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Children’s early understanding of mathematics provides a foundation for later success in school. Identifying ways to enhance mathematical instruction is crucial to understanding the ideal ways to promote academic success. Previous work has identified mathematical language (i.e., the words and concepts related to early mathematical development such as more, same, or similar) as a key mechanism that can be targeted to improve children’s development of early numeracy skills (e.g., counting, cardinality, and addition). Current recommendations suggest a combination of numeracy instruction and quantitative mathematical language instruction to promote numeracy skills. However, there is limited direct support of this recommendation. The goal of the proposed study is to compare the unique and combined effects of each type of instruction on children’s numeracy skills in the context of picture book reading. We will recruit at least 220 children (ages 3 to 5) who will be randomly assigned to one of four conditions where they will work with trained project staff who will read picture books targeting: (1) quantitative mathematical language only (e.g., more or less), (2) exact numeracy only (e.g., cardinality, addition), (3) a combination of quantitative mathematical language and exact numeracy, or (4) a non-numerical (control) picture book. Contrasts between conditions will be used to investigate the unique and combined effects of quantitative mathematical language and exact numeracy instruction on children’s quantitative mathematical language and numeracy skills. The results will advance our understanding of children’s development of numeracy skills and instructional processes.

Service-learning is a rich context for developing reflection skills, promoting learning and personal/professional development. This service-learning project required students to partner with a professional who serves clients in a group setting and plan one group meeting/session. This poster describes reflection assignments and completed projects, and highlights learning promoted through reflection. Previously presented at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (2013)

Background: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommend that Americans age two years and older consume seafood, especially fish high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, at least twice a week. Although fish is of particular importance during childhood to support proper brain and eye development, it is under-consumed in the US pediatric population. This study examined if substituting salmon for chicken would increase preschooler’s fish consumption. Methods: Two-to-five years old children (n = 45) were served eight lunches (four pairs of comparable chicken versus salmon dishes) twice, totaling sixteen lunches over a period of three months to test the hypothesis that children will consume fish at least once a week, thus increasing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake. The plate waste method was used to collect intake data and consumption of total energy and DHA intake in the chicken and the fish dishes were compared using contrasts within a mixed effect ANOVA (significance at P < 0.05). Results: Dietary intake estimates showed that there were no significant differences in energy intake when the chicken and fish dishes looked similar (macaroni-and-cheese and wraps), but when the fish dishes looked new (nuggets and dumplings), energy intake on fish days was lower than on the chicken day. DHA intake increased significantly on all days the fish was served. Conclusions: This pilot study indicates that fish intake can meet recommendations if salmon is incorporated into familiar dishes such as salad wraps or macaroni-and-cheese, in the childcare setting. Although fish is more expensive, childcare centers may serve this highly nutritious protein once a week without experiencing undue amounts of food wastes if incorporated into well-accepted main dishes. Further studies in larger and more diverse samples of children, different experimental dishes, and longer exposure periods may elucidate additional venues to increase children’s diet quality by increasing consumption of fatty fish.

This technical report summarizes new and existing data to address the question, “Does Head Start work for Indiana children, families, and communities?” Data sources consulted in this study include the state Head Start Program Information Report, local Indiana Head Start and Early Head Start Programs, existing national studies of Head Start and Early Head Start, and local and national data available on children’s development in early care and education programs for low-income families. This report concludes that Indiana’s Early Head Start and Head Start programs are indeed providing substantial benefits to children, families, and communities. The report summarizes the outcomes on each of these levels, and provides recommendations for policy and future research.