The Knowledge of the Basic- Relational Concepts of the Turkish Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge of the basic concepts of the Turkish
children. The data were collected from 808 kindergarteners, 1073 first and 1138 second graders, and of these
students 20.66 % from low, 37.49 % were from middle and 41.83 % were from high socio-economic level. The
knowledge of the children was assessed by using The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts by their teachers and the
responses of the children were analyzed according to their grade and socioeconomic levels. Results indicated
that, most of the fifty concepts were mastered by 85 % or more of the children, but approximately 50 % of the
children did not know several concepts such as first, every, a few, third, pair and half. The knowledge of the
concepts of the children differed according to grade level and the socio economic levels. The test scores of the
second graders and of the children from high socioeconomic level are significantly higher than the other groups.
The results of the study were discussed in terms of the benefits of using concept test such as Boehm by
theteachers who work with children with and without learning difficulties in early elementary years