Effectiveness of Multipurpose Unit Early Classroom Intervention Program for 4-5-Year-Old Children.

AbstractThis research examined the effectiveness of Multipurpose Unit Early Classroom Intervention Program (MUECIP) prepared for 4-5-year-old (48-60 months) children whose development is at risk because of their families' socioeconomic conditions. The research adopted a preliminary test-final test control group trial model. The research participants were children born in 2006 and living in Center of Canakkale Province arid Kepez Town in the 2010-201 lacademic year. There were 28 children in the study group, 14 of whom were studying at the Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University CABA Multipurpose Early Childhood Classroom Unit and 14 of whom were studying at the Kepez Municipality Preschool Education Classroom. The groups were examined using the Children and Family Recognition Survey, Raven Progressive Matrix Test, Denver II, and Development Assessment Observation Form for 48-60 month old children. Preliminary test results and non-parametrical techniques were used to analyze the data. In the experimental group, MUECIP was conducted by the researcher 4 half days a week for 13 weeks, and for the control group, the Ministry of Education Preschool Education Program (2006) was conducted using traditional methods. The results indicated that MUECIP was effective in increasing general development levels, cognitive and psychomotor developments, self-care skills and partially effective in improving the language and personal-social development skills of the children. It is recommended that the prepared MUECIP be spread more widely and promoted as an alternative model in the early education of children from lower socioeconomic families.KeywordsChildren at Risk, Disadvantaged Children, Early Childhood Education, Early Intervention Programs, Multipurpose Unit Early Classroom Intervention Program. "Early Intervention" is a preventative strategy for school-age or younger children at risk because of unfavorable living conditions or the special needs resulting from these conditions. Early intervention programs affect a child directly by giving them structured experiences, and indirectly by enhancing their environment by showing interest in the child and promoting their development, with the aim of minimizing the effects of their physical, cognitive or emotional problems (Erdiller, 2010; Karoly, Kilburn, & Cannon, 2005). Every year, one-fifth of new-born babies risk growth retardation and one quarter of these consequently have developmental problems at 5 years old. To make up for these problems, 20-30% make use of private education services because of social or family difficulties such as stimulus deficiency (Haber, 1991 as cited in Derrington, Shapiro, & Smith, 1999). Nearly 1.5 million babies are born in our country every year (Sola & Diken, 2008; Turkiye Istatistik Kurumu [TUIK], 2010). It was reported that 3.7% of these babies had a developmentally related problem and 10% had a risk of growth retardation due to issues such as low birth weight (Yesinel, 2006). Such children often do not learn effectively in the early years of their life and, therefore, when they reach school age show insufficiencies in their cognitive, language, social, and motor development skills as well as having problems with self-care and communication, meaning that they often struggle to adapt to school compared to their peers (Bruder, 2010; Reynolds, Mann, Miedel, & Smokowski, 1997). These areas of insufficiency often only first appear as academic failure at elementary school (Erdiller, 2010). Early Intervention Programs, which aim to support the children who are at developmental risk because of poverty and other environmental factors, are generally based on two main ideas. The first is that a child's first psychological experience significantly affects the learning of subsequent skills. The period from birth to 3 years old is a critical period for the development of intelligence, but when the necessary stimulus is not provided, children are unable to reach their potential. …