Engagement with nature is crucial for child development and kindergarten educators' pedagogical beliefs about nature play significantly affect children's access to and experiences of nature in kindergarten. This study examines the role of nature play in children's holistic development, engaging 12 Chinese kindergarten educators through in-depth…

Adverse experiences in early childhood may directly and indirectly impact children's development, including their preparedness to learn in their preschool and kindergarten classes. However, like many other developmental processes, these skills can be supported through positive experiences and resources in a child's environment. This work uses the…

Direct assessments of early childhood development (ECD) are a cornerstone of research in developmental psychology and are increasingly used to evaluate programs and policies in lower- and middle-income countries. Despite strong psychometric properties, these assessments are too expensive and time consuming for use in large-scale monitoring or…

Background: People with Down syndrome (DS) are predisposed to challenges with executive functions (EF), which are crucial for adaptive outcomes and academic success. Early interventions targeting EF are therefore critical. The present study analysed Italian data on the acceptability, enjoyability and household implementation of EXPO (EXecutive…

Afterschool settings have continued to be identified as an ideal outlet for supporting youth development in many arenas, including physical activity (PA) behaviors and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. In fact, PA centered programs are ideal settings for youth to 8 develop and practice SEL skills in authentic ways. However, there a several…

Maternal depression is a global public health concern with far-reaching impacts on child development, yet our understanding of mechanisms remains incomplete. This study examined whether parenting mediates the association between maternal depression and child outcomes. Participants included 841 rural Pakistani mother-child dyads (50% female).…

The Reading Seed Programme (RSP), an in-house literacy program inaugurated by Sarawak's State Library (PUSTAKA Negeri Sarawak, Malaysia), has the potential to become the country's primary literacy initiative, particularly in terms of fostering a reading culture. The purpose of this paper is to empirically establish the reliability of survey…

Current research and literature emphasize the crucial role of group experiences in children's learning during early childhood. However, despite the frequent use of the term 'group', little attention has been paid to its position in children's learning and the diverse perspectives that inform it. This study addressed this gap by applying a…

Despite the extensive research evidence about the importance of high-quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), English policy makers continue to promote nurseries for the 'childcare' they provide, rather than the transformational effects they can have in areas of socio-economic challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate if and…