La composante parentale d’un programme d’éveil numérique destiné aux enfants de milieu socioéconomiquement faible du niveau de la maternelle représente-t-elle une valeur ajoutée ?

Abstract

Cette étude a pour but d’évaluer l’impact à court terme d’un volet parental inhérent à un programme d’éveil numérique offert à la maternelle aux enfants de milieu socioéconomiquement faible. Nos résultats indiquent que la participation conjointe des parents et des enfants dans le programme (groupe expérimental) semble avoir favorisé, chez les enfants, une meilleure connaissance des nombres comparativement aux enfants n’ayant bénéficié que du volet enfant. Des résultats peu concluants ont néanmoins été observés entre le groupe expérimental et un deuxième groupe d’enfants soumis exclusivement au volet enfant et dont les parents ne se sont jamais présentés aux ateliers-parents auxquels ils s’étaient pourtant inscrits (groupe consentement-comparaison). Différents facteurs potentiels pouvant expliquer ces conclusions sont discutés.The aim of this study is to evaluate the short-term impact of the parental component of a program to develop number awareness for kindergarten children in low socio-economic milieu. The results show that participation of both parents and children in the program (experimental group) led to better children’s understanding of numbers comparative to those children who only had the child component of the program. Some tentative results were noted between the experimental group and a second group of children who participated only in the child component, since their parents did not attend parent workshops in which they were enrolled (agreement-comparison group). The authors discuss various potential factors to explain these conclusions.Este estudio tiene por propósito evaluar el impacto a corto plazo de un aspecto parental inherente a un programa de despertar numérico impartido a la maternal a niños de medio socioeconómico bajo. Nuestros resultados indican que la participación conjunta de los padres y de los niños en el programa (grupo experimental) parece haber favorecido, en los niños, un mejor conocimiento de los números en comparación con niños que sólo beneficiaron del aspecto niño. Sin embargo, se observaron resultados poco significativos entre el grupo experimental y un segundo grupo de niños sometidos exclusivamente al aspecto niño y cuyos padres nunca se presentaron a los talleres-padres pese a que se habían inscritos (grupo consentimiento-comparación). Por terminar, se comentan diversos factores potenciales que pueden explicar estas conclusiones

Enhancing children’s numerical skills through a play-based intervention at kindergarten and at home: a quasi-experimental study

“…This reveals that the home-based intervention as was implemented here prompted parents who are not the closest to the school culture to get involved. By contrast, some studies where the home-based intervention group were the families who had responded to an invitation or participated in training sessions have found that the home-based group was socio-economically more advantaged than the other groups (Farrell, 2014;Jalbert & Pagani, 2007;Niklas et al, 2016;Sonnenschein et al, 2016). Recruiting more advantaged families not only raises ethical but also methodological questions, since the socioeconomic index is a moderator of the intervention's effects (Dulay et al, 2018;Manz, Hughes, Barnabas, Bracaliello, & Ginsburg-Block, 2010).…”

“…According to our review of the literature, only one study published in French has measured the added value of having parents participate in a kindergarten intervention relative to a mathematical intervention implemented only at kindergarten (Jalbert & Pagani, 2007). In this study (Rightstart program), parents participated in four training workshops, half of them with their child.…”

“…Indeed, it is worth knowing whether enrolling parents might enhance children's number skills beyond levels achieved by the school environment alone. Notably, such studies have very rarely been conducted (Jalbert & Pagani, 2007).…”