Effects of the sequence and pattern unit of Bright Start on seriational and math problem solving among kindergarten children of

In order to investigate the effects of cognitive early education on the seriational performance and learning effectiveness of transcultural children, 20 young Ethiopian children whose families had immigrated to Israel were given two tests of seriational thinking before and after they received mediational instruction in the Pattern and Sequence unit of Bright Start: Cognitive Curriculum for Young Children. 20 children of the same age, gender distribution, and family background had a control (non-mediational) activity. The control children performed initially at a higher level than did the cognitive education children, but the latter group closed that gap and surpassed the performance of the control children following their Bright Start experience. The authors concluded that there was evidence of cultural difference rather than cultural deprivation in this transcultural group, that their performance in seriational problem solving could be enhanced by cognitive early education, and that there was also evidence of intermediate transfer of their training in seriation.