| Abstract: | Performance of kindergarten children on reasoning (Piaget tasks of logical thinking), visual-motor integration, and verbal development was related to achievement scores in kindergarten, second grade, and third grade. Subjects were 52 children in the kindergarten classes of a middle-class, suburban/rural school. Reasoning and visual-motor integration were related to achievement on the Metropolitan Achievement Test at the end of kindergarten. For the 43 children remaining in second grade, there was a relationship between reasoning in kindergarten and achievement on the Reading and Math Concepts sections of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. For the 38 children remaining in third grade, kindergarten reasoning was related to total and Vocabulary scores of the California Achievement Test. Kindergarten visual-motor integration and verbal development were not related to achievement test performance at the end of the second and third grade for these subjects. Early intervention programs that encourage the development of thinking and match the child's reasoning to his academic tasks may stimulate both reasoning and achievement. |
