The Effects of Quinn Curriculum on Cognitive Abilities in Preschoolers

Preschool years could be the major stage of childhood. Accordingly, several programs are held globally for children's cognitive empowerment, intelligence, language, and motor skills. Entering primary school, children need to acquire 7 principal skills (i.e., linguistic skills, memory, math, visual–spatial, cognitive, & fine motor skills) and proper performance in intelligence and preschool exams. They have to obtain these skills through playing in preschool. These skills are the main prerequisites for academic learning, such as reading, writing, math, and even social skills. The current research aimed to examine the effects of the Quinn Educational Program (QEP) on Cognitive Abilities (CAs) in Iranian 4–6–year–olds.

This was a quasi–experimental research with a pretest–posttest–follow–up and a control group design. The statistical population consisted of all 4– to 6–year–olds attending kindergartens and preschools in Tehran City, Iran, in the 2015–2016 academic year; 30 eligible volunteers were selected by convenience sampling method. They were randomly placed in the experimental and control groups (n=15/group). The inclusion criteria of the study were the age range of 4 to 6 years; living with both parents; no psychiatric disorders per the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Preschool and Preschool Children (WPPSI–III; 1967); no severe movement problems (based on the medical records); not using medications (per parental reports); no family relationship problems; no diseases that disrupt the treatment, and parental consent for the children to participate in the study. The exclusion criteria were absence from >1 treatment sessions and the parents' dissatisfaction with the continuation of the participation in the study. The research tool was WPPSI–III, i.e., performed in the study groups at pretest, posttest, and follow–up steps. The experimental group was trained by the QEP in 12 one–hour group sessions in 3 months (3 sessions/mon). This program is particularly designed for preschoolers to improve their reading, comprehension, memorizing, listening, mathematics, and visual–spatial skills. The control group received no training. Moreover, the follow–up phase was performed after 6 months in the research groups. Data analysis was implemented by repeated–measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni posthoc test in SPSS at the significant level of 0.05.

The obtained findings indicated no significant effect of group on the total intelligence (p=0.206); however, the effect of time was significant on this variable (p<0.001). Thus, there was a significant difference between the mean total intelligence scores in the 3 measurement stages. The time×group interaction was also significant (p<0.001). Therefore, there was a significant difference in the total intelligence score between the study groups in the research stages. Furthermore, the effect of the group was not significant on practical intelligence (p=0.400); however, the effect of time was significant in this respect (p<0.001). Accordingly, there was a significant difference between the mean practical intelligence scores in the 3 measurement stages. The time×group interaction was also significant (p<0.001). Thus, there was a significant difference in the total intelligence score between the study groups in the research stages. The effect of the group was not significant on verbal intelligence (p=0.170); however, for this variable, the effect of time was significant (p<0.001). Therefore, there was a significant difference between the mean verbal intelligence scores in the measurement stages. The time group interaction was also significant (p<0.001). Thus, there was a significant difference in verbal intelligence between the study groups in the research stages. Additionally, the Bonferroni posthoc test data indicated significant differences in the pretest and posttest (p<0.001), as well as pretest and follow–up (p<0.001) stages concerning total intelligence, verbal intelligence, and practical intelligence. Moreover, significant differences were observed in the posttest and follow–up phases respecting total intelligence (p=0.001), practical intelligence (p=0.023), and verbal intelligence (p=0.001). In the follow–up phase, total intelligence and practical intelligence scores were increased; however, verbal intelligence was declined.

Based on the present research findings, it is possible to enhance the intelligence score of 4–6–year–olds in Tehran by the QEP. The QEP is an interactive and beneficial parent–child educational program for enriching preschoolers’ intelligence.