Organized extracurricular activities (EAs) are prevalent among Chinese preschoolers, yet their role in children's development is poorly understood. This study investigated the relations between EA participation and Chinese preschoolers' school readiness (N = 343; M[subscript age] = 55.14 months) among a predominantly middle-class sample. EA…

Amid growing controversy about the oft-cited "30-million-word gap," this investigation uses language data from five American communities across the socioeconomic spectrum to test, for the first time, Hart and Risley's (1995) claim that poor children hear 30 million fewer words than their middle-class counterparts during the early years…

One hundred and ten English-speaking children schooled in French were followed from kindergarten to Grade 2 (M[subscript age]: T1 = 5;6, T2 = 6;4, T3 = 6;11, T4 = 7;11). The findings provided strong support for the Home Literacy Model (Sénéchal, M., 2002) because in this sample the home language was independent of the language of instruction. The…

Normal, first-born children of two-parent, self-supporting families (N=60) were divided into three groups at birth: control, mothers receiving a specific language stimulation program, and both parents receiving the program simultaneously. Infants whose parents received simultaneous training exhibited the greatest gain over 4 1/2 months in Bayley…

Forty middle-class mothers and their 12-month-old infants participated in an examination of the extent to which infant sociability and home experiences were correlated with cognitive capacity. (JMB)

The development of decision-making autonomy was examined in 76 middle-class African American early adolescents (M=13 years) and their mothers, who were followed longitudinally for 5 years. Adolescent decision-making autonomy over conventional, prudential, multifaceted, and personal issues increased over time but at different rates. Mothers viewed…