Exploring Reading and Mathematics Integration in Preschool-Aged Children

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to add further support to the claim that concurrent reading and mathematics instruction with young children could not only prove to be symbiotic in nature but also could provide a potential for increased intellectual capital. The research for this dissertation was conducted in a three-study format. The first study was a meta-synthesis. This method of gathering information was chosen because it provided the researcher the opportunity to discover what previous research had already been conducted on the effects of using reading and mathematics instruction concurrently with young children. The results of this meta-synthesis indicated that although that type of symbiotic instruction is gathering research interest on an international level, the effects of such an instructional method in a domestic setting are still largely unknown due to a lack of studies on reading and mathematics concurrent instruction in the United States. This indicated that further research was needed. The second study began with the development of a reading and mathematics instructional four-part intervention. The four-part intervention was then introduced to a small group of parent volunteers whose children attended a private, suburban daycare center over a four-week period. After completing the four-part intervention series, parents provided overwhelmingly positive responses concerning the effects of the reading and mathematics intervention, citing an increase in their child(ren)’s expressive mathematics vocabulary as well as an increased awareness in how to incorporate both reading and mathematics into their home environments. The third study applied the same developed reading and mathematics concurrent intervention in two different daycare settings-one suburban and one urban-in order to determine if it was an effective instructional tool in early childhood classrooms. Although teacher participation was limited at both sites, the data gathered therein provided further evidence of the benefits of concurrent reading and mathematics instructional intervention on young children. Thus, this dissertation serves as a foundational record of the need for more studies involving the effects of reading and mathematics concurrent instruction. Furthermore, this dissertation provides limited positive effects of utilizing concurrent reading and mathematics instructional interventions with young children.