Özet:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the factors related with living with own family or living in an orphanage cause any differences by means of understanding of basic concept between first and second graders. Also, the effects of attending preschool in early years on concept knowledge for the sample group were investigated. The sample of the study consisted of 173 children (113 children living with their parents and 60 children living in an orphanage) who were residing in Istanbul. 60 (46.7%) children from orphanages attended preschool; 21.7 % did not. There was no information about 31,6 % of the children whether they attended preschool or not. On the other hand, 40.7 % of the children living with their parents did not attend preschool whereas the rest of them did. The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BOEHM-3) was administered to the children to assess young children's understanding of the basic relational concepts. Results indicated significant differences among the groups. Whereas the children from the higher socio-economic group had the highest scores, the children from orphanages had the lowest scores. Among these groups of children the amount of time spent in preschool affected the scores. Children attended preschools more had the highest scores. Also, second graders who were staying with their families had significantly higher scores than children who were living in institutions. However, there was not such a difference between first grade children.

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