Metacognition is an essential, but habitually ignored element of 21st century education, which aims to teach students how to learn. 'Meta' is a Greek word meaning 'after', 'behind' or 'beyond'; 'meta' is added to terms such as meta memory, meta comprehension, and metacognition. The lack of consciousness is cognitive self-regulation activities…

The Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (stuttering) reflects a marked impairment in speech fluency that is not attributable to stroke or another medical condition, and developmental or mental disorder (Birstein, 2015). This article examines Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering): An interruption in the flow of speaking. The focus is on the…

The Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (stuttering) reflects a marked impairment in speech fluency that is not attributable to stroke or another medical condition, and developmental or mental disorder (Birstein, 2015). This article examines Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering): An interruption in the flow of speaking. The focus is on the…

The science and practice of early childhood development now stands ready to address the needs and ensure the rights of infants and young children with disabilities and their families, among the most underserved and marginalized in all regions of the world. Synergies in global policies such as the "United Nations Convention on the Rights of…

Scholars conventionally find play difficult to define because the concept is complex and ambiguous. The author proffers a definition of play that takes into consideration its dynamic character, posits six basic elements of play (anticipation, surprise, pleasure, understanding, strength, and poise), and explores some of their emotional, physical,…

In the push to boost young people's social and emotional learning (SEL), assessment has lagged behind policy and practice. We have few usable, feasible, and scalable tools to assess children's SEL. And without good assessments, teachers, administrators, parents, and policymakers can't get the data they need to make informed decisions about SEL.…

Giftedness can generate speculation, misconceptions, expectations, pride, innuendo, apprehension, puzzlement--and the list goes on. What does it mean to be a gifted learner? In this installment of the series "ABCs of Being Smart," the author grapples with the term gifted, giving a glimpse into giftedness, along with some general guidelines for…

How can parents and teachers foster individual abilities and facilitate foundational supports so children will flourish? There is no fast or flawless formula. However, readers can use these F words to flesh out, fill in, fine-tune, or formulate a particular framework of factors they might want to think about in relation to supporting and…

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's "2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book" finds today's youth--Generation Z--are healthier and completing high school on time despite mounting economic inequality and increasingly unaffordable college tuition. Aided by smart policies and investments in prevention, a record number of teens are making positive choices.…

In this article the author's research reports that giftedness is a combination of advanced development and creativity. It is developmental in nature in that it begins as potential (generally in young people), evolves into achievement within recognizable domains during the school years, and becomes increasingly advanced (compared with peers)…

Think of all the skills that children have to learn when they come into the world: smiling, turning over, responding to people, communicating, eating solid food, crawling, standing, and on and on. These skills are expected to emerge naturally over time and it is known more or less when they should. This timetable for skills to emerge is commonly…

When the Annie E. Casey Foundation published its first "KIDS COUNT Data Book" in 1990, there were 64 million children in America. Now, almost three decades later, there are close to 74 million. This 30th edition of the "Data Book" examines how America's child population has changed, demographically and geographically. The…

This article emphasizes the importance of introducing/providing character education during the early years of child development in order to raise morally responsive citizens. Noting the rampant acts of violence and malicious crime at a time marked with deep global turmoil in many societies, the authors argue for an exhaustive study of the recently…

The Casey Foundation's "2018 KIDS COUNT® Data Book" warns that the 2020 census is mired in challenges that could shortchange the official census count by at least 1 million kids younger than age 5. This discrepancy would put hundreds of millions of federal dollars at risk and, in doing so, underfund programs that are critical for family…

The "2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book" urges policymakers not to back away from targeted investments that help U.S. children become healthier, more likely to complete high school and better positioned to contribute to the nation's economy as adults. The "Data Book" also shows the child poverty rate in 2015 continued to drop, landing…