006a). Mathematics, Young Students, and Computers: Software, Teaching Strategies and Professional Development. The Mathematics Educato, 9(2), 112–134. Sarama, J., & Clements, D. H. (2006b). Mathematics in early childhood. International Journal of Early Childhood, 38(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03165980 Sarkar, J., & Biswas, U. (2015). The role of music and the brain development of children. 4(8), 107–111. Sheridan, K. M., Banzer, D., Pradzinski, A., & Wen, X. (2020). Early Math Professional Development: Meeting the Challenge Through Online Learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 48(2), 223–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00992-y Silver, A. M., Elliott, L., & Libertus, M. E. (2021). When beliefs matter most: Examining children’s math achievement in the context of parental math anxiety. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 201, 104992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104992 Sterner, G., Wolff, U., & Helenius, O. (2020). Reasoning about Representations: Effects of an Early Math Intervention. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64(5), 782–800. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2019.1600579 Temple, B. A., Bentley, K., Pugalee, D. K., Blundell, N., & Pereyra, C. M. (2020). Using dance & movement to enhance spatial awareness learning. Athens Journal of Education, 7(2), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.7-2-2 Thippana, J., Elliott, L., Gehman, S., Libertus, K., & Libertus, M. E. (2020). Parents’ use of number talk with young children: Comparing methods, family factors, activity contexts, and relations to math skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 249–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.05.002 Tsai, Y. (2017). Taiwanese Traditional Musical Idioms Meet Western Music Composition: An Analytical and Pedagogical Approach to Solo Piano Works by Tyzen Hsiao. http://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1398 Upadhyaya, D. (2017). Benefits of Music and Movement in young children. Furtados School of Music. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/benefits-music-movement-young-children-dharini-upadhyaya Vennberg, H., Norqvist, M., Bergqvist, E., Österholm, M., Granberg, C., & Sumpter, L. (2018). Counting on: Long Term Effects of an Early Intervention Programme. 4, 355–362. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-148101 Verdine, B. N., Lucca, K. R., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-, K., & Newcombe, N. S. (2015). The Shape of Things : The Origin of Young Children ’ s Knowledge of the Names and Properties of Geometric Forms. 8372(October). https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2015.1016610 Wakabayashi, T., Andrade-Adaniya, F., Schweinhart, L. J., Xiang, Z., Marshall, B. A., & Markley, C. A. (2020). The impact of a supplementary preschool mathematics curriculum on children’s early mathematics learning. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.04.002 Wardani, I. K., Djohan, & Sittiprapaporn, P. (2018). The difference of brain activities of musical listeners. 1st International ECTI Northern Section Conference on Electrical, Electronics, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering, ECTI-NCON 2018, 181–184. https://doi.org/10.1109/ECTI-NCON.2018.8378307 Winter, E., & Seeger, P. (2015). The Important Role of Music in Early Childhood Learning. Independent School. Zaranis, N., Kalogiannakis, M., & Papadakis, S. (2013). Using Mobile Devices for Teaching Realistic Mathematics in Kindergarten Education. Creative Education, 04(07), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2013.47a1001

<p class="apa">The objectives of the study were to investigate the current status of applying picture books when teaching children and to also compare the differences in picture book teaching between teachers with different background variables and who are from Taiwan’s outlying islands. The researcher distributed 179 questionnaires, and after eliminating invalid questionnaires, 177 valid questionnaires were obtained, achieving a questionnaire efficiency of 98.88%. The quantitative data were analyzed by a t-test, ANOVA, Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression. The results were: 1. The overall status for picture book selection by early childhood educators was considered moderate to high. 2. The primary considerations for picture book selection were ‘theme’ and ‘adopting a child’s viewpoint’. 3. The overall status for the application of picture book teaching strategies among early childhood educators was considered moderate to high. 4. The application of picture book teaching strategies was centered on ‘strategies for the promotion of thinking and activities’ and ‘developing diverse abilities in children’. 5. There is a positive correlation and predictive power between selecting and using picture books by preschool educators.</p>

Game-Based Learning (GBL) today involves the use of computers and video games specifically aimed at producing learning outcomes among children. Most games are designed to balance different subject matters and to assess the ability of the learners in retaining or applying the acquired knowledge. Children enjoy playing games and are completely involved in the activity for its own sake. “Flow State” refers to the amplification of a child’s concentration, interest, and mindsets while learning. This study intends to verify children’s preferences and interests in Game-based Learning. The study used big data analysis and methods to let children play 10 different games. The results will answer the following questions: 1. How long can children stay engaged while playing digital games? What is the relation between the length of engagement and their flow state? 2. Do children’s preferences in games differ between genders? 3. What are the children's preferences in games regarding different ages? 4. What are the relations between children's interests and achievements? Is children’s flow state related to their learning performances? The study answered the above questions in a quality-focused manner as a reference to the game design for early childhood and preschool teachers.

Objective: Studies among Western children have observed that the peak oxygen consumption (peak V˙O2) of boys is higher than that of girls, and this difference increases as children progress through adolescence. However, the maturation process and social expectation toward Eastern boys and girls are much different from their Western counterparts. This study aimed to provide baseline information on cardiopulmonary fitness (CRF) of Taiwanese children and adolescents in relation to age and sex. We also evaluated the correlation between body mass and CRF and compared the CRF between non-obese and overweight/obese children.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of children and adolescents aged 4–18 years in Taiwan. Participants were classified into four groups based on age (group 1, aged 4–6; group 2, aged 7–9; group 3, aged 10–13; and group 4, aged 14–18 years). All participants completed symptom-limited exercise test by treadmill and anthropometric measurements through bioelectrical impedance method.Results: In total, 897 (448 men, 449 women) participants were analyzed. Boys had higher peak V˙O2 (all p &lt; 0.01) and peak metabolic equivalent (MET, all p &lt; 0.05) than girls in all the four groups. Age significantly (P &lt; 0.001) correlated with peak V˙O2 in all participants, boys, and girls, with coefficients of determination (R2) of 0.9349, 0.9433, and 0.9085, respectively. The peak V˙O2 (all p &lt; 0.001) of all the groups and peak MET (all p &lt; 0.05) of group 2–4 associated with BMI and FMI modestly to moderately. Non-obese children had higher peak MET in group 1 (p = 0.049) and group 2–4 (all p &lt; 0.001) than overweight/obese children significantly.Conclusions: The difference in peak V˙O2 and anthropometry–body composition between sexes was observed earlier in children in Taiwan than those in Western countries. Non-obese children had better CRF than overweight/obese children and the difference presented since preschool age.

In Taiwan, the low birth rate has become one of the most critical problems faced by the government and educational institutions at all levels. The enrolling student number of kindergartens perhaps is the most directly affected by such trend. The purpose of this study aims at constructing a system dynamics model to depict the relationships between the preschool children and their stakeholders for deducing the evolutionary trends of, and the interactions of, government-related policies and the operations of the early childhood education institutions. Through the interpretation of policies and simulation analysis of the twenty-year growth trend related to the child population in Taiwan, this study found that governmental policies and the promotion of education and care services have a positive effect on the growth of all levels of kindergarten classes. Besides, the relationship between the education and care service staff and the kindergarten play a causal balancing role in our proposed model. We suggest that the system dynamics model proposed by this study can help to observe the dynamic relationships formed by the stakeholders in preschool education and care system based on the "joint responsibility" of Taiwan's early childhood education.