Background: Dot enumeration is the basic mathematics competency in young children and a significant indicator of later mathematics achievement. Aim: The present study focused on (1) how children's dot enumeration ability changed as they progressed from late kindergarten years (K3) to the second year of primary school in Hong Kong (P2), and (2) the extent to which such changes are associated with students' mathematics outcomes assessed at the fourth grade, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept. Sample(s): Two hundred and eleven Hong Kong kindergarteners were recruited. Methods: The participants' dot enumeration was assessed from K3 to P2. Their mathematics outcomes were assessed at P4, including standardized mathematics achievement, whole number magnitude understanding, and rational number concept. Results: The changes in their dot enumeration speed reflected a linear growth pattern. Further, both the initial level and growth rate of dot enumeration predicted standardized mathematics achievement and whole number magnitude understanding 2 years later while only the latter predicted rational number concept. Conclusions: The results indicate the importance of focusing on children's growth in a specific mathematics skill, in addition to their status at one single time point. Practical implications are discussed in this article. Copyright ©John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Background. Word reading and linguistic comprehension skills are two crucial components in reading comprehension, according to the Simple View of Reading (SVR). Some researchers have posited that a third component should be involved in reading and understanding texts, namely executive function (EF) skills.Aim. This study was novel in two ways. Not only did we tested EF skills as a predictor of reading comprehension in a non-alphabetic language (i.e., Chinese) to extend the theoretical model of SVR, we also examined reading comprehension further in kindergarten children (age 5) in Hong Kong, in the attempt to reveal possible early precursors of reading comprehension.Sample(s). A group of 170 K3 kindergarteners was recruited in Hong Kong.Methods. Children’s word reading was assessed. Their linguistic comprehension was assessed with phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, and vocabulary knowledge. Using a structured observation task, Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS), we measured their composite scores for EF skills.Results. Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders performance predicted unique variance in children’s Chinese reading comprehension concurrently beyond word reading and a set of linguistic comprehension skills. Conclusions. The results highlight the important role of EF skills in beginning readers’ reading comprehension. Copyright © 2018 The British Psychological Society.