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Previous studies investigating the association between fine-motor skills (FMS) and mathematical skills have lacked specificity. In this study, we test whether an FMS link to numerical skills is due to the involvement of finger representations in early mathematics. We gave 81 pre-schoolers (mean age of 4 years, 9 months) a set of FMS measures and numerical tasks with and without a specific finger focus. Additionally, we used receptive vocabulary and chronological age as control measures. FMS linked more closely to finger-based than to nonfinger-based numerical skills even after accounting for the control variables. Moreover, the relationship between FMS and numerical skill was entirely mediated by finger-based numerical skills. We concluded that FMS are closely related to early numerical skill development through finger-based numerical counting that aids the acquisition of mathematical mental representations.

Despite impressive advances in the science of reading intervention, how to best help at-risk readers remains a point of contention. Because reading represents the synthesis of background factors and language and reading skills-all of which develop with age and experience-this meta-analysis investigated whether development (as approximated by grade) and intervention modality are key moderators of intervention effect size for disadvantaged readers. Eighty-five experimental or quasi-experimental studies with 116 treatment-control groups (N = 7,522) were selected from preschool to Grade 7. Analyses accounted for intervention length, instructor-to-student ratio, measure design, experimental design, attrition, intervention language, and publication bias. Between-group comparisons suggested that effect sizes were larger for older students, comprehension interventions, quasi-experimental studies, and samples at greater risk. In hierarchical regression analyses, intervention modality alone did not explain additional variance in effect size; however, when interacting with grade, intervention modality did explain additional variance. Phonics interventions were more effective until Grade 1, after which comprehension and mixed interventions, in particular, tended to be associated with greater effect sizes. These results highlight the importance of a developmental understanding of reading remediation.

Children's fine motor skills (FMS) are being increasingly recognized as an important aspect of preschool development; yet, we know very little about the experiences that foster their development. We utilized a parent-administered children's fine and gross motor activities questionnaire (MAQ) to investigate links with FMS. We recruited a sample of 225 preschool children (aged 5;9) and assessed FMS and vocabulary. Additionally, parents completed the MAQ and a questionnaire on home literacy environment (HLE) to test two competing accounts. According to a differential account, fine motor activities lead to greater FMS, whereas according to an epiphenomenal account, a generally more educative home environment fosters FMS alongside other skills. Findings were highly differential: FMS linked to the fine-MAQ but not to the gross-MAQ or the HLE, whereas vocabulary linked to the HLE, but not the fine- or gross-MAQ. The data underscore fine motor activities as a distinct factor in the preschool period.

Previous work on the long-term effects of early reading focuses on whether children can read early (i.e. capability) not on whether this is beneficial (i.e. optimality). The Luke Effect is introduced to predict long-term reading development as a function of when children learn to read. A review of correlational, intervention, and comparative research suggests that early reading shows only short-term effects for reading skills that later wash out. Based on different developmental trajectories of language and word recognition skills (WRS), it is hypothesised that: (1) children who learn to read later acquire WRS more readily; and (2) acquiring WRS earlier does not improve language development. Thus, reading instruction falling "on good soil [produces] a hundred times as much grain" (Luke, 8:8), but early reading skills do not improve the "soil," simply "withering" until children's language is more developed.

• The cross-lagged first longitudinal study on media usage and fine motor skills. • One hundred forty-one preschool children were tested twice, 1 year apart. • Greater media usage predicted worse fine motor skills. • Links were generally unidirectional, with media predicting lesser fine motor skills. • Relations were stronger for newer media vs televition viewing. Media form an integral part of children's environments and represent, amongst other domains, altered sensorimotor experiences. Fine motor skills (FMS) represent a fundamental prerequisite for learning and cognition and initial work has begun to show links with screen media usage – although work is scarce and the directionality is uncertain. Therefore, using a cross-lagged-panel design with 2 waves 1 year apart, we examined longitudinal links between media usage and FMS in 141 preschool children. Results show a negative cross-lagged path from media usage to FMS, which was also statistically significant when only newer media were examined, after controlling for parental educational attainment, immigrant status, device ownership, age of first use, working memory, and vocabulary. The study contributes to our understanding of links between media usage and FMS development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental imagery is a foundational human faculty that depends on active image construction and sensorimotor experiences. However, children now spend a significant proportion of their day engaged with screen‐media, which (a) provide them with ready‐made mental images, and (b) constitute a sensory narrowing whereby input is typically focused on the visual and auditory modalities. Accordingly, we test the idea that screen‐time influences the development of children's mental imagery with a focus on mental image generation and inspection from the visual and haptic domains. In a longitudinal cross‐lagged panel design, children (n = 266) aged between 3 and 9 years were tested at two points in time, 10 months apart. Measures of screen‐time and mental imagery were employed, alongside a host of control variables including working memory, vocabulary, demographics, device ownership, and age of exposure to screen‐media. Findings indicate a statistically significant path from screen‐time at time 1 to mental imagery at time 2, above and beyond the influence of the control variables. These unique findings are discussed in terms of the influence of screen‐time on mental imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding number magnitude is an important prerequisite for children's mathematical development. One early experience that contributes to this understanding is the common practice of finger counting. Recent research suggested that through repeated finger counting, children internalize their fingers as representations of number magnitude. Furthermore, finger counting habits have been proposed to predict concurrent and future mathematical performance. However, little is known about how finger-based number representations are formed and by which processes they could influence mathematical development. Regarding the emergence of finger-based number representations, it is likely that they result from repeated practice of finger counting. Accordingly, children need sufficient fine motor skills (FMS) to successfully count on their fingers. However, the role that different types of FMS (such as dexterity and graphomotor skills) might play in the development of finger-based number representations is still unknown. In the current study, we investigated (a) whether children's FMS (dexterity and graphomotor skills) are associated with their emerging finger-based number representations (ordinal and cardinal), (b) whether FMS explain variance in children's finger-based number representations beyond the influence of general cognitive skills, and (c) whether the association between FMS and numerical skills is mediated by finger-based representations. We tested associations between preschool children's (N = 80) FMS (dexterity and graphomotor skills), finger-based number representations, and numerical skills. Furthermore, visuo-spatial working memory and nonverbal intelligence were controlled for. Dexterity was related to children's finger-based number representations as well as numerical skills after controlling for chronological age, but not after also controlling for cognitive skills. Moreover, the relationship between dexterity and numerical skills was mediated by finger-based number representations. No such associations were observed for graphomotor skills. These results suggest that dexterity plays a role in children's development of finger-based number representations, which in turn contribute to their numerical skills. Possible explanations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Finger counting is widely considered an important step in children's early mathematical development. Presumably, children's ability to move their fingers during early counting experiences to aid number representation depends in part on their early fine motor skills (FMS). Specifically, FMS should link to children's procedural counting skills through consistent repetition of finger‐counting procedures. Accordingly, we hypothesized that (a) FMS are linked to early counting skills, and (b) greater FMS relate to conceptual counting knowledge (e.g., cardinality, abstraction, order irrelevance) via procedural counting skills (i.e., one–one correspondence and correctness of verbal counting). Preschool children (N = 177) were administered measures of procedural counting skills, conceptual counting knowledge, FMS, and general cognitive skills along with parent questionnaires on home mathematics and fine motor environment. FMS correlated with procedural counting skills and conceptual counting knowledge after controlling for cognitive skills, chronological age, home mathematics and FMS environments. Moreover, the relationship between FMS and conceptual counting knowledge was mediated by procedural counting skills. Findings suggest that FMS play a role in early counting and therewith conceptual counting knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research suggests that (a) individual differences in reading and language development are stable across childhood, (b) reading and vocabulary are intertwined, and (c) children’s oral narrative skill contributes to later reading comprehension. Each of these three phenomena is assessed using a longitudinal design spanning 15 years, from when children were 19 months old until they were 16 years old. Alongside measures for maternal vocabulary, a host of language and (early) reading measures, including vocabulary, early literacy development, oral narrative skill, and reading comprehension, were administered across eight time points to a sample of 58 children. Specific early language and reading skills were generally strongly correlated over time. Reading comprehension at age 12 was predicted by vocabulary at 19 months and emergent literacy at school entry. Vocabulary at 19 months of age predicted early literacy skills prior to school entry and reading comprehension at age 12 years, as did school entry literacy skills. Controlling for maternal and infant vocabulary, children’s oral narrative skill around school entry related uniquely to reading comprehension 10 years later. Findings provide new evidence for the long-term interplay between early language, literacy, and later reading and vocabulary development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]