Early mathematical development in very low-birthweight children.

摘要

This study investigated the early mathematical abilities of premature very low birthweight (VLBW; ≤1350 g) pre-kindergarten age children to determine if these children, who are at-risk for poor achievement in school mathematics, evidenced delays compared to full-term normal birthweight (NBW) peers in the acquisition of mathematical knowledge prior to school entry. Additionally, the contribution of environmental/family variables to early mathematical development was investigated. Accordingly, 16 VLBW and 18 NBW 4- and 5-year-olds were compared on a battery of informal mathematical tasks at the end of their pre-kindergarten year. Tasks were adapted from the developmental literature, and assessed a broad range of knowledge encompassing counting, simple arithmetic, numerical reasoning with two sets, and spatial/geometric knowledge. A parent questionnaire provided information on family background and home support for mathematical development.; The results indicated that VLBW children's informal mathematical knowledge in several areas was at a level comparable to their NBW peers. They obtained similar scores on the math assessment overall and on most of the individual tasks. However, patterns of strengths and weaknesses across the individual math tasks suggested different levels of development of specific informal math skills for the birthweight groups. Notably, the VLBW children exhibited specific weaknesses on tasks involving numerical reasoning with two sets. Their performance suggested less mature levels of numerical reasoning on problems with a spatial component and those that required complex problem solving.; Math performance was strongly related to measures of social/environmental variation, both for the total sample and within the VLBW group. Children from families with lower levels of education obtained lower scores overall and on most of the individual tasks, and those who were VLBW tended to score lower than the other children across all tasks. Furthermore, greater home support for early math development, indicated by children's engagement in math activities at home, was positively related to children's math scores. Within the VLBW group, outcomes were not predicted by lower birthweight or neonatal illness, but there was a trend for children with ongoing health problems to obtain lower scores.