The effects of instructing kindergarten students (five-year-old in their first year of public school) on patterning were tested. Up to nine students in each class were randomly assigned to three groups in each of six classes, i.e., as many as three from a class in each group. One group received instruction on complex patterns similar to those employed by other researchers with first graders. Another group was instructed in early literacy, and another in early mathematics. For each group, the experimental instruction was scheduled in a counterbalanced order for 15 minutes in the morning, five days per week for most of the school year. When tested in late May-early June, the children taught patterning scored significantly better on a test of patterning. There were no significant differences on tests of mathematics and early literacy. However, there were correlations between the children’s patterning scores and some literacy scales.
KeywordsKindergartenLiteracyMathematicsPatterning
Baroody, A. J. (1993). Problem Solving, Reasoning, and Communicating (K-8): Helping Kids Think Mathematically. New York: Macmillan.
Bock, A., Cartwright, K., Gonzalez, C., O’Brien, S., Robinson, M. F., Schmerold, K., Shriver, A., & Pasnak, R. (2015). The Role of Cognitive Flexibility in Pattern Understanding. Journal of Education and Human Development, 4, 19-25. https://doi.org/10.15640/jehd.v4n1a3
Burgoyne, K., Witteveen, K., Tolan, A., Malone, S., & Hulme, C. (2017). Pattern Understanding: Relationships with Arithmetic and Reading Development. Child Development Perspectives, 11, 239-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12240
Clements, D. H., & Samara, J. (2007c). Early Childhood Mathematics Learning. In F. K. Lester Jr. (Ed.), Second Handbook on Mathematics Teaching and Learning (pp. 461-555). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2007a). Mathematics. In R. S. New, & M. Cochran (Eds.), Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (Vol. 2, pp. 502-509). Westport, CN: Praeger.
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2007b). Curriculum, Mathematics. In R. S. New, & M. Cochran (Eds.), Early Childhood Education: An International Encyclopedia (Vol. 1, pp. 193-198). Westport, CN: Praeger.
Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., & Dibiase, A. (2004). Engaging Young Children in Mathematics: Standards for Early Childhood Mathematics Education. Mahweh, NJ: Erlbaum. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410609236
Cohen, J. (1992). A Power Primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Ducolon, C. K. (2000). Quality Literature as a Springboard to Problem Solving. Teaching Children Mathematics, 6, 442-446.
Economopoulos, K. (1998). What Comes Next? The Mathematics of Patterning in Kindergarten. Teaching Children Mathematics, 5, 230-233. http://www.jstor/stable/41197171?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Fox, J. (2005). Child-Initiated Mathematical Patterning in the Pre-Compulsory Years. International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, 2, 313-320. http://eprints.que.edu.au.archive/0004247
Hendricks, C., Trueblood, L., & Pasnak, R. (2006). Effects of Teaching Patterning to First Graders. Journal of Research on Childhood Education, 21, 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568540609594580
Herman, M. L. (1973). Patterning before Mathematics in Kindergarten. Dissertation Abstracts International, 33, 4060.
Jarboe, T., & Sadler, S. (2003). It’s as Easy as 1,2,3: Patterns and Activities for a Creative, Balanced Mathematics Program. Peterborough, NJ: Crystal Springs Books.
Kidd, J. K., Carlson, A. G., Gadzichowski, K. M., Boyer, C. E., Gallington, D. A., & Pasnak, R. (2013). Effects of Patterning Instruction on the Academic Achievement of First Grade Children. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 27, 224-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2013.766664
Kidd, J. K., Pasnak, R., Gadzichowski, K. M., Gallington, D. A., McKnight, P. E., Boyer, C. E., & Carlson, A. (2014). Instructing First-Grade Children on Patterning Improves Reading and Mathematics. Early Education and Development, 25, 134-151. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2013.794448
McGarvey, L. M. (2012). What Is a Pattern? Criteria Used by Teachers and Young Children. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 14, 310-337. https://doi.org/10.1080/10986065.2012.717380
Mulligan, J. Mitchelmore, M., Kemp, C., Marston, J., & Highfield, K. (2008). Encouraging Mathematical Thinking through Pattern and Structure: An Intervention in the First Year of Schooling. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 13, 10-15. http://www.aamt.edu.au/
National Association for the Education of Young Children/National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Education (2010/2014). Early Childhood Mathematics: Promoting Good Beginnings. Washington DC: NYAEC. http://www.state.nj.us/education/ece/pd/math/naeyc_nctm.pdf
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1993). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, VA: NCTM. http://www.nctm.org/Standards-and-xPositions/PrinciplesandStandards/Algebra
National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008). Foundations for Success: The Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. Washington DC: US Department of Education.
Papic, M. (2007). Promoting Repeating Patterns with Young Children—More than Just Alternating Colors. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 12, 8-13.
Papic, M. M., Mulligan, J. T., & Mitchelmore, M. C. (2011). Assessing the Development of Preschoolers’ Mathematical Thinking. Journal for Research for Mathematics Education, 42, 237-269. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.42.3.0237 http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2012/Mulligan12.pdf
Pasnak, R. (2017). Empirical Studies of Patterning. Psychology, 8, 2276-2293. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2017.813144
Pasnak, R., Hansbarger, A., Dodson, S., Hart, J., & Blaha, J. (1996). Differential Results of Instruction at the Preoperational-Concrete Operational Transition. Psychology in the Schools, 33, 70-83.
Pasnak, R., Kidd, J. K., Gadzichowski, K. M., Gallington, D. A, Schmerold, K. L., & West, H. M. (2015). Abstracting Sequences: Reasoning that Is a Key to Academic Achievement. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176, 171-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2015.1024198
Pasnak, R., Schmerold, K. L., Robinson, M. F., Gadzichowski, K. M., Bock, A. M., O’Brien, S. E., Kidd, J. K., &. Gallington, D. A. (2016) Understanding Number Sequences Leads to Understanding Number Concepts. The Journal of Educational Research, 109, 640-646. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1020911
Rittle-Johnson, B., Fyfe, E. R., Hofer, K. G., & Farran, D. C. (2017). Early Math Trajectories: Low-Income Children’s Mathematics Knowledge from Ages 4 to 11. Child Development, 88, 1727-1742. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12662
Rittle-Johnson, B., Hofer, K., Fyfe, M. R., & Farren, D. C. (2015). It’s a Pattern! The Importance of Early Pattern Knowledge for Middle School Mathematics Achievement. Philadelphia, PA: The Biennial Conference of the Society for Research in Child Development.
Sarama, J., & Clements, D. H. (2004). Building Blocks for Early Childhood Mathematics. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 181-189.
Scandura, J. (1971). Mathematics: Concrete Behavioral Foundations. New York: Harper & Rowe.
Shriver, A., Lauderdale, L., Yassa, M., Schroeder, E., Chen, E., Schabinger, E., Righi, M., & Pasnak, R. (2017). The Effects of in-Class Tutoring of Kindergarteners on Patterning, Reading, or Mathematics. Journal of Education and Human Development, 6, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.15640/jehd.v6n1a1
Threlfall, J. (1999). Repeating Patterns in the Early Primary Years. In A. Orton (Ed.), Patterns in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (pp. 18-30). London: Cassell.
Warren, E. A., Cooper, T. J., & Lamb, J. T. (2006). Investigating Functional Thinking Is the Elementary Classroom: Foundations of Early Algebraic Reasoning. The Journal of Mathematics Behavior, 25, 208-223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2006.09.006