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J...“ . .«r V II Plr 0“ 4" LVPPARY Michlgan Sam Univenii‘y Will/Ill”!!! ll/I/llllllll/II/lUllllli/ll/fl/IWWII/1 i 3 1293 10513 4104 — I. I i .92 é. H W FEB 0 7 1994 -... __...__ 4'q-g- ..._. _ .— ABSTRACT THE DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TESTING OF AN INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS by Kathryn Jean Cole The goal of this study was the development and field testing of an Inventory of Intellectual Skills. The study grew from reoccuring requests from Head Start teachers for guidelines that would focus their observations on the growth pattern of each individual child. The Inventory was designed after a thorough study of the works of Jean Piaget, Jerome S. Bruner, and Maria Montessori. Comparison of their studies provided many common theories. Motor skills, perceptual skills, language skills, memory skills, and problem solving skills were five major common areas. Using the Frost-Rowland structure process approach these five major areas became terminal concepts to be mastered. Each terminal concept was further defined in the terms of several behavioral goals. Research done by Piaget, Bruner, and Montessori was used to establish those behavioral goals which“- four year olds were capable of obtaining. Games were devised which the teacher could play with the child to see if he had mastery of a particular behavioral goal. Field testing was done in a cooperative nursery school and two day care centers. Children ranged from three years, three months to five years, ten months. A total of 52 children were observed. After administering the Inventory Kathryn Jean Cole teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire describing their reactions to the Inventory and the reactions of the children they observed. When the field test was finished the Inventory was analyzed item by item and revised. Such things as teacher reaction, child reaction as noted by the teachers, and consistency of scoring were considered. A back-up curriculum was then designed to which the teacher could turn to find games and activities which she could implement in the classroom to create experiences which would stimulate growth towards a particular goal. Implementation of the Inventory and Curriculum in an early childhood education setting will provide the teacher with tools to closely observe the intellectual growth of each child and to design her program to meet their needs. THE DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TESTING OF AN INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS By Kathryn Jean Cole A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF SCIENCE Department of Family and Child Sciences 1971 \\,‘- 1‘ (>0 r-A. Copyright Pending Kathryn J. Cole 1971 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the support and guidance given by Dr. Eileen Earhart throughout the study. Her genuine interest in people and knowledge of the child and his education are a real credit to the profession. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Dr. Margaret Jacobson, Department Chairman, and my committee members, Mrs. Norma Champion and Mrs. Alice Whiren of the Department of Family and Child Sciences and Dr. Patricia Cianciolo of the College of Education, each of whom contributed much of their special skills and knowledge. This study would have been impossible without reaping much information from the experiences and thoughts of several of my friends and former fellow staff members of Santa Clara County Head Start in California. I am also indebted to Mrs. Ruth Richardson and her staff at the Community Nursery in Lansing, Michigan, and Mrs. Beth Thompkins and her day care staff in Traverse City, Michigan, for implementing the Inventory in their schools. Although the support of my family has been present in anything I have undertaken, I would like again to eXpress my gratitude for the countless ways they have given to me during this year of schooling. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Problem Social Growth Emotional Growth Physical Growth Intellectual Growth . Compensatory Preschool Programs Review of the Literature Invariance of Developmental Sequence Integration of New Knowledge Individualization of Growth Rates Learning Through Action Importance of Learning in the Early Years Comparison of Learning Stages Bridging the Gap Between Theory and the Classroom Development of an Inventory Motor Skills Perceptual Skills Language Skills Memory Skills Problem Solving Skills The Four Year Old Child The Inventory of Intellectual Skills Field Study Analysis of Field Study Hypothesis Number One Hypothesis Number Two Hypothesis Number Three Revision of the Instrument Motor Skills Perceptual Skills Language Skills Memory Skills Problem Solving Skills Development of 3 Curriculum Conclusions and Implications List of References Appendices A--Initial Instrument B--Questionnaire C--Revised Instrument D--Revised Manual E--Curricu1um iii \OCD CDO\O\\J\NNl-‘1-' LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Age Range of Children in Field Test Table II Individual Scores in Field Test Table III Total Scores in Field Test iv 22 29 no LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Comparison of Learning Theories 15 In the past decade America has become concerned that lack of income does not deprive any of its citizens of full educational opportunities. Federal and state monies have been poured into many educational projects to help assure that each.individual will have the opportunity to develop to his full potential. Of major interest among these projects has been the Head Start program. Designed to provide for the three and four year old preschooler from the low income home and his family, Project Head Start grew from the knowledge that early childhood experiences are often the most decisive factors in determining whether an individual will or will not grow to his full potential. Problem In order to work effectively with the children from low income homes it becomes necessary to reach a full under- standing of the growth and develOpmental characteristics of all preschoolers and those additional characteristics which are common among preschoolers from low income homes. Because federal fundings of most projects are not usually adequate to provide schooling for all of the low income children in one area this investigation will concentrate on the four year old child. The assumption is made that the majority of programs would rather use limited funds to include as many four year olds as possible in their program to assure that they have at least one year of preschool then to enroll three year olds for two years. The child must be considered in the four areas of growth: social, emotional, physical and intellectual. l Social Growth Four year olds are capable of engaging in solitary, parallel or cooperative play and shift easily from one to another (Breckenridge & Vincent, 1960). Children of this age are capable of shifting from leader to follower and are more aware that there are both times when their needs take pre- cedence over others and times when they can not. The four year old can relate to both adults and other children (Brecken- ridge and Murphy, 1963). Riessman (1962) spoke of the opportunities for social growth provided by the extended families, high level of sibling interaction, the extension of mutual aid, and the large degree of mutual cooperation found in the low income home. Because of the advantages these experiences can provide him the four year old child from the low income home will enter the social world of the preschool with the same range of needs and levels of interaction as any preschooler. Emotional Growth Although the emotions of the four year old child are still very much on the surface, he is beginning to anticipate the results of situations and emotional ups and downs are becoming more stabilized (Breckenridge & Vincent, 1960). Conscience is beginning to function more often and the child is also beginning to react verbally instead of physically. There may still be times of stubbornness or refusal to do as requested (Lysen & Durian). Much has been written about the poor emotional development 3 of the child from the low inCome home and his need for love and reassurance. These statements, however, need to be realistically analyzed. The prevalent stereotype of the low income family (Billingsley, 1968) is one of the one parent home. This one parent is the mother and often the family is on welfare or Aid to Dependent Children. The lack of a male figure in the home as well as the absence of an emotional climate which is provided by the two parent family is seen as a factor which contributes significantly to the poor emotional development of the children involved. While this situation is quite possibly true for many low income families which are headed by females, the wide spread acceptance of this stereotype as applying to all low income families is not consistent with facts nor conducive to the development of proper attitudes in those who work with low income families. or the 1,891,000 families in the nation in 1960 which were headed by females, 1,191,000 were families with incomes under the federal poverty guideline of $3,000 (U. S. Census, 1960). This high percentage of female headed families who live in poverty plus the fact that over 75% (roughly 9,000,000) of these families are located in urban areas where the majority of research with low income families has been done has lead, in the opinion of this author, to the pOpular acceptance of the myth that the majority of low income families are female headed. When the total number of families in 1960 with incomes under $3,000 is compared, however, with the number of families headed by females different percentages are evident Of the h,278,000 families living in poverty in 1960 only 1,191,000 L; of them, or roughly 33% were headed by females. Keyserling (196“) reported 24.6% of the families living in poverty as headed by females and 28.6% of all the pe0ple living in poverty in consumer units headed by females. A large portion of time in both types of families is spent in what Riessman (1962) called coping or the daily struggle to make ends meet. Because of this factor the child may not receive as much coddling, holding, or one to one interaction (Bloom, Davis & Hess, 1965; Rodman, 1959). Unfortunately this is often interpreted as lack of love or basis for poor emotional deveIOpment. The popular idea of poor self-image which is so prevalently connected with low income children is in the opinion of this author, who has worked with over 200 Head Start children, rarely found in the preschooler. A poor self concept stems from a feeling of being unable to achieve and little self-esteem. The four year old when he comes to preschool has had the same number of successes and failures as all children and in most cases has a similar healthy feeling about himself. It would be more accurate to attach this label of poor self-image to the older child who has experienced more schooling and has found that schooling has not been designed to meet his special needs and abilities. The feelings that result from constantly being confronted by a school system which is not designed to provide many experiences of success for these children will over the years produce a child who has a poor self image of his ability to succeed (Bloom, Davis & Hess, 1965; Riessman, 1962). Physical Growth The four year old Operates at a high level of physical activity and enjoys walking, running, skipping, hopping, and jumping (Breckenridge & Murphy, 1963). He can dress and undress himself if clothing is relatively simple and use the toilet unaided (Lysen & Durian, no publication date). The four year old has developed small muscle and hand and eye coor- dination to the point of being able to manipulate scissors, crayons, and table implements adequately (Breckenridge & Murphy, 1963). The four year old from the low income home has this normal command of his muscles in the majority of cases. The development of gross motor skills such as walking and running is not dependent upon purchasing any additional equipment. Small muscle development in some areas may be quite refined because the child has assumed early responsibility in these areas (Riessman, 1962). For example, most children are very capable of dressing and feeding themselves. Other small muscle areas may not be as well refined because limited income has denied the equipment necessary to foster this growth. Included in this may be control of scissors and crayons and other items which require good hand-eye coordination. Lack of income and lack of parental knowledge keep many low income children from receiving adequate medical and dental care (Riessman, 1962; Bloom, Davis & Hess, 1965). Keyserling (196h) documented the relationship between low income and illness. Such things as pre-natal care, health insurance, vision, hearing and dental care, and innoculations for children may be absent in many families. Intellectual Growth There are differences between the level of intellectual growth achieved by the majority of four year olds in the United States and the level of intellectual growth achieved by four year olds from low income homes. In most cases the four year old from the low income home is Operating at a lower level of intellectual growth (Hunt, 1964). This is caused by many factors. Hess and Shipman (1965) found that mothers from the lower socio-economic levels communicated with their children in short sentences or one word commands. Limited income restricts the amount spent on toys and books, and those toys and books purchased are given to the child to use as he wishes without the benefit of parental direction and interaction. Perceptual development lags because of the inadequacy of proper stimuli or an abundance of conflicting stimuli (Gray & Klauss, 1965; Riessman, 1962). A foreign language or a regional dialect may be the major language of the home limiting the child's exposure to the language he will meet and be asked to use when he enters school (Berstein, 1961; Riessman, 1962). Compensatory Preschool Programs The analysis of research concerning the growth and development of the four year old child coupled with the research related to the child from the low income home has shown the goal of compensatory preschool programs to be 7 one of providing experiences to assure that the child will continue to develOp in the areas of social, emotional, and physical growth. Additional experiences must be provided to assure that the child will be Operating on a level of intellectual development which will permit him to have success once he enters the public school. Crucial to the achieve- ment of this goal is a well trained preschool teacher who through observation determines the child's level of development and structures her classroom to stimulate him to grow towards a new level. While the majority of preschool teachers have been well trained to observe a child's level of develOpment in the social, emotional or physical areas of growth, many feel a lack of ability in observing the child's level of intellectual development. A recent survey of 88 Head Start teachers and aides found 22 of the 33 teachers involved requesting more help in planning lessons for their children.1 Further questioning in this area also documented a desire for more training and information about the intellectual growth of the preschooler. It was the opinion of the author that these questions reflected the difficulty a teacher encounters when she attempts to observe a child's intellectual growth. Physical growth or lack of it can be easily observed. Can the child walk? Run? Climb? Social and emotional growth can also be easily defined and observed. Does the child play well with other children? Is he afraid of adults? Afraid to leave his mother? Does he hit other children to obtain the toys that he wants? The ease with which these observations 1Unpublished study by author entitled ”Training Needs of Head Start Staff“, 1971. 8 can be made helps the teacher to structure her classroom and teaching to assure the child continues to grow in these areas. But what about intellectual growth? Of what is it comprised at this age? Learning the ABC's? Learning to count? If a child can count to ten can we assume that his intellectual development is adequate? How can a teacher stimulate him to further growth? How can she help compensate for any defi- ciencies his environment may have created? What are these deficiencies? These are some of the questions that pre- school teachers are asking so that they may be better prepared to provide optimal experiences for their children in all areas of growth. The goal of this research became one of compiling present knowledge of the intellectual growth of the four year old child and transposing this knowledge into terms and observation tools which could be easily used by all preschool teachers. Review of the Literature "Curriculum development should be based solidly upon the learning principles derived from study of human develop- ment (Frost & Rowland, 1969, p. 35)." The development of man's intelligence has been studied throughout time by many people. Considered for this study were the works of Jean Piaget, Jerome S. Bruner, and Maria Montessori. The Invariance of Developmental Sequence Rowland and Frost (1969) postulated that all intellectual theorists support the premise of the invariance of the sequence of growth. Piaget spoke of the four stages of growth as 9 sensori-motor, preoperational, concrete, and formal operations and maintained while children may not all be at the same age while they experience growth in a particular stage they will all proceed through the growth stages in the same order or sequence (1970, pp. 29-33). Bruner (1967) spoke of three levels of representation or learning: the inactive stage, iconic stage, and symbolic stage. He theorized that all children's cognitive development proceeds through these three stages in the same sequence and successively becomes more capable of representing experiences which are more and more complex. Maria Montessori (1959) spoke of sensitivity periods. Materials are introduced in sequential order during that period of the child's growth when it is felt the material will best stimu- late him to further growth. Growth in each sensitivity period must be mastered before growth can occur in the next period. Integration of New Knowledge Implied in each theory considered was the premise that new growth is integrated into the system provided by growth which has already occured. Piaget (Ripple, 1964) spoke of reaching equilibrium in intellectual growth. Equilibrium occurs when one has integrated those things just learned into the system of what has been previously learned. This is the moment when there is balance between what has been learned and what is yet to be learned. Integration of new concepts occurs through a process of adaptation. Adaptation itself is composed of two processes: assimilation, which is the 10 integration of new information by the expansion of the structure of past experiences, and accommodation, which is the integration of new information by an addition or restructuring of present knowledge. Through operations between himself and the environment the child continuously adapts new information and reaches higher and higher levels of equilibrium. He can not, however, assimilate any information unless there is a framework for them provided by past assimilations. Bruner (1964) theorized that growth is both dependent upon the child developing methods of representing events which occur in his environment and being able to tie those events into a system of past events. The organization and integration of these new events into the cognitive structure provides the means for the child's skill at future problem solving and representation of events. The representation of any event at any stage of development in isolation will not facilitate the child's further intellectual development. Montessori was also supportive of the theory that the learning process was one of continuity. She viewed the world that the child was born into as chaotic and theorized that each piece of information he internalized brought structure to that chaos (1959). Individualization of Growth Rate As essential to all these theories was the idea of a sequential order of growth. While the implication that growth steps are hierarchial was assumed, Piaget, Bruner, and Montessori also all assumed that a child will proceed upwards 11 through these stages at his own pace. Although Piaget has tied each of his four levels of intellectual growth to a particular age span these spans are defined quite generally and children are expected to reach equilibrium on a new level when they are ready to, not when they are at a specific age (Ripple, 196u). Bruner also tied average age levels to ability to complete several tasks, but acknowledged that the sequence of the tasks was the most important consideration. Montessori put more stress on this idea than any educator before her time. The child must be allowed to proceed at his own rate of speed. If a child has not mastered experiences at earlier levels of growth the teacher can not expect him to achieve skill at a higher level no matter how many other children his age are doing so. Learning Through Action The young child receives new knowledge through direct manipulation of objects and events. Piaget contended that no learning will occur unless the child is actively involved in the manipulation of an object. The first type of experiences that a child has with an object provide him knowledge about the object. As his ability increases the child also observes logical-mathematical experiences (1953) where new knowledge is drawn from his actions upon the object and not the object itself. For example the young child will conclude that a ball of clay is gone when it is flattened. The older child will focus upon the action he initiated, not the object itself, and 12 conclude that he can reverse his action and reshape the clay into a ball. Higher levels of conceptualization occur as the child internalizes his own actions. "Knowledge is derived from action...to know an object is to act upon it and trans- form it, in order to grasp the mechanisms of that transformation as they function in connection with the transformative actions themselves. To know is therefore to assimilate reality into structures of transformation, and these are the structures that intelligence constructs as a direct extension of our actions (Piaget, 1970, p. 29).“ Montessori felt that children learn through detailed movements. She engaged the child's senses and muscles in the use of all her equipment. Her method was ”established upon one fundamental basic--the liberty of the pupils in their spontaneous manifestations (Cole, 1959, p. 11).“ The only purpose of the teacher was to give each pupil the next activity which he was to master. Bruner (1967) conceded the same role of action in the inactive stage of development which is the first stage of intellectual growth in his theory. He noted that the baby will try to regain a dropped rattle by shaking his hand. His Perception of the rattle is tied into and defined by the action he initiates with it. Schema become formed when several different actions are integrated together. While Piaget (1970, pp. 72-80), however, contended that language in itself was not sufficient to bring about cognitive growth, Bruner suggested that it played a prime role in the growth 13 which was occuring during the iconic and symbolic stages. While manipulation of objects is still present as an important method of processing information he felt that if the situation was structured so that the child must use higher levels of representation “language shapes, augments and even supercedes the child's earlier modes of processing information (1964, p. 13).“ Bruner has been often named, however, as one of the most eloquent defenders of the discovery method of learning. The basic premise of this method is that the earliest form of learning is accomplished by direct manipulation of objects and events. Acknowledging the difference in emphasis on language there remains sufficient evidence that ”cognitive and affective structures which education should nourish are natural emergents from the interaction between the child and the environment under conditions where such action is allowed or fostered (Kohlberg, 1968, p. 1015)." Impgrtance of Learning_in the Early Years All three theories reflected the importance of learning in the early years of life. Montessori was one of the first educators to postulate that learning in early life determined later success at and ability for learning. The majority of Montessori's sensitivity periods occur before the age of six in most children. Piaget found most children to have progressed through the first two of his four stages of intellectual growth by entrance to school at five or six and to be in the third stage of concrete operations. Bruner found growth in all In three of his stages in the first five years of life. Compgrison of LearninggStages Comparison of the learning stages of the theories of Piaget, Bruner, and Montessori (Figure l) finds many similarities. Where terminology may differ earliest stages are seen as action oriented and based upon motor responses and gradual control of reflexes. Following in each theory are stages during which the child interprets objects and action on the basis of what he sees. Symbolic thought is seen to begin in this stage with the emergence of language. It is in this second stage that we find a majority of four year olds. The remaining stages in each theory occur as the child becomes more and more capable of increased abstract thought and reasoning and becomes less dependent upon his actual perception of the object or event. Bridging the Gap Between the Theory and the Clasgggom Kohlberg stated that "while Piaget's ideas are salient wherever research is done on early cognitive develOpment, their salience in formulation of goals and processes in early education is much less widespread (1968, p. 1013)." It was important for this research that the theories of intellectual growth not only be studied, but that they be defined in terms of behavioral goals which could be understood by the teacher. It was felt that such a redefintion would enable teachers to plan classroom experiences which would promote intellectual growth in children. Hunt proposed that such "planned Comparison Piaget Sensori Motor 0 - 18 or 24 mos. action oriented control of reflexes Preoperational 2 - 7 years introduced by new use of language perceptually oriented self-centered view of world Concrete Operations 7 - 12 years combines elements on basis of more than one variable can conserve and re- verse with concrete objects Formal Operations logical thought decision made without manipulation of objects abstract thinking 15 of Learning Theories Bruner Enactive learning from doing motor reSponses 19.29.19. able to represent objects without action self-centered dependence on surface clues Symbolic governed by principles abstract thought Montessori Sensogy Experiences birth to three years great activity absorption of environment Coordination lgfié E years muscle development interest in objects Language Development 15 to 3 years Refined Movement 2 - 4% years aware of sequence, order, time and space Sensory Refinement BE -_6 years Writdn 3E - years Tactile Sense 4 - 5 years Reading 2 - 52 years Piaget (1926, 1953. 19% , Ripple 1964) Bruner (1960, 1964, 19 7) Montessori (1959, Hainstock, 1968) Figure 1 Comparison of Learning Theories l6 experiences might well be the answer to low income children (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1969, p.48).' Gagne (1962) suggested taking broad or general learning tasks and examining them to see the basic skills of which they are composed. He maintained that to succeed at a higher level of knowledge a person must have succeeded at all lower levels. Each task given a child should be examined to see what knowledge the child would need to perform it without help. Each subordinate level of knowledge should be similarly examined to see the components of knowledge it contains until the task is reduced to mastery of certain basic skills. Frost and Rowland (1969) described a similar theory which they labeled the structure process approach. They theorized that the hierarchial structure of knowledge suggests that any concept is composed of simpler and simpler concepts until the learner is acting directly upon objects. End concepts to be mastered were labeled terminal concepts and those in turn were divided and sub-divided into concepts and skills the mastery Of which was essential to mastery of the terminal concept. The many similarities described in the theories of Piaget, Bruner, and Montessori and the comparisons which can be made between the stages of development in each theory suggest the use of the structure-process approach. Our terminal concept became Omaof the mastery of intellectual skills of the fourth year of growth. Although all four year olds would not operate at the same level of intellectual achievement a further analysis of research established those skills of intellectual growth which the majority of four year olds would have 1? reached by entrance into our public school system. Breaking down the terminal concept of mastery of intellectual skills into its several sub-terminal concepts gave a specific and concrete list of behavioral goals which the teacher could use to both ascertain the individual growth level of any child in her classroom at a particular moment and to set up learning situations which would stimulate further growth on his part. Development of an Inventory While each researcher had his own terminology which he applied to the data he compiled, it was felt that the following ‘five areas were considered in the majority of the research .concerned with the development of cognitive structures: motor skills, perceptual skills, language skills, memory skills, and problem solving skills. These five skill areas were desig- nated as terminal conoqxs and became the five major devisions of the instrument. It was felt that an analysis of these skill areas to determine the specific skills which they were composed of for the average four year old child would result in several simpler and more concrete skills which could be redefined as behavioral goals for the classroom. The instrument was named the Inventory of Intellectual Skills. Motor Skills Kephart (1965) defined motor skills as the basis of all learning. Piaget, Bruner, and Montessori all mentioned the basic motor skills which the infant must master previous to all other learning. The infant must grow from operating on the basis of total reflexes to a point where he has translated 18 these reflexes into conscious actions. The first months of life are spent repeating actions first on the basis of reflexes and later on the basis of self-demand. After the action is repeated a sufficient number of times it becomes internalized so the child can do it automatically without concentrating upon it. Kephart (1965) differentiated between motor skills which must be thought about as they were done and motor patterns which could be done automatically. The development of motor patterns was essential so that the performance of the motor operation could become secondary and the operation used to gather further information. For example, in stringing beads the child must coordinate his mastered motor patterns of grasping objects with another mastered pattern of focusing his eyes for the motor operation of hand-eye coordination. Perceptual Skills As the young child gains control over the use of his body he begins to use his senses to explore and learn about the world around him. The information received from reoccuring experiences via the senses gradually becomes inter- nalized into his basic system of knowledge. When he has mastered control of his muscles sufficiently to grasp an object at his will his attention now turns from concentrating on grasping it to the item itself. Through several inter- actions between his senses and the item he begins to develop a cognitive structure about it and integrate this structure into the main structure he has develOped from past interactions and 19 events. Further items and events are perceived by his senses and interpreted in light of and integrated into past per- ceptions. As his perception skills increase items are considered more carefully and more subtle differences and likenesses are observed. All knowledge initially comes to the child via the various senses and perceptual skills are necessary so that he may further refine the cognitive framework established during the motor period. The perceptual world is the world of the concrete where the thought of the child is influenced almost completely by his perception of an object and/or an event. Langpage Skills Most learning theorists have agreed that language is an outward manifestation of the child's increasing ability to view objects and events symbolically. Meaning comes to consist of more than just the presence of an object and includes the relationship between that object and its symbol. The child comes to attach labels to situations and events and talk about them. This verbal ability is considered a primary linguistic skill and the secondary linguistic skills of reading and writing, which are at a higher level of abstraction, are dependent upon its mastery. The child becomes able to internalize an increasingly larger number of experiences into his cognitive structure as the use of symbolic labels facili- tate his comprehension of these experiences. 20 Memory Skills Memory has constantly been developing as the child repeats similar experiences and integrates their common actions into his cognitive structure. While in early years memory was stimulated by the presence of a concrete object as language develops the child's memory grows so that he can recall objects or events on the basis of symbolic stimulus. The increasing development of symbolic memory greatly expands the child's cognitive structure and the ease with which the child internalizes new experiences. Problem Solving Skills Problem solving involves the ability to work with information on an abstract level and is the highest point of conceptual thought. The child is no longer bound by what his senses tell him, but can depend upon his cognitive structure to give him all the aspects of a situation whether they are directly perceivable or not. This child knows that if you have six children, five of which are girls, there are still more children than girls. He realizes that he has the same number of candies as another child because they both have six pieces even though his are all near each other and the other child's are stretched out in a long row. He can arrive at the same conclusion in several different ways. Thought processes are no longer tied into the concrete but are based on the abstract. 21 Thg Four Year Old Child Piaget found the majority of four years olds to be in the pre-Operational period. In his framework Bruner placed them in the iconic period and Montessori spoke of a period of sensory exploration. Previous comparisons between the three theories place the majority of children at this age at an operation level which is based upon their perception of an event or Object. There is a strong dependence upon surface clues as the motivation for actions and reasoning. The child in this stage sees the world in the light of himself and has difficulty perceiving anything from another's viewpoint. This child usually perceives only one factor of an item and usually bases his thoughts about that item on this one factor. The Inventory of Intellectual Skills The inventory was composed of five terminal concepts and the sub-terminal concepts which they were comprised of at the four year old level.2 Sub-terminal skills were arranged in sequential order and a game was devised for each skill. As the child participates in each individual game the teacher can analyze by observation of his activity whether he has mastery of the skill, partial mastery or no mastery at all. Directions for scoring each game on an individual profile sheet provides at the completion of the inventory a complete picture of the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of an individual child. Directions for administering and scoring were provided in the accompanying manual.3 2See Appendix A 3Because of the length of the manual the revised teacher's manual is the only one included in this paper--Appendix D. Field Study After the completion of the Inventory the following questions were considered: Did the Inventory contain those skills which the average four year old was mastering? Were the skills within a terminal conafln:arranged in a sequential order? Did the games devised measure the skill adequately? Were there any skills that could be combined to shorten the length of the Inventory? Were there any skills that had been inadvertently left out of the Inventory? Were teachers and aides able to understand the directions? Was there any need for a follow-up curriculum? To answer these questions and therefore offer some validity for using the instrument with young children a field study was initiated where teachers and aides gave the Inventory to children and then registered their own reactions to it on a questionnaire.“ Seven teachers and eight aides administered the Inventory to 52 children. Three teachers and seven aides reacted to the Inventory on the questionnaire and the remaining teachers and aides reacted verbally or by making comments directly upon the Inventory manual. Twenty-one of the Inventories were administered to children who attended a full-day day care situation and the remaining thirty-one were administered to children in a two hour nursery cooperative. Children ranged in age from three years, three months to five years, ten months (Table I). The majority Of the children came from middle income homes where one parent was either working or enrolled in college as a graduate or undergraduate student. ”See Appendix B 22 23 Table I Age Range of Children in Field Test Ag; Number of Children years, 3 months years, 5 months years, 9 months years, 11 months years, 1 month years, 3 months years, a months years, 5 months years, 6 months years, 7 months years, 8 months years, 9 months years, 10 months years, 11 months \nknknknknmknk-FP-Pt-PP-P-Ftwwuw HHmeHmptmmzmmmwwwmww years, 0 months years, 1 month years, 2 months years, 3 months years, 9 months years, 5 months years, 10 months 52 children Analysis of Field Test In order to determine whether any revisions were necessary in the Inventory an analysis of the individual scores of each child was made. Before this was begun, however, the following hypotheses were set up. l—The ygunger the age of the child the more scores of one and two. 2-There should be an increase of scores of one and two as children advance through each sub-section of the Inventory and skills become more complex. 3-There should be an increase of scores of one and two as children advance through the Inventory and the gamesanu15 terminal concept areas reflect increasingly complex skills. 5A score of 3 indicates complete mastery of a goal or skill; a score of 2 indicates partial mastery where more practice is needed; and a score of 1 indicates no mastery at all. 29 Each hypothesis was considered individually. Hypothesis I--The younger the age of the child the more scores of one and two. In order to test this hypothesis the scores Obtained were divided into two equal groups for comparison. One groups of 26 scores was composed of those children who ranged in age from three years, three months to four years, eight months. This was considered the group of younger children and named Test Group I. The second group of 26 children was composed of those children from four years, nine months to five years, ten months. This was considered the group of older children and named Test Group II. The total number of possible scores recorded for all the children in all the Inventories given was 2969. These scores are recorded in Table II. Fifty percent of these scores would be 1982 scores, 33 1/33 would be 988; 75% would be 2223; and 25% would be 791. Support for this hypothesis was found by comparing the total number of scores in Group I of one and two to the total number of scores of one and two in Test Group II. Of the total 2969 scores recorded in the field test, 293 were scores Of one. Roughly 66 2/3% of these scores, or 179 scores, were recorded in Group I which was the group of younger children. Of the total of 2969 scores recorded in the field test, 959 were scores of two. Roughly 60%, or 267 scores, were recorded by Group I which was the group of younger children. Seventy-six of the total 2969 scores were not marked at all with a number although many Inventories had such comments as child feels pressure so stOpped, child unable to pay attention, 25 etc., written on them. Sixty—two of these 79 unmarked scores were found on the Inventories of the younger children in Group I. These comparisons of scores clearly proved that the younger children have much more difficulty with the Inventory and confirmed the first hypothesis. Hyppthesis II--There should be an increase of scores of one and two as children advance through the Inventory and the games and terminal concept areas reflect increasingly complex skills. In order to test this hypothesis the individual scores of each sub-section were analyzed. In section I, Motor Skills, there was a total of 572 scores made in eleven different items. Items I-l to I-6 were considered the beginning items of this section and items I-7 to I-11 were considered the advanced items. Of the total of 96 scores of 1 made in this section, 6 or roughly 15% were made in the beginning items and 90 were made in the advanced items. Of the total of 103 scores of 2 made in this section, 37 or roughly 37% were made in the beginning items and 66 were made in the advanced items. In Section II of the Inventory, Perceptual Skills, there were 16 items with a possibility of 832 scores. Items 11-1 to II-8 were grouped as beginning items and compared to II-9 to II-l6 which were the advanced items. Of the total of 19 scores of 1 made in this section, 5 or roughly 25% were made in the beginning items and 19 were made in the advanced items. Of the total 73 scores of 2 made in this section, 16 or roughly 21% were made in the beginning items and 57 were made in the advanced items. 26 In Section III of the Inventory, Language Skills, there were 11 items and a possible 572 scores. Items III—l to III-6 were grouped as beginning items and items III-7 to III-11 were grouped as advanced items. Of the 63 scores of 1 made in this section, 29 or roughly 90% were made in the beginning items and 39 were made in the advanced items. Of the total of 91 scores of 2 made in this section, 92 or roughly 96% were made in the beginning items and 99 were made in the advanced items. In Section IV, Memory Skills, there were 13 items and a possible 676 scores. Items IV-l through IV-7 were grouped as beginning items and IV-8 through IV-l3 were grouped as advanced items. Of the 69 scores of 1 recorded in this section, 39 or roughly 50% were recorded in the beginning items and 35 were recorded in the advanced items. Of the total of 193 scores of 2 recorded in this section, 73 or roughly 50% were recorded in the beginning items and 70 in the advanced items. In Section V, Problem Solving Skills, there were 6 items and a possible 312 scores. Items V-l through V—3 were grouped as beginning items and V—9 through V-6 as advanced items. 0f the total of 96 scores of 1 made in this section, 25 or roughly 59% were recorded in the beginning items and 21 recorded in the advanced items. Of the total of 99 scores of 2 made in this section, 18 were made in the beginning items, roughly 93%, and 26 made in the advanced items. 27 The hypothesis is supported in Sections I, II, and III where there are substantially fewer scores of l and 2 in the beginning items in each section. In Sections IV and V the support is not as strong with scores of l and 2 being found in the beginning and advanced items in somewhat equal amounts. This difference in the last two sections is quite possibly a reflection of the increase of scores of l and 2 found in them as compared to earlier sections.6 The difference in the scores of the last two sections could also, however, reflect a weakness in sequence in this part of the Inventory. This was examined and the results are reported under Revision of the Instrument. Hyppthesis III--There should be an increase of scores of one and two as children advance through the Inventory and the games and terminal concept areas reflect increasingly complex skills. In order to test this hypothesis the number of items in the Inventory was divided in half and comparisons were made between the two groups. Group I consisted of those items in the first half of the Inventory. It was composed of Items I-l through III-2. A total of 1508 scores were recorded for all the children in this group of items. Group II was composed of the items in the latter section of the Inventory. Included in this group were items numbered from III-3 to V-6 and a total of 1956 scores were recorded in this group. Of the total number of 293 scores of 1 recorded for the entire Inventory, 72 or roughly 30% were recorded for Group I of beginning items. The group of latter items contained 171 6See hypothesis number 3. 28 scores of one. Of the total of 959 scores of two recorded in the field test 181 or roughly 90% were made in Group I which was the beginning items of the Inventory and 273 were made in Group II or the latter items of the Inventory. Only 9 of the 76 scores where no number was recorded were in Group I or the first half of the Inventory. The scores which resulted from the field test clearly supported the hypothesis as the greatest number of scores of one and two were found to be in the latter half of the Inventory. Except for the weak support for the latter part of the second hypothsis, scores were found to support all three hypotheses adequately. Revision of the Instrument Revision of the instrument was based upon the reactions of examiners and the range of scores from the field test (Table III). Each section of the Inventory was considered separately and reasons were formulated for changes made. The validity of the sequence of the original instrument was analyzed by comparing the number of children who obtained scores of three on each item within each section.7 Motor Skills There was little reaction to this section via the questionnaire or comments made verbally or written on the manual. The only item which was felt by examiners to be poorly 7See hypothesis 2. TABLE II Individual Scores in Field Test HZ 4-9 9-8 3-3 3-5 3—9 3-11 9-1 9-3 9-9 9-5 9-6 9-7 29 MMMMMMMMMN N H H MMMMMMN mm mmmmmmmmmmm MMMMMN C’M-l r-i (fir-i mmmmmmmmmmm mm mmmmmmmmm MMMMMMH N H Mr-l MMMMMMN N WWI-'1 N mmmmmmmr—c t—l (fir-1 MMC’WMMMNH 0-1 (I'M-‘1 MMMMMN MMN (fir-1 MMMMN (“M—1 r-l (fir-i H N MMMMN mmmmm MOWMMMMH MN mm MMMMMMMN N mm MMMN MN MMN NH MMMMMMMMN mm MMMMMMMMN N N mmmmmmmmmmm NHMNNO’NNHHNH MMMMMNMMNNM MMMMMMMN MN r-l MMONMMMMMC’NMM MMMMNNNNHNH C»? MMMMMMN H mm NHMNNMNHHNH MMMMMMMMMMN MMMMNNNNNHH MNMMNN KNNNt-l HHMMNC’NNNH NH mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MMMMMMMN mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MMMMO“.MMMMC’\MMN C’NMC’N MMMMMMMMMMN N mmmm MMMMMMMMMMMMMMN m MMMMMMMMMMMN N N N H MMN MMMMMMMMMMN H N MMMMMMMMMMMN N N mm MMMMMMMMMMMN H N H H mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MMMH MMMMMMMN MMN N F‘.MMMMMC“.MMMMNMMN N MMMMMMMMMMMN mmmm mmmhmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MMMN N MMMMMMMN MN N MMMMMMWMMMMMMMN m MMMMMMMMMMN N (“MN N mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MMMMMMMMMMMMN mmm MMMMMMMMMH ("WNv—i MN m MMMN N MMMC’WC’NMC’NN MN N MMMN r-C mmmm X MMMMN N N MMN N MMMMC’NC’NN H MMH MMMH MN MMMMN N H Mt—‘l r—l X MMMMMMMMN N -19 x -15 —16 MNMN OHNm HHHH IIIL 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 X III-1 TABLE II Individual Scores in Field Test es 4-9 9-8 3-3 3-5 3-9 3-11 9-1 9-3 9-9 9-5 9-6 9-7 30 N MMMMMH H mm (fir-1 N MMMN H mm MMMMMMN mmm MNMMMMH mmm MMMMMMN mmm MMMC’NNMHHMM NC'NNC'NNC’NI—(r-{C'NN MHMHHHNMNN HNC’WNC’WMHHC’NN NNNC‘NNMHHMN NMMC’NNMHNMM NHNNNNHHNN MMMMNMNC’NNC’N MMMMMC’NH H mm H MMMC’NMH H mm MN MMMMI—i mmm MMN MN ("NH N mm mmmmmmm N mm MMMWMMN mmm MOWMMN (“Mt-1 H H MMMMN mmmmm N MMMMMH H mm mmmmmmmmmm MMNNNNNNMN MHMMHMNNHI—I (“\C‘WMMN mmmmm HMMMMMNHMN HHNMHC’NHHNN F\XO\N1<><><><><><><><><><><><><>< m H I (”NF-i MMMH MMMN mm mmmmmm UNI-i H mmm mmmmmm C’M—h—I MMH NONI—1 MMr—i MMN ("\N H (“Nu—l MN (‘WH N v-lr-i r-‘i (I'M—1 r—I Nr-l MN m Nv-ir-‘lr-l (fir—1 MMN ("\C‘NN MMH mmm MMMN ("M-1 MMH mmm mmmmmm MMC‘WMMH mmmmmm r-lr-ir-INC’Wt—i MMHNMN MNNNMN mmmmmm MHHNMN MMWN mm (“\Hr-ir-(HN (“\NO'NNNN ><><><><><>< XXI—INNX >4><><><><>< TABLE II Individual Scores in Field Test % 5-9 5-5 5-10 5-1 5-2 5-3 5-0 9-11 9-10 31 mmmmmmmmmmm MMMMC‘WC’NMN N mm MMMNNMNNNMM mmmmmmmmmmm MMMMMMMN mmm MMMC'NN MMMN mm mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm N MMN N N N N H N H mmmmmmmmmmm MMMMN MMN N mm N mmmmmmr—i H Nr-l mmmmmmm (“\N mm MMMC’NN (”\N N N N m mmmmmmmmmmm (“\(‘WC’NC'WC'NMMN r-i UNr-I mmmmmmmmmmm MMMMN MMMN mm N MMMN N MN N N m mmmmmmmm N (“.N mmmmmmmmmmm Ora Hmmémonwoaa lllllllllll HHHHHHHHHHH (’NMC’WMI—I ("OWN mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm.mmmmmm MMMF‘IGN 0",(’\("\("\("\("\C"\('\N O". mmmmmmmofimmmmmcfimm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmcfimmmm mmmmmmmmmm.mmmmm C“ mmm X mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmwmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm (“MN m mmmmmmmmmmmm mmmm MMMNMMMMMNMN (’WC’WC’WU‘. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm MOWMMMOWMN NMMMMMN m mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmr—i MNMNMMMMMMN m MMMO’NN MMN mmmmmmmm MMMMMMNMMMMMMMMN mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm II-lO 11-11 11-12 II-13 11-19 11-15 11-16 II-l II-2 II-3 II-9 II-5 II-6 II-7 II-8 11-9 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 111-1 TABLE II Individual Scores in Field Test U) <12 50 5-1 5-2 5-3 5-9 5-5 5-10 9-11 9-10 (“N (‘“("\N (“N (‘“(‘“(‘“ (‘“.(‘“(‘“(“C“(‘“(“('“(‘“(‘“ (’“N ("\(‘“("\(‘“N (‘“.(‘“(‘“ (“(“(“(“(‘“(“<‘“(‘“(“(“ (“(“(“(“(“(“(*\(‘“(‘“(‘“ N (’“(“.(“(“(‘“N (”\(“OW mmmmmmm mmm (“(‘“(‘“('“(‘“(“.(“(‘“("‘\(“ N (“N ('“N (”“r—i C‘“(“(“ (‘“N N (“N (’NH N (“0“ (“MC“(‘WC’WMN MC“(“ (”“N ('“(“N ('“(“('“('“C“ H H (“(“r-I N Hr—i r-i r-I (“FNMMMMMMMN (“N (“(“r-i MN (‘“(“(“ N N MMN (‘“r-1 (“C“(“ H (“(“(“(‘“(“r-1 H (“N (“C“N N (“<'“("'\C“N N “\(“UNC'NMMC'NMMM (‘“(‘“N (“MC“(“C'WC’NC'N (‘“(“(“(“N (“(‘“(“(“(‘“ 0".N (“N (“C“MFNN O“ OH NNfil-“WNCDOHH I I I I I I I I I I HHHHHHHHHH HHI—IHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHH 32 (“(“MC'NC’WN (“MC“N (“(“(“ (‘“(‘“C“(‘“(“r-1 (‘“(“(‘“r-1 (“C“r-l MMMKNXKNXXXXN (“MC“(“ml-i (“(“(‘“(“(“(‘“(“ mmmmmm (“(“(“(“(“(’“(“ MMMN (“(“(“("\(“(‘“(‘“(“(‘“ "\(“C'NC'NMN (”“0“N mmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm (“(“N C“(“r-{ MC“(“NN N N (”“(“(“(‘“(‘“(‘“C“(‘“r-1 H (“C“C“ C“("\("N(“(“N (‘“(“N (“C“(‘WC‘W I—l (“r-1 (”WMN (“C“N (“MC“C“ MMMH N N N (“N (‘“(“('\(“ (“(‘“C“(“(“I—1 N (“v-1 r—lr-l MN (“(“r-l (“(“N N (‘Wr-l N mmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm (“("NN N C“(“(“(‘“N N (“(‘“C“ (“C“N ('NC‘“(“(‘“(“N (“("\(“(“ (“C“N (‘“(‘“(‘“N (“N H (“C“C“ (“C“(“(“('“N (“O“(“r—i (‘“(‘“N MMMN NN (“C“N HH (”“0“ nmmmmmmmmmmmm owaoar\ r4oeruiuvocxa30war4rua lllllIlIlilIl >>>>i>i>1>t>i>t>1>i>i> h+hnarahuardhn4+4hH4h4 (‘“N MMN ('W (“MN N (”“0“ ><><><><>4>< (‘“(‘“(‘“(‘“(“(“ (‘“(‘“(‘“(“(‘“(‘“ (“C“(‘“(‘“(“('\ ('“(“(“(‘“(‘“C“ (‘“(‘“(“(“(‘“(“ N (“r-1 N (“C“ N (’“N (‘“(‘“(“ (’“(“(‘“(“N C“ ('NC’NN N H m mm (“r-1 N H (\(“r-‘l (“C“r-l (“(“MN mm (“MC“MMC“ (“.("NN H (”“H (‘“(‘“N (‘“(“C“ ('“(‘“(‘“(‘“("\(’\ (“(“N N (“C“ mmmmmm mmmmmm ompleted item 1110 X 33 worded was I-lO which asked the child to point to top, bottom, front, back, right side and wrong side. The teacher was directed to place a book in front of the child and ask him to find the preceding positions in relation to it. Teachers reported that children were either anxious to look through the book or were confused as to what was expected of them. This item was changed to ask the child to point to his own top, bottom, front and back. This revised procedure was tried with ten children who responded quickly by pointing to the locations in relationship to their body. There is a gradually lessening occurrence of scores of three throughout this section except for item I-lO. While only 27 children scored responses of three on item I—8 and 21 recorded scores of three on I-9, there are 36 children who were able to score three on I-10. As this was the same item as mentioned in the preceding paragraph which many teachers felt their children did not understand it was felt that in its revised form,which was more understandable,this number of scores of three would rise even higher. For these reasons the item was renumbered I—3 and all other items were advanced one number higher. Perceptual Skills Based on several common reactions many items in this section were changed. Items 11-9 and II-5 caused many problems. They required the child to, respectively, discriminate between common sounds and identify common sounds. In 11-9 the child is to stop the examiner when the sound which he has been 39 directed to listen for was made. In 11—5 the child was to identify the sound the examiners made. In both items the child was to have his eyes closed. Many examiners reported that the children had a difficult time remembering to close their eyes and keep them closed and that the item had to be repeated several times until they did so. Children also complained about the items being too much of the same thing and were restless throughout them. In order to solve these two problems both items were reworded into one. In the revised Inventory the child is asked only to identify common sounds and the assumption is made that if he can do this he can also discriminate between common sounds. For those children who have difficulty with this new task it is suggested to the teacher in the curriculum that she begin with the discrimination of common sounds. In the revised manual the child is directed to turn his chair around so that he can not see the examiner and new sounds are introduced in a manner which makes them difficult for the child to see. Item II-l3 which stated that the child could reproduce a pattern required the examiner to make a pattern with colored beads and have the child create the same pattern with his beads. The reactions to this item were numerous. Four different bead patterns were asked for and many teachers re- ported that their children grew restless before the item was over. Beads rolled off the table as much as they stayed on it. In the revised manual the number of patterns was reduced and color chips were substituted for beads. All examiners felt that the cards used for II-l5 which 35 tested whether the child could discriminate between con— flicting visual stimuli needed to be better made. The child was first asked to pick the circles out of a group of objects and then the squares and the task became too difficult because circles and squares had been drawn too hastily. More concise directions for the manufacture of these cards were included in the revised manual so that shapes would be drawn to the right proportions and directions for administering the task were made more complete. Most teachers reported that it was difficult to find a puzzle with four to six pieces which was required for Item II-l9 and this was changed to seven to ten pieces. The majority of teachers felt that the directions for making the equipment needed for II-16 which asked the child to recognize his first and last name were unclear. Directions were made simpler and more concise in the revised manual. The sequence of the items within the section was changed based upon the results of hypothesis two. Item II—7 which asks the child to match objects was renumbered II-l as all children completing the Inventory had mastery of it. This resequencing was also consistent with the theory of Piaget which required that children work with concrete objects before symbolic ones. For the same reason item II4K>was renumbered 11-2. This item required the child to match pictures of objects to Objects. Item II-8 which required the child to match shades of the same color was dropped from the Inventory and included in the curriculum as an advanced skill for children to work on after they had mastered matching colors. 36 Langpgge Skills The majority of examiners felt that the Inventory should require the child to be able to name the shapes as well as the colors as this knowledge is required from the child during his first year of public schooling. For this reason III—2 was redesigned to have the child name both colors and basic shapes. II-9 which required the child to be using correct pronunciation of sounds was reworded to indicate that the child was using correct pronunciation of beginning sounds. This was done to clarify the item for the examiner. Item III-6 required the child to describe an object using two descriptive phrases. Examiners felt that the directions were not completely clear and also felt that the items suggested in the Inventory were not the best ones available. Directions were revised in the manual and items were changed. Item III-7 determined whether the child could use oral context to determine the truth of statements. It was the personal feeling of the author after working with 20 children that this item did not adequately test this skill. Most children had a high degree of success with this item and according to research it should be one of the more difficult items. Forty-five children obtained a score of three. Only on one other item in the entire section did so many children obtain such a number. The item was revised to contain five Open ended sentences which the child must fill in to make sense. For example, the child is asked to complete: animals have . In item III-10 the child is asked to give the names for 37 ten everyday objects. In the original manual the selection of these objects was left to the teacher. Most examiners requested that a list be included and this was done in the revised manual. flgQeriSkglls Item IV—9 which required the child to count to 19 by rote produced many questions as to its location within the Inventory. Because it is a skill which is composed of several previous skills it was changed to be the last item within the Language Skills section. It was felt that this would reflect the fact that this goal reflected skill in both the language and memory areas. Item IV-6 which required the child to duplicate patterns which the examiner had shown him and then hidden presented problems for most examiners. The most common criticism was the length of the game. The game was considerably shortened in the revised manual and directions were made clearer. Item IV-lO which required the child to duplicate the tapping pattern which the examiner makes on the edge of the table with a pencil was felt by all examiners to be too difficult for this age child. This is reflected by the fact that only 18 of the 52 children recorded a score of three with it. This was changed to having the child duplicate a clapping pattern which the examiner made because it was felt that clapping produced clearer and more distinguishable sounds. Three items were omitted from this section in the revised Inventory. Item IV-l which required the child to find an Object in the room after listening to a description of it was 38 one of these. Examiners reported that children were confused by these descriptions and had trouble locating the object in the room unless it was a very obvious one and then the item became too easy. As this item stressed memory of words and sentences it was felt that an adequate assessment of the child's ability in this area would be made by including only item IV-13 which required him to answer questions after listening to a story. Item IV-5 which asked the child to repeat a simple song or fingerplay was eliminated for the same reason. Item IV-8 which required the child to identify something by touch was eliminated because it was felt that this duplicated the previous item, 11-5, which required the child to match objects by touch alone. In the curriculum the teacher is given guidelines for the sequential develOpment of this earlier goal and it was felt that this later item was being repetitious and lengthening the Inventory. The sequence of items was changed somewhat when scores indicated that IV-ll and IV-12 which required memory of words and numbers were successfully completed by a much larger number of children than many previous items. Ppoblem Solying Skills In item V-2 which required the child to match ten objects on a one to one basis the revised manual instructs the examiner to create a row of ten paper clips. In the field test which asked for rows to be constructed out of colored pegs, many examiners found that the children became so absorbed in the 39 matching of colors that they forgot their original task. Analysis of the scoring patterns revealed that very few children had difficulty with item V-5 which required them to identify a picture by only seeing a portion of it. For example, a girl was covered except for her legs and the children were required to identify the picture as a girl. A close examination of the scores pointed out that many children who had scores of one and two on the previous several items suddenly were able to score three on this item. It was felt that the pictures shown did not adequately test this goal and for this reason the revised manual uses a slightly revised game.8 85cc Appendix C, Revised Inventory, and Appendix D, Revised Manual. 90 TABLE III Total Scores in Field Test Item No. Qpe 239 Three No answer I-l 3 7 92 -2 3 2 97 -3 0 0 52 -9 0 9 98 —5 O 19 38 -6 0 ll 91 -7 3 10 38 l -8 6 19 27 -9 12 19 21 -10 3 12 36 1 -ll 16 5 31 I-11 0 l 51 912 0 0 52 -3 0 2 50 -9 9 3 99 l -5 2 3 97 -6 0 2 50 -7 0 0 52 -8 O 5 97 -9 0 O 52 -10 l 2 98 1 -ll 0 3 99 -12 O 16 36 -13 5 5 91 1 -19 O 5 96 1 -15 3 19 39 1 -16 9 12 35 1 III-l 1 O 50 l -2 6 9 36 l -3 6 11 33 2 -9 0 11 9O 1 -5 2 5 93 2 -6 5 ll 39 2 —7 2 3 95 2 -8 l9 19 ll 3 -9 l5 6 30 1 -lo 3 5 93 l -11 9 ll 36 l IV-l 5 9 91 2 -2 2 1 97 2 -3 8 ll 31 2 -9 2 25 23 2 -5 3 9 38 2 -6 13 20 16 3 -7 2 9 9O 1 -8 0 5 99 3 -9 9 25 15 9 -10 19 13 18 2 -ll 3 5 92 2 91 TABLE III Total Scores in Field Test Item No. Qpp 219 Three No Answer IV-12 1 6 93 2 -l3 3 10 37 2 V-l 2 9 92 9 -2 9 5 39 9 -3 15 9 25 3 -u 5 19 29 9 -5 2 6 91 3 -6 13 6 29 9 TOTAL NUMBER OF TESTS GIVEN WAS 52 Development of a Curriculum All teachers and aides indicated that now that their attention had been directed towards individual intellectual growth they were eager for suggestions for classroom activities that would further stimulate growth. Need for suggestions was felt highest with those children whose experiential background left them far behind in the development of intellectual skills and also with those children who had mastered all the skills in the inventory and needed new challenges. In response to these feelings a follow-up curriculum was designed.9 .After the teacher has completed an Inventory with a child it is suggested she study it carefully to note those skill areas within which she feels he needs further stimulation and growth. By turning to the pages in the Curriculum which deal with those particular skills she will find each one reworded as a behavioral goal with activities which she can introduce in her classroom to stimulate growth in the child who has not mastered the concept, the child who has partial mastery,and the child who has complete mastery. Suggestions are also included for structuring the classroom around the use of the Inventory with all children. All activities directly involve the child and use equipment which the teacher can obtain quite inexpensively. Conclusion and Implications It is felt with the implementation of an inventory and curriculum which are based on intellectual theory but written in the sinmfle terms of behavioral goals, the teacher of 9See Appendix E 42 93 young children will be better prepared to stimulate their growth. All examiners used in the field test commented on the value of the Inventory in drawing their attention to the individual growth of a particular child. This, they felt, would truly help them to individualize their teaching programs. One examiner reported that "in almost all instances we would pick up specific strengths and weaknesses that we had observed in more general terms--for instance, the effect that short attention span had on problem solving or mental skills." Examiners felt that the Inventory drew their attention to specific areas of the child's growth which had previously been overlookied. With the exceptions which have already been noted and on which changes in the Inventory were based, examiners reported that children enjoyed the Inventory and were proud of what they could accomplish. Also mentioned was enjoyment of a one to one situation by both the examiner and the child. All examiners felt that they would like to use the Inventory with their entire class. In the new and growing field of child development and preschool education there are few, if any, inventories which enable the teacher to gather a composite picture of the intellectual skills of each child in her classroom. Imple- mentation of an inventory, such as the one developed here, will give additional guidelines as to which children would benefit the most from some of the excellent preschool curricula being‘developed today. Information which the Inventory gives 14.11 the teacher in regards to a particular child may indicate that she need to alter the daily experiences in her room to provide more Opportunities for him to grow at his own level. In order to further develop the Inventory and make it a more reliable observer for the teacher much more field testing needs to be done. Obtaining the scores of large numbers of children will help to further stabilize the sequences of skills within the Inventory. Comparisons of scores obtained from children who have grown up in homes supported by different levels of incomes would give the teacher additional information and guidance as she works with her children. The Inventory also needs to be expanded so that it more effectively deals with all three and five year old children. It is hoped that the Inventory will provide for those teachers in the field who are concerned about establishing optimal situations for their children a valuable tool for determining classroom curriculum and experiences. LIST OF REFERENCES List of References Almy, M., Chittenden, E., & Miller, P. Young children's thinking. Columbia University, New YOrk: Teacher's College Press, 1967. Bangs, T. E. Lgngpage and learning disorderpfof the pre- academic child. New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1968. Berstein, B. Social class and linguistic development: A theory of social learning. In A. H. Halsey, J. Floud, and C. A. Anderson (eds.), Education; economy and society. New YOrk: Free Press of Glencoe, 1961. Billingsley, A. Black families in white America. Englewood Clifts, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1968. Bloom, B. S., Davis A., & Hess, R. Compensatory education for cultural deprivation. New YOrk: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1965. Breckenridge, M. E., & Murphy, M. N. Growth and development of the young child. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1963. Breckenridge, M. E., & Vincent, E. L. Child development. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Co., 1960. Bruner, J. S. The course of cognitive growth, American Egyphologist, 1969, 19, 1-15. Bruner, J. S. The process of education. New York: Vintage Books, 1960. Bruner, J. 8., Oliver, R. R., & Greenfield, P. M. Studies in cogpitive growth. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1967. Cole, L. A history of education. New York: Rinehart & Co., 1959. Deutsch, M. Facilitating development in the preschool child: Social and psychological persepctives. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1969, 10, 299-263. Dodwell, P. C. The relation between the understanding of logic of classes of cardinal numbers in children. In I. E. Sigel & F. H. Hooper (eds.) Logical thinking in children, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1968. Elkind, D. Discrimination, seriation and numeration of size and demensional differences in young children. In I. E. Sigel & F. H. HOOper (eds.), Logical thinking in children. New YOrk: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1968. Frost, J. L., & Rowland, G. T. Curricula for the seventies. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969. Frostig, M., & Horne, D. The Frostigippogram for the development of visual perception. Chicago Follett Publishing Co., 1969. Ga ne, R. M. The acquisition of knowledge. Psychological Review, 19 29 6’4, 355-365- Gray, S. W., & Klauss, R. A. An experimental preschool program for culturally deprived children. Child Development, 1965 y 36 9 887-898 0 Hainstock, E. G. Teachinngontessori in the home. New York: Random House, 1968. Hammond, S. L. Good schools for younggchildren. New York: MacMillan Co., 1963. Heard, I. M. Number games with young children. Young Children, 1969, 29, 197-150. Hess, R. D., & Shipman, V. C. Early experiences and the socialization of cognitive modes in children. Child Development, 1965, 36, 869-886. Honstead, C. The developmental theory of Jean Piaget. In J. L. Frost (ed.), Early childhood education rediscovered. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1968. Huey J. Learning potential of the young child. In J. L. Frost (ed.), Early childhood education rediscovered. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1968. Hunt, J. McV. How children develOp intellectually. Children, 1969, 83-91. Hunt, J. McV. Intelligence and experience. New York: The Ronald Press, 1961. Hunt, J. McV. The psychological basis for using preschool enrichment as an antidote to cultural deprivation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1969, 10,209-298. Ilg, F. L., and Ames, L. 8. Reading readiness. New York: Harper & Row, 1969. Kephart, N. C. Perceptual motor aspects of learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 1965, 31, 201-206. Keyserling, L. H. Progress on poverty, Washington D. C.: Conference on Economic Progress, 1969. Kohlberg, L. Early education: A cognitive developmental point of view. Child Development, 1968, 39, 1013-1062. Lysen, N., & Durian, M. Development and behavior from birth to five ears, Extension Bulletin 937. Michigan State University: Coop Extension Service, no publication date. Montessori, M. Education for a new world. Adyar, India: Kalakshetra Publications, 1959. Piaget, J. The language and thought of the child. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul LTD, 1926. Piaget, J. How children form mathematical concepts. Scientific American, 1953, 189, 79-79. Piaget, J. Science of education and the psychology of the child. New York: Orion Press, 1970. Riessman, F. The culturally deprived child. New York: Harper and Row, 1962. Ripple, R. E., & Rockcastle, V. N. (eds.) Piaget rediscovered. Cornell University: School of Education, 1969. Rodman, H. On understanding lower-class behavior. Social & economycjgtudies, 8, 1969. Sigel, I. E. The attainment of concepts. In M. L. & L. W. Hoffman (eds), Review of child development research II. New YOrk: Russell Sage Foundation, 1969. Sigel, I. E., & Roeper, A. Finding the clue to children's thought processes. Young children, 1966, 6, 335-399. Sharp, E. Thinking ip child's play. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1969. U. S. Census, Families with own children, 1960. Washington: United itates Government, US Volume, Table 225, State Volume, Table l O. Vallet, R. E. The remediation of learning disabilities. Palo Alto, California: Ferron Publishers, 1967 Wilson, J., & Robert, M. C. Kindergarten evaluation of learning pptential, St. Louis: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1963. Witty, P. A. (ed.) The educationally retgpded and disadvantaged: Yearbook for the Nationgl Society for the study of education. Chicago: University Press, 1967. APPENDICES APPENDIX A INITIAL INSTRUMENT INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS Inventory of Intellectual Skills INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS CHILD'S NAME CHILD'S BIRTHDATE DATE OF TEST NAME OF SCHOOL EXAMINER Appendix A Initial Instrument AGE OF CHILD YRS. MOS. I H\Om\10\\n-{?UNH 0 F4 ldhdhndhdhndhdhfld I I H ...: II-l II-2 II-3 II-9 II-5 II-6 II-7 11-8 11-9 II-lO II-ll II-12 11-13 II-l9 11-15 II-16 III-1 III-2 III-3 III-9 111-5 III-6 III-7 I. MOTOR SKILLS Child can follow an object with his eyes. Child can follow a line with his finger. Child can string beads. Child can control a crayon and pencil. Child can OOpy a circle. Child can cut on a straight line. Child can copy a cross. Child can copy a square. Child can copy a triangle. Child can point to top, bottom, front, back, right side up and down. Child is beginning to print his own name. II. PERCEPTUAL SKILLS Child can match colors. Child can match forms. Child can compare objects by size. Child can discriminate between common sounds. Child can identify common sounds. Child can match objects by touch. Child can match objects. Child can match shades of the same color. Child can match patterns which are alike. Child can match a picture of an Object to the object. Child can match numerals. Child can match letters. Child can reproduce a pattern. Child can put together a simple puzzle. Child can discriminate between conflicting visual stimuli. Child can recognize his first and last name. III. LANGUAGE SKILLS Child can recognize objects by function and name. Child can name eight basic colors. Child can communicate his ideas in both simple and complex sentences. Child is using correct pronunciation of sounds. Child is using prepositions correctly. Child can describe an object using two descriptive phrases. Child can use oral context to determine the truth of statements. J L L l 1 1 LL 1 l l l L l L 1 l III-8 Child can name letters. III-9 Child can name numerals from one to ten. III-10 Child knows the names for everyday objects and uses them. III-ll Child can give personal information. IV. MEMORY SKILLS 1 2 3 IV-l Child can find an object after listening to a description of it. IV-2 Child can recall an object that is shown him and then hidden. IV-3 Child can determine which object is removed from a group when he isn't looking ’ IV-9 Child can count to 19 by rote. IV-5 Child can repeat simple songs, finger- plays and poems. IV-6 Child can reconstruct a sequence from memory. IV-7 Child can recall instructions for three tasks and do them. IV-8 Child can label something using his sense of touch only. IV-9 Child can reproduce a simple design from memory. IV-lO Child can reproduce a simple tapping sequence. IV-ll Child can repeat a sequence of four numbers. IV-12 Child can repeat a sentence. IV-l3 Child can answer questions about a story. V. PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS l 2 3 V-l Child can sort objects on the basis of a single property. V-2 Child can match ten objects on a one to one correspondence. V-3 Child can arrange 3-9 objects in a series or sequence. V-9 Child can comprehend number groups from one to three. V-5 Child can determine what a simple object is after seeing only a part of it. [ V-6 Child can point to the first, last, and [ middle positions in a row of objects. APPENDIX B QUESTIONNAIRE Appendix B Questionnaire Your Job: teacher grade level aide other (please list) How long have you worked with children? Did you enjoy using this Inventory with a child? yes__ nO__ Why or why not? Do you feel you learned anything new about the child you worked with? Yes___No__ Why or why not? Did you find the Inventory easy to understand? Yes__ No__, Why or why not? Did you have trouble understanding any particular game? Yes__ No__ Did you mark the spot? Yes__ No__ Did you find any games that the children did not like or want to do? Yes__ No__ Did you mark the spot? Yes__ No__ Did you feel that any of the games are uxihard for this age child? Yes___ No___Which ones? Did you feel that there were any intellectual skills missing? Yes__ No__ What were they? Did you have a hard time gathering the equipment that you needed for the Inventory? Yes__, No___ Do you have any suggestions for the way the Inventory could be put together so that it would be easier to use? Would you like to use this Inventory with the rest of your children? Yes__ No__ Why or why not? Would you like to have the curriculum games and ideas that are mentioned in the introduction to use in your classroom with your children? Yes___ No__ Do you have any suggestions, ideas, or criticisms which would help to improve this Inventory? (The original questionnaire was placed on two sheets of paper with sufficient room for examiners to answer questions.) APPENDIX C REVISED INVENTORY INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS Appendix C Revised Inventory INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS CHILD'S NAME CHILD'S BIRTHDATE DATE OF TEST NAME OF SCHOOL NAME OF EXAMINER AGE OF CHILD YRS. MOS. RESEARCH EDITION Kathryn J. Cole Copyright Pending DO Not Duplicate Without Permission IITxé ITATAIITAIII. IYA IIIIIIIIITSII .1; T; I III-TA llll l—‘O HHHHHDi-iI—IH HHH l-‘l-WOCDVQUI-t \ANH II-l II-2 II-3 II-9 II-S II-6 II-7 II-8 11-9 11-10 II-ll 11-12 11-13 II-19 111-1 III-2 III-3 111-9 111-5 III-6 111-7 III-8 I. MOTOR SKILLS Child can follow an object with his eyes. Child can follow a line with his finger. Child can point to top, bottom, front, and back. Child can string beads. Child can control a crayon and pencil Child can copy a circle. Child can cut on a straight line. Child can copy a cross. Child can OOpy a square. Child can copy a triangle. Child is beginning to print his own name. II. PERCEPTUAL SKILLS Child can match objects. Child can match a picture of an Object to the object. Child can match colors. Child can match forms. Child can match objects by touch. Child can match patterns which are alike. Child can compare objects by size. Child can identify common sounds. Child can put together a simple puzzle. Child can reproduce a pattern. Child can match numerals. Child can match letters, Child can recognize his first and last name Child can discriminate between conflicti visual stimuli. III. LANGUAGE SKILLS Child can recognize objects by function and name. Child knows the names for everyday objects and uses them. Child is using correct pronunication of beginning sounds. Child can give personal information. Child can name basic colors and shapes. Child is using prepositions correctly. Child can communicate his ideas in both simple and complex sentences. Child can describe an object using two descriptive phrases. l l JLJII 1 J l lllJLJllllll l_ INJJ J III-9 Child can use oral context to complete statements. III-10 Child can name numerals from one to ten. III-11 Child can name upper and lower case letters III-12 Child can count to twenty by rote. IV. MEMORY SKILLS IV-l Child can recall an object which is shown him and then hidden. IV-2 Child can repeat a sentence. IV-3 Child can repeat a sequence of four numbers, IV-9 Child can recall instructions for three tasks and do them. IV-5 Child can determine which object is removed from a group when he isn't looking. IV-6 Child can reconstruct a sequence from memory. IV-7 Child can answer questions about a story after listening to it. IV-8 Child can reconstruct a simple design from memory. IV-9 Child can reproduce a simple clapping pattern. V. PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS V-l Child can sort objects on the basis of a single property. V-2 Child can match ten objects on a one to one correspondence. ‘V-3 Child can comprehend number groups from one to three. V-A- Child can arrange four objects in a seriefi \f—S Child can point to first, last & middle. I V—6 Child can determine what is missing from r a common object. TEACHER OBSERVATION: CONCLUSIONS AND PLAN FOR FUTURE WORK WITH THE CHILD: APPENDIX D REVISED MANUAL INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS Appendix D Revised Manual INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS AN OBSERVATION GUIDE RESEARCH EDITION Kathryn J. Cole Copyright Pending Do Not Duplicate Without Permission INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS There has been much emphasis in recent years on the level of intellectual growth that a child should have reached in order to have success with the tasks he meets in kindergarten and first grade. Many of our nation's children, especially those from low income homes, are entering school inadequately prepared fOr the challenges they will meet there. This inadequacy is usually due to few opportunities for experiencing the world in their early years of life. This Inventory was designed to include those intellectual skills that the majority of children have mastered upon entrance to kindergarten (approximately five years of age). It can be used by the kindergarten teacher to direct her observation to the individual strengths and weaknesses of her children. This knowledge will be of great value in helping her to direct her teaching towards meeting the individual needs of all her children. The Inventory can also be used by the teacher of the four year old child to determine how best she can help him establish foundations for later learning. Teachers of remedial classes may find that the Inventory directs their observation to early skills of intellectual growth that their students have not yet mastered. All growth occurs in a pattern or sequence. The moth must appear before the butterfly; the tadpole before the frog. Children, too, must sit and stand before they can walk; learn to control the pencil before they write. This Inventory directs the teacher's observation to intellectual growth in the areas of motor, perception, language, memory and problem solving skills. As it is designed to cover a particular period in the growth of the child, the teacher may find a child achieving mastery in many of the skill areas at the same time. However, as the teacher works with the child from the ‘beginning to the end of the Inventory and from the first to the last task within each category she will be giving the child tasks ‘to do which are more and more complex. INTRODUCTION The primary purpose of this inventory is to direct a teacher's observation to the specific skills of intellectual growth that a four or five year child has mastered. The inventory is made up of 52 different games which the teacher plays with the child. Games are presented in the inventory in a sequential order, but the teacher may wish to vary the order as she works with a particular child. Filling in scoring box 1 after a game indicates that the child does not have mastery of a skill; score box 2 indicates partial mastery and score box 3 indicates complete mastery. Directions for administering and scoring the inventory are found in the teacher's manual. Most children will need two or three sessions with the teacher to finish the inventory. Before beginning the inventory the teacher will need to collect materials from her classroom. The equipment necessary for each game is listed in the manual and should be collected before the teacher begins observation with any child. ' INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS I. MOTOR SKILLS I-1 CHILD CAN FOLLOW AN OBJECT WITH HIS EYES I-2 EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Pencil with tack stuck in side of eraser Say, "Do you see the tack that I have put in the end of this pencil? I am going to move it back and forth and I want you to watch where it goes with your eyes, but keep your head very still!" Move the pencil in a half circle about 1% feet in front of the child's face. If the child moves his head repeat - "keep your head still -- move only your eyes!" Bring the pencil into the child's nose -- his eyes should not cross until your pencil is about four inches from it. 1-Child moves his head to follow the pencil 2-Child follows pencil with jerky eye movements 3-Child follows pencil with smooth movements CHILD CAN FOLLOW A LINE WITH HIS FINGER EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper, crayon, pencil Say, "I am going to draw a line on this paper and I want you to put your finger at the start of it and make your finger go along the line all the way to the end." With the crayon draw a line that is somewhat curved After the child has done this draw a similar line with the pencil on the paper and repeat the game. l-Child can follow the line only with your help 2-Child follows line with difficulty or can follow the wider line of the crayon, but not the pencil 3-Child can stay on both lines from beginning to end I-3 CHILD CAN POINT TO TOP, BOTTOM, FRONT AND BACK 1-4 I-s EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Say, "Show me where your bottom is. Where is your top? Your front? Your back?" Credit either feet or "bottom" as correct. l-Child can not point to anything you ask 2-Child can point to three locations 3-Child can point to all locations CHILD CAN STRING BEADS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Bead lace, 4 large beads, 4 small beads Give the child the lace and large beads to string. When he has finished with them give him the smaller beads. Watch to see if he must hunt for the hole to put the string in or if he can string the beads with ease. l—Child is unable to string beads 2-Child is able to string large beads only 3-Child is able to string all beads CHILD CAN CONTROL A CRAYON AND A PENCIL EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper, crayon, and pencil Say, "I am going to draw a line on this paper with my crayon. When I am finished I will give it to you and you can draw one just like mine." Draw a straight line on the paper. Repeat with pencil. l-Child holds pencil awkwardly -- straight up and down with hand as a fist 2-Child holds pencil with all fingers encircling and at a slant 3-Child takes pencil with three fingers near the tip and thumb on top with pencil slanted slightly upward I-6 CHILD CAN COPY A CIRCLE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: I-7 CHILD CAN CUT EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper with a 2 inch diameter circle already drawn on it, pencil C) Ask the child to make two circles like the one on the paper. l-Child can not copy circle 2-Child distorts circle 0 0 o 3—Child copies circle correctly ON A STRAIGHT LINE Paper with a line drawn across the middle of it, pair of children's scissors Ask the child to cut the paper right on the line. If he has difficulty with the game give him another piece of paper to try a second time. l-Child is unable to use scissors or cut 2-Child can use scissors, but is awkward and can not cut on line 3-Child cuts on the line with ease and holds scissors comfortably. Many children will still be placing first finger in the second hole of the scissors instead of the second.finger. This is acceptable. I-8 CHILD CAN COPY A CROSS EQUIPMENT: Paper with a 2 inch cross already drawn on it, pencil .*— GAME: Child is asked to make two copies of the cross. SCORING: l-Child can not copy cross 2—Child copies cross imperfectly ’IT FT v 3-Child c0pies cross with ease + I-9 CHILD CAN COPY A SQUARE EQUIPMENT: Paper with a 2% square already drawn on it, pencil D GAME: Child is asked to make two COpies of the square. SCORING: l-Child can not copy square 2-Child copies square imperfectly \j HIT 3-Child copies square with ease D I-lO CHILD CAN COPY A TRIANGLE I-ll EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper with a 2 inch triangle already drawn on it, pencil [5 Child is asked to make two copies of the triangle l-Child can not copy triangle 2-Child copies triangle imperfectly /-\ /\ Ll 3—Child c0pies triangle with ease A CHILD IS BEGINNING TO PRINT HIS OWN NAME EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper, pencil Ask the child to print his own name. l-Child can not print his name 2-Child attempts to print his name but letters are reversed, in the wrong order, left out or other mistakes are made 3-Child can print his first name correctly in capitals or small letters II-l CHILJ II-2 EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: II. PERCEPTUAL SKILLS CAN MATCH OBJECTS Two each of the following: small blocks, crayons, scissors, beads, drinking glasses, and pencils Place all the items on the table. Tell the child that you are going to touch one and you want him to touch one that is just like it. Go through all the items. l—Child can not match items 2-Child makes one mistake 3-Child matches all items correctly CHILD CAN MATCH A PICTURE OE AN OBJECT TO THE OBJECT EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: One each of the following: chair (the one the child is sitting on), book, small glass, and scissors. Cut the following pictures from a magazine or catalogue and mount on constniction paper: pair of shoes, chair, glass, book, and scissors. Mount on separate sheets of construction paper. Place all the items on the table except the shoes and chair. Hold one picture up at a time and ask the child to find the same item either on the table or in the room. l-Child is unable to match the pictures to the objects 2-Child makes one mistake 3-Child matches all the pictures and objects correctly II-3 CHILD CAN MATCH COLORS 11-4 EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Cut two 2% inch squares of each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and black Place eight of the color cards on the table and keep the matching set in your hand. Ask the child to point to the card on the table which is the same color as the one you are holding. Go through all the cards in your hand showing them one at a time to the child. l—Child has two or more errors 2—Child has one error 3-Child matches all the cards correctly CHILD CAN MATCH FORMS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Cut 3 of the following: 2% inch square, 2% inch diameter circle, 2 inch triangle, 1 inch by 2% inch rectangle and 3 inch diamond Keep one set of form cards in your hand. Arrange the other two sets on the table-- one set in the normal position and the other in an altered position. Tell the child that you want him to find two shapes like the one that you show him. Go through all the cards in your hand showing them to him one at a time. If he can not find the shape in the altered position ask him if he sees another one besides the one that he is pointing to. l-Child is unable to match forms 2-Child is able to match forms in normal position only 3-Child is able to match forms in both positions II-5 CHILD CAN MATCH OBJECTS BY TOUCH EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Two each of the following: small blocks, scissors, crayons, large beads, paper clips, and one paper bag. Place one block, scissors, crayon, bead, and paper clip in the bag before the child arrives. Talk to the child about the remaining items as you place them on the table. Tell him that you want him to find some things just like these inside the paper bag that you have without looking inside it! Point to one item on the table and then instruct the child to look at you while he feels inside the bag for it and draws it out. Continue through all the items. l-Child can not match the items 2-Child makes one mistake 3-Child matches all items correctly II—6 CHILD CAN MATCH PATTERNS WHICH ARE ALIKE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Ten 3 by 5 inch index cards. Make two each of the following: two index cards which are plain; two index cards with dots on them; two index cards with lines on them; two index cards with small flowers on them; and two index cards with checks on them. Hold one set of cards in your hand and spread the others out on the table. Tell the child to point to the one on the table that is just like the one you are holding in your hand. Go through the cards one at a time. l-Child is unable to match patterns 2-Child makes one mistake 3-Child matches all patterns correctly II-7 CHILD CAN COMPARE OBJECTS BY SIZE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Cut six squares from construction paper. Make one each of the following sizes: six inches square, five inches square, four inches square, three inches square, two inches square, and one inch square. Place all of the squares in front of the child on the table. Tell him that you want him to find the biggest square and give it to you. When he has done this ask him for the smallest one. Continue to ask for the biggest one and then the smallest one until all the cards are gone. l—Child is unable to give you any of the squares that you ask for 2-Child is slow or hesitant in giving you the squares or makes two mistakes 3-Child gives you all the squares correctly II—8 CHILD CAN IDENTIFY COMMON SOUNDS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Bell, small block, paper Ask the child to turn his chair around so he can not see what you are doing. After he has done so caution him not to turn around and look until after he hears a noise. Take the bell and ring it behind your back. When he turns around ask him what he has heard. If he turns around while you are ringing the bell remind him that he is not to turn around until you are finished and practice with the bell again. When you are sure that he knows what you mean make the following sounds: clap your hands three times rip a piece of paper behind your back stamp your feet four times drop a block on the floor behind your chair whistle l-Child has two or more errors 2-Child has one error 3-Chi1d recognizes all sounds II-9 CHILD CAN PUT TOGETHER A SIMPLE PUZZLE EQUIPMENT: Standard wooden preschool puzzle with 7-10 pieces GAME: The child is directed to take the puzzle apart and remake it. SCORING: l-Child is frustrated by the puzzle and you must place pieces in position for him 2—Child can do puzzle but asks you questions about location of pieces and needs your help 3-Child can do puzzle easily by himself II-lO CHILD CAN REPRODUCE A PATTERN EQUIPMENT: Color cards from 11-3 GAME: Give the child one set of color cards and keep the other for yourself. Tell the child that you are going to put some cards on the table and you want him to put the same cards from his pile right below yours. Take three cards from your pile and make a row with them on the table. Instruct the child to make a similar row. When this has been done return his cards to him and take yours back. Make a row of five cards and have him make an identical row. SCORING: 1-Child is unable to match your cards 2-Child is able to match small row only 3-Child matches both rows correctly 10 II-ll CHILD CAN MATCH NUMERALS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Twenty 3 by 5 index cards. Write one numeral on each card. Use numerals from one to ten and make two sets. Place one set of numeral cards on the table in random order in a position so they are clearly seen by the child. Hold the remaining set in your hand and hold up the cards one by one. Ask the child to point to the card on the table which is identical to the one you are holding. l-Child can not match the numerals 2—Child makes one or two mistakes 3-Child matches all the numerals correctly II-12 CHILD CAN MATCH LETTERS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Seven 3 by 5 index cards. Place one letter on each card. Make two cards for each of the following letters: d, b, p, q, g, m, and n. Make the letters a good size. Place one set of the letter cards in a straight row in front of the child in the following order: d, b, p, q, g, m, n. Hold the remaining set in your hand and show the child one card at a time. Ask him to point to the card on the table that is like the one you are holding. Be sure to hold the cards up in a different order than they are on the table. l-Child is unable to match letters 2-Child makes one or two mistakes 3-Child matches all letters correctly 11 II-13 CHILD CAN RECOGNIZE HIS FIRST AND LAST NAME EQUIPMENT: A printed list of all the first names of the children in the class and another list which has the first and last names of all the children. (Approximately 15 names) GAME: Show the child the list with first names only and ask if he can find his name. If he has trouble concentrating point to the first name and ask if it is his. Continue down the list. Repeat with first and last names. SCORING: l-Child is unable to find his name 2-Child can find his first name only 3-Child recognizes his first and last names 11-14 CHILD CAN DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN CONFLICTING VISUAL STIMULI EQUIPMENT: Two 8% by 11 pieces of manila paper. On one draw several different size circles and intersperse different shapes and forms (ovals, figure sights, crescents, etc.) among them. On the second sheet draw several different size squares (using a ruler to be certain that they are square) and inter— sperse several objects (rectangles, triangles, octogons, etc.) among them. GAME: Place card with circles in front of the child. Ask him to show you a circle on it. When he does so take a crayon and draw a line through it. Tell him that you want him to find all the rest of the circles on the card and to the same thing to them. Repeat with card with squares. Cards may be prepared for use by several children by mounting them on cardboard and covering with clear contac which crayon can be erased from with a tissue. SCORING: l-Child is unable to locate the shapes 2-Child misses two or more shapes between both cards 3-Child locates all the shapes 12 III-l III-2 III. LANGUAGE SKILLS CHILD CAN RECOGNIZE OBJECTS BY FUNCTION AND NAME EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Book, glass, crayon, bell, scissors Place all the objects on the table in front of the child and ask him the following: Show me the one that you drink from Show me the crayon Show me what you cut paper with Show me the bell Show me the glass Show me the one that you read Show me the one that makes a noise Show me the book Show me the one that you draw with Show me the scissors l-Child makes two or more mistakes 2—Child makes one mistake 3—Child points to all items correctly CHILD KNOWS THE NAMES FOR EVERYDAY OBJECTS AND USES THEM EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Say, "I will touch some things in our room and I want you to tell me what they are." Touch the following and wait after each one for the child to identify it: chair, table, crayon, shoe, floor, paper bag, light switch or light, door, paper, and pencil. l-Child can not name two or more of the items 2-Child misses one of the items 3-Child gets all of the items correct 13 III-3 CHILD IS USING CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF BEGINNING SOUNDS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Ask the child to say the following words after you: monkey, gall, pig, house, gindow, boat, get, girl, fork, dog, kite, ghurch, ggare, guit l-Child mispronounces three or more sounds 2-Child mispronounces two sounds 3-Child pronounces all sounds correctly III-H CHILD CAN GIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Ask the child the following questions: What is your name? (first and last) How old are you? (ask how many if shows fingers) Are you a boy or a irl? Where do you live? credit street name alone, city name alone or both) Point to your nose, eyes, ears, tummy, elbow, chin, fingers, knee, heel 1-Child misses two or more answers 2-Child misses one of the first three questions or fails to point to two of the parts of his body 3-Child answers all parts of the question correctly or misses one body part 14 III-5 CHILD CAN NAME THE BASIC COLORS AND SHAPES EQUIPMENT: Color cards from 11-3 and Shape Cards from II-h GAME: Hold the cards in front of the child one at a time and ask him to name either the color or the shape. Record those he can not do. SCORING: l-Child has two or more mistakes 2-Child has one mistake 3-Child names all correctly III-6 CHILD IS USING PREPOSITIONS CORRECTLY EQUIPMENT: None GAME: Say, 'I am going to tell you some things to do." Stand next to the table. Get under the table. Stand behind your chair. Stand in front of your chair. Put your hand over your head. Put your finger 2n your nose. Put your finger $§ your ear. SCORING: l-Child needs to be helped with three or more directions 2-Child needs to be helped with one or two directions 3-Child can complete all the directions by himself 15 III-7 CHILD CAN COMMUNICATE HIS IDEAS IN BOTH SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SENTENCES EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: A magazine or classroom picture which has enough in it so that the child could tell you a lot about it Say, "I have brought a picture for you to look at. What do you see in it?" If this brings only one word responses or no response at all ask the child to tell you something about the picture. l-Child will not talk or responds with one word sentences only and points to objects in the picture 2-Child responds in sentences to the picture only after you ask him several questions about it 3-Child verbalizes freely about the picture and tells you two or more things he sees happening in it in complete sentences III-8 CHILD CAN DESCRIBE AN OBJECT USING TWO DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Pencil, bell, block Practice item: put the pencil on the table. Say, "What can you tell me about this?" If the child makes only one response or no responses at all ask such questions as: What is it called? What is it made out of? What do we do with it? Remove the pencil and place the bell on the table. Repeat, "What can you tell me about this?" Do not give the child any additional help other than to ask what else he can tell you. Remove when he has nothing else to say and repeat with the block. l-Child can tell you nothing about the two items 2-Child can tell you one thing about each item 3-Child can tell you at least two things about one item 16 III-9 CHILD CAN USE ORAL CONTEXT TO COMPLETE STATEMENTS III-10 III-ll EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Say, "I am going to say some words and I want you to listen carefully and finish what I have said." Children like to eat Animals all have We can ride in a In school we l—Child can not finish sentence. 2-Child finishes sentence with words that do not make sense or can not do all sentences 3-Child finishes all sentences adequately CHILD CAN NAME NUMERALS FROM ONE TO TEN EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Numeral cards from 11-11 Mix the order of one set of cards from 1 to 10 so they are not in order. Hold them up one at a time and have the child identify them. Note those that he can not on form. l-Child must have prompting to name numerals 2-Child can name all the numerals except a few 3—Child can name all the numerals CHILD CAN NAME UPPER AND LOWER CASE LETTERS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Two sheets of lined paper. Print on one the alphabet in capital letters and on the other the alphabet in lower case letters. Use marker or heavy pencil so that the letters are easy to see. Place one paper at a time in front of the child and tell him you want him to name the letters as you touch them. l—Child does not know the names of the letters 2—Child knows about half of the letters 3-Child knows all of the letters 17 III-12 CHILD CAN COUNT TO TWENTY BY ROTE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Say, "Can you count for me?" If the child has difficulty in realizing what you want him to do begin for him with one, two ....... l-Child can not count or counts to 5 or less 2-Child can count but not all the way to 20 3-Child can count to 20 18 IV-1 IV-2 IV. MEMORY SKILLS CHILD CAN RECALL AN OBJECT WHICH IS SHOWN HIM AND THEN HIDDEN EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Two each of the following: paper clip, rubber band, large safety pin, and small bead Place one of each item on the table in front of the child and name them with him so that you are sure that he is familiar with them Tell him that you are going to cover them up with a piece of paper and then show him something that you have in your hand. After he has seen the one in your hand remove it and have him take the piece of paper off the objects and locate the one you were holding. Repeat with three different objects. l-Child misses on two or more trials 2-Child misses on one trial 3—Child gets all correct CHILD CAN REPEAT A SENTENCE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Ask the child to repeat the following sentences after you: Mother and I went to the store. Tommy made a picture with his crayons. The dog lay down and ate his bone. l-Child can not say any sentence without a mistake 2-Child can repeat at least two sentences with only one mistake in each . 3-Child can repeat at least two sentences correctly 19 IV—3 IV—4 Iv-5 CHILD CAN REPEAT A SEQUENCE OF FOUR NUMBERS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Ask the child to say the following numbers after you: 5-3-4-2 6-9-4—8 3-7-4-1 l-Child misses two numbers in each group 2-Child misses one number in each group 3-Child has at least two series correct CHILD CAN RECALL THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THREE TASKS AND DO THEM EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Say, "Listen carefully. I am going to tell you some things to do and I want you to do them." Push your chair under the table, walk to the door and jump up and down. Put your hands on your head, walk around the table, and sit down. l-Child can only do one thing in each group 2-Child can only do two things in each group 3-Child can do at least one group perfectly CHILD CAN DETERMINE WHICH OBJECT IS REMOVED FROM A GROUP WHEN HE ISN'T LOOKING EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Paper clip, rubber band, small bead, safety pin Place the objects on the table and name them with the child. Tell him that you want him to look at them carefully for when he closes his eyes you are going to take one away and he must tell you which one. Remind him to study if he forgets. Repeat 3 times. taking away a different object each time. l-Child misses two or more times 2-Child misses one time 3-Child is correct all three times 20 IV-6 CHILD CAN RECONSTRUCT A SEQUENCE FROM MEMORY IV-7 EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Color cards from II-3 Select ten cards, two each of five different colors, and give one set to the child. Tell the child that you are going to put some colors in a row on the table and that you want him to study them because you are going to cover them up with paper and then you want him to make a row just like yours. Remind the child to study the cards. Make a row of three colors and after the child has duplicated this row repeat two more times with different colors. Allow the child to correct his row whalyou uncover yours if his is incorrect. Count to five while the child studies your row and then cover it up while he makes his. l-Child can not repeat your rows 2-Child repeats two of the three colors in your row or mixes the order of the colors 3-Child can reproduce two of your rows correctly CHILD CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT A STORY AFTER LISTENING TO IT EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: None Tell the child the following story: “Sally and her mother went to the store. They got some ice cream and cookies to eat. They brought the ice cream and cookies to their house.” Ask the child: Where did Sally and her mother go first? (store) What did they get at the store? (ice cream and cookies) What did they give the man at the store? (money) Where did they take the ice cream and cookies? (home) l-Child has three or more errors 2-Child has one or two errors 3-Child answers all questions correctly 21 IV-8 CHILD CAN RECONSTRUCT A SIMPLE DESIGN FROM MEMORY IV-9 EQUIPMENT: Three index cards with one of the following drawn on each: “a“ H U‘ GAME: Hold one of the design cards in front of the child and tell him to study it carefully. Hide it and have him draw it on a piece of paper. SCORING: l-Child can not reproduce your designs 2-Child can reproduce two of your designs or parts of each design 3-Child can correctly reproduce all designs CHILD CAN REPRODUCE A SIMPLE CLAPPING PATTERN EQUIPMENT: None GAME: Tell the child to listen and to clap his hands just like you do. Clap in the following pattern: Clap one row at a time. x x x x xx x xx xx xx xx x xx SCORING: l-Child can not clap as you do 2-Child can clap two of the patterns correctly or part of each pattern correctly 3-Child claps three patterns correctly 22 V. PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS V-l CHILD CAN SORT OBJECTS ON THE BASIS O'1 A SINGLE PROPERTY EQUIPMENT: Beads (4 each: red, blue and green) GAME: Place all the beads on the table and ask the child to put all the ones that he thinks are alike or the same together. If the child does not seem to understand what you want ask him to show you some beads that are the same. When he does so motion to a spot on the table where he can put them and direct him to divide the rest of the beads in a similar manner. Most children will divide the beads on the basis of color. If the beads you use are also different shapes some children may divide them on the basis of shape. After the child has divided the beads motion to each pile and ask why he put the ones in it together. SCORING: l-Child does not understand the task or complete it 2-Child divides the beads correctly, but can not tell you why he did so 3-Child divides the beads correctly and can tell you why he did so V-2 CHILD CAN MATCH TEN OBJECTS ON A ONE TO ONE BASIS EQUIPMENT: Box of paper clips GAME: While the child watches place ten paper clips in a horizontal row on the table. Count each clip as you place it on the table. Give the child the box of clips and ask him to make a row just like yours below it. Place clips in your row about one inch apart. SCORING: l-Child can not place clips on the table to match your line 2-Child places clips on the table to match your first and last clip, but does not match the ones in between. 3-Child matches your clips exactly 23 V-3 V—4 CHILD CAN COMPREHEND NUMBER GROUPS FROM ONE TO THREE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Box of paper clips Take three paper clips from the box and tell the child that you are going to put some paper clips on the table and you want him to tell you how many there are without counting them. Return the clips to your hand between each of the following: Place in a row on the table one at a time one clip three clips two clips Drop on table in a random order one row at one clip a time three clips two clips l-Child can not tell you the number in the piles 2-Child can tell you the number only after counting or makes some mistake 3-Child can identify each group correctly CHILD CAN ARRANGE FOUR OBJECTS IN A SERIES OR SEQUENCE EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Cut from construction paper 4 cardboard squares with the following dimensions: 4 inches square, 2% inches square, 1% inches, and % inch. Cut 4 rectangles from construction paper with the following dimensions: 6 inches by 2 inches, 4 inches by 2 inches, 2% inches by 2 inches, and l§ inches by 1 inch. Place one set of sequence cards in front of the child at a time and say the following: Put these in a row with the smallest at one end and the biggest at the other, Put these in a row with the tallest at one end and the shortest at the other. l-Child can not put the items in order 2-Child can put the beginning and ending items in order, but not the middle ones 3-Child can place all four items 24 V-S v-6 CHILD CAN POINT TO THE FIRST, LAST AND MIDDLE POSITIONS IN A ROW OF FIVE OBJECTS EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: CHILD CAN EQUIPMENT: GAME: SCORING: Five paper clips Place the clips in a row on the table. Ask the child to show you the first one, the last one and the middle one. l-Child does not know the positions 2—Child knows two of the positions 3-Child knows all of the positions DETERMINE WHAT IS MISSING FROM A COMMON OBJECT Select good sized pictures from magazines of the following: person, car, animal, and table. Cut the following parts carefully off of each picture: an arm, a wheel, the tail, and a leg. Show the pictures to the child one at a time. Ask him to identify the picture and then to look carefully and see if he can find something that is missing in it. When he is finished with each picture supply the missing part. l-Child can not tell you what is missing 2—Child can only find what is missing in one or two pictures 3-Child can find what is missing in all pictures 25 APPENDIX E CURRICULUM GUIDE INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS Appendix E Curriculum Guide CURRICULUM GUIDE INVENTORY OF INTELLECTUAL SKILLS RESEARCH EDITION Kathryn J. Cole Copyright Pending Do Not Duplicate Without Permission How to Use the Curriculum in Your Classroom The Inventory should be given to each child during the first months of the school year. During this time the teacher can plan her classroom experiences around the social studies and science themes at the back of the Curriculum. After selecting a particular theme which she wishes to emphasize the teacher needs to list clearly those goals which she wishes to reach with her children by the end of the period spent on the theme. While goals are stated for each theme in the Curriculum the teacher may wish to add more or delete some. Once she has accomplished this the next step is to plan one group learning experience related to the theme for each class day. Learning experiences should build on each other from one day to the next. The teacher may use ideas from the Curriculum or add stories, fingerplays, special projects, and ideas of her own. Art projects can be planned to stimulate growth and learning in a particular concept area. Special activities and events such as field trips will increase the children's knowledge of the concepts being taught. Lesson Plan Format Theme: Goals: Circle or Group Time Art Special Project Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Inventories should be finished for each child by early January. Each Inventory should be carefully studied to note areas of strength and weakness. By careful observation the teacher should be able to group children according to whether they have mastery in a particular skill area, partial mastery, or no skill at all. While the class may continue to meet one day a week as a whole group to continue development Of new themes, the remainder of the week is spent working during group time with small groups of children with similar needs. Tuesdays become the day to work on motor-perceptual skills, Wednesdays the day to work on language skills, Thursdays the day to work on memory skills, and Fridays the day to work on problem solving skills. Although each day would be spent working on a different skill area with all the children, the teacher will be providing experiences to stimulate the individual differences of the children. The teacher draws from the Curriculum each day to plan experiences for the group of children who need an introduction to the skill area, for those children who need practice in the skill area, and for those children who need further challenging. Groups rotate to work with different adults during successive weeks so the teacher may have the benefit of many observations of the children's growth. Additional adults for this type of activity can always be recruited from nearby Churches, service organizations or volunteer bureaus. This Curriculumis only effective as long as the teacher remains very aware of the needs of each child. The child needs to be exposed to new concepts, given practice in their usage, and stimulated to reach further. Lesson Plan Format Monday Theme: entire group Goals: Activities: Tuesday: Motor/Perceptual Skills Group 1: (introduction to skills) Group II: (practice with skills) Group III: (further challenges) Wednesday: Language Skills Thursday: Memory Skills Friday: Problem Solving Skills While lesson plans would be planned on the above format the activities of one day for a particular group should also be written on an index card for the adult who will work with that group. The following information should be included: group name, names of children, activity and how to do, equipment needed and adult assigned to the group. Motor Skills I-l When an object is moved in a path child can follow it with his eyes. Beginning Activities: Teacher places a puppet on her hand and directs the child to look at the puppet and then look at another object, to look again at the puppet and to look at a different object in the room. Careful observation to establish that the children's eyes are following the described objects. Teacher asks the children to count to five while they look at her hand, count to three while they look at the clock, etc. Teacher directs the child to follow the path of her flashlight with his eyes. Child may also be given a flashlight and directed to follow the teachers light with his own. Mastering Activities: Teacher holds a small toy on either side of the child's face and not directly in front of his eyes. Being sure that the child knows the names for each object she directs his vision from one to another by naming them more and more rapidly. Teacher places small car on a table which is at the eye level of the child and directs him to flilow the car as she drives it around the table. Teacher places Small ball in a circular salad mold and directs the child to follow its movement as she makes it go around and around. As skill increases marble may be substituted for ball. Challenging Activities: Children sit in a large circle and roll ball between themselves. Throughout game teacher makes verbal comments such as "watch the ball roll to Johnny - now the ball is going to Mary." Children sit in a roup and follow the movements of another child as he walks Tskips, runs, etc.) around the room. Other children can call out to the child what he is to d«, when he is to stop and to start. Children watch child carefully to see that he does what they want him to. Teacher instructs children in the making of paper airplanes or purchases wooden gliders. Children are instructed to watch where their airplane goes and get it for another flight. Motor Skills I-2 When shown a paper with a curved line on it child can follow it from beginning to end with his finger. Beginning activities: Provide papers which have two pictures on them which are connected with a line (for example: a dog and his bone). Instruct the child to go over the line with his finger so that he can bring the dog to his bone. Have several different pictures for a variety of experiences. Make a long road with straight and curved lines on the floor of the classroom or a table. Give the child a small car and direct him to drive it on the road being careful to not go off the edges. Draw straight, then curved and angular lines on the blackboard at the child's level. Direct him to follow your line with his finger. If he can not stay on it he will not erase it. Mastering Activities: See I-4 Mastering Activities Challenging Activities: See I—4 Challenging Activities Motor Skills I-li ' When given some beads and some string child can string beads with ease. Beginning Activities: There are many toys in the nursery school which can be used to develop good hand-eye coordination. Coordination will come as the child has several opportunities for use of these toys. Some good ones are: pegs and peg board sewing with needle and yarn on burlap or with sewing cards gadget board which has different locks and bolts screwed on it for child to manipulate bolt board which has holes drilled into it for several different size bolts and nuts clothing board which has sewn or stapled on it for the child to use: hook and eye, snap, button and button hole, small zipper, safety pin and material and ribbon to tie commercial shoe to lace or two pieces of fabric stapled to a board with eyelets (available in a sewing store) in them so that the child can lace several different types of bottles and jars with tops which the child can take on and off yarn and needles (or end of yarn dipped in nail polish) with macaroni, buttons, spools, etc. to string Mastering Activities: Mastery in this particular goal comes with furthflr practice on the above equipment. The creative teacher can think of many other ways to vary these things for different experiences. Challenging Activities: After the child has initially mastered the use of beads, pegs, etc. this equipment can be used to introduce and build other concepts. These will be mentioned when appropriate throughout the curriculum. Motor Skills I-5 When asked to draw a picture or write his name, the child can control and use a pencil. I-6 When shown a circle, cross, square, or triangle, the child can copy it. I-8 1-9 I-lO Beginning Activities: The child needs first of all to be provided with several experiences where he can use a crayon or pencil as he wishes. It is impossible to use a tool for a purpose (writing your name) until you have control over it. Children should be permitted to scribble and scrawl to their heart's content for a long time before the teacher gives them any task which directs what they must draw and write. The outline of shapes may be cut from cardboard and the insides removed. The cardboard shapes can be used as stencils and the child can trace around the inside of them over and over. Shapes can be cut from sandpaper and mounted on cardboard. The child is encouraged to feel the outline of the shape over and over again with his fingertips. Mastering Activities: Visographs can be made by covering the lines and pictures made for I-2 with clear contac paper. The child can draw over the lines with crayon, being careful to stay on them. The contac papers can be erased with a kleenex. The teacher can draw lines or shapes on the blackboard or paper which the child duplicates after her. Roads can be made on paper with gradually smaller and curved lines. The child is directed to draw his lines between the two edges of the road. Challenging Activities: Strips of cardboard can be covered with simple to complex line designs which are covered with clear contac so that the child may trace over them with a crayon. The alphabet (large and small letters) can be placed upon a visograph so that the child can trace over them. Carbon paper and tracing paper can be put over or under pictures for the child to trace with a pencil. Pictures should be composed of a few lines at first. Motor Skills I-7 When given a piece of paper with a line drawn on it the child can cut on the line. Beginning Activities: The child must have the experience of using scissors just for the sake of using scissors before he can cut out objects or cut on the line. Provide paper or magazines so that he may cut them into any shape that he desires. As the child begins to have control of the scissors he can add direction to his cutting. The first activity that should be encouraged with a purpose would be to cut straight across papers and cut corners off of papers. As skill becomes more and more accomplished child should be introduced to cutting curved and angular pieces and paper and then exposed to cutting on the line. Lines should be straight at first and then curved and angular. Mastering Activities: Art tables should be set up with several colors and kinds of paper which the child can cut and paste on to another sheet in a collage. Experiences should be given in cutting things which are a different weight than paper -- cardboard, foil, styrofoam, etc. Challenging Activities: When the child has mastered the scissors he can be introduced to more structured art projects which require that he have control of them -- cutting hearts, snowflakes, fringing feathers, etc. The child can be introduced to the idea of searching through magazines to look for pictures in a category -- ex: foods -- and cut and paste the pictures he finds into a book. New cutting experiences can be introduced by having the child out material for a collage or similar project. The teacher should check to see that the material can indeed be cut with the child's scissors before giving it to the child as some fabrics can not be cut with small scissors. Motor and Perceptual Skills I-11 When asked to print his own name child is able to. II-l3 When shown a group of five first and last names, child can recognize his own. Beginning Activities: Always place the child's name in the upper left hand corner of his work and print it in the same manuscript that he will be first introduced to in your local school system. Be sure that your aide and volunteers know to do this also. Printing his name in the left hand corner will help focus his attention on the left side of the paper and be preparation for reading which always begins at the left. Talk to the child about his name and the letters in it. Wear name tags in school every day. Talk to the child about his name as you put it on him each morning. Use first and last names and show the child often which is which. As the weeks progress encourage the child to find his own tag each day. Have place cards or place mats which the children can use for lunch each day with their names on them. Place cards can be made out of putting a slot in four sections of an egg carton and placing a card with the child's name in the slot. The child can paint and decorate the egg carton. The child can make his own place mat by decorating a sheet of paper with crayons, paint, glitter, etc. The paper can be covered with plastic wrap or clear contac. Mastering Activities: Each child's first and last name can be printed in rather large letters on a piece of cardboard and covered with clear contac. The child can trace over his name with a crayon and erase it with a paper hankerchief to do again. The child who is having difficulty in recognizing his name may benefit from having it made from sandpaper letters which are glued to a cardboard so that he may feel their shape. The child's name can be printed on a cardboard and he can either place tissue paper over it or carbon paper underneath it and trace the letters. Challenging Activities: AS children become more familiar with their names they can be disflnissed from group time or some other activity by the teacher holding up cards with each child's name on them. When the child recognizes his name he can go. A group game may introduce children to the difference between their name and others' names. Each child has a name pinned on his front and must look at all the children until he finds his own name. When he does so he can remove it but must wait to pin it on himself until the child whose name he has recognizes it and takes it. The child is presented with several names which are very similar to his and required to select his own. Once the child has mastered printing his name he can be asked to put it on his own art work, etc. Perceptual Skills II-3 When shown one of the eight basic colors child can point to one that is similar to it. II-4 When shown a shape child can match it to a similar one. II-l When shown an object child can match it to a similar one. II-3 When shown a shade of a color child can match it to a similar one. II-lO When shown a pattern child can match it to a similar one. II-2 When shown a picture child can match it to a similar object. II-ll When shown a numeral child can match it to a similar one. II—12 When shown a letter child can match it to a similar one. Matching projects should be introduced with objects first, then colors, shapes, sizes and remaining items. When a child is first learning to match an item the objects he matches should all be the same except for the quality he is matching. For example, if he is learning to match colors the objects he is matching should be all the same size and shape and differ only in color. As the child masters the initial color matching then the other dimensions can be varied. The following activities can be used to meet any of the above goals. They are followed by specific games for each goal. Beginning Activities: Inside a manila folder glue eight small library pockets or pockets made by cutting a business envelope in half. On these pockets paste or draw different objects (colors, numbers, shapes, shades, etc.). Match only one item (ex: all colors) in one folder. Draw or paste identical objects on small index cards. Child places card in the pocket which matches it. Lotto games similar to the commercial ones can be made from cardboard to meet any of the above goals. On an 8 by 10 piece of cardboard place two vertical rows of the same objects but in different order. Attach brads or I,aper fasterners near each object and place a piece of yarn ‘