This study was designed to explore the relationship between maternal attitudes about math, mothers' attitudes about their prekindergarten child's math abilities, mother-child math interactions, and prekindergarten children's math achievement. Using a Vygotskian framework, an intervention was developed. An intervention group of 18 mother-child dyads from Hyrum, Utah, area and a comparison group of 17 mother-child dyads from the Weston, Idaho, area were invited to participate in this research project. Measures included the Early Mathematics Concepts (EMC) assessment, the School Readiness Composite (SRC) of the Bracken Basic Concepts Scale-Revised (BBCS-R), My Attitudes Scale (MAS), and My Attitudes About My Child's Abilities Scale (MAAMCAS). Research hypotheses predicted that the intervention group would score higher on the EMC and each of the EMC's four focus areas at the posttest. Results did not support these hypotheses. Research hypotheses also predicted that the intervention group would have a larger difference in MAS and MAAMCAS scores from pretest to posttest and .that MAS and MAAMCAS scores would predict EMC scores. Neither of these hypotheses was supported. The final research hypothesis predicted a relationship between EMC focus area scores and mathrelated subscales of the BBCS- R. The strongest relationship appeared to be between the EMC number focus and the BBCS-R number subscale. The results were interpreted in accordance with current research and possible limitations of the present study.

Vision impairment is recognized as a global public health problem. Children are the most susceptible population to many of the vision diseases. Knowledge of the causes and prevalence of common types of visual impairments is important for planning of preventive health care services to ensure that the children receive proper eye care in a timely manner. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the prevalence of visual impairment and to identify associated risk factors among the prekindergarten children in Georgia. During August 2005 to May 2006, there were 30,115 prekindergarten children enrolled in the Prevent Blindness Georgia Children Vision Screening Program, and a total of 25,543 (84.8%) children received vision screening. A total of 1,345 (5.27%) children had visual impairments and were referred to take an eye exam. Over 80% of the children who were referred and received eye exams were found to have vision problems. Timely screening is one of the effective ways for early detection of vision problems among these children. This study showed there were significant differences in the screening rate between the children with high socioeconomic status and those with low socioeconomic status. Educational and promotion programs should focus on improving the knowledge of vision diseases and use of available preventive service, particularly by the community of low socioeconomic status.