The COVID-19 pandemic had far-reaching effects on school-going children. With the indefinite closure of schools in many parts of the world, many children found themselves with limited avenues for play and interaction. The current qualitative study, anchored on social capital theory, aimed at investigating the informal learning that took place as…

The aim of this study is to compare the neurological status, developmental parameters and physical fitness of children who engage in regular physical activity in the preschool period versus those who do not. The study included 305 healthy children aged 4-6 years, consisting of 154 girls and 151 boys. In addition to evaluating the demographic…

Executive function (EF) is essential for developing social competence (SC) in early childhood. However, previous research has primarily taken a general perspective of SC and overlooked its components. Furthermore, although EF and SC are known to influence each other across childhood, the mechanisms of this interaction remain unclear. Therefore,…

Screen time may have a significant association with children's development, yet limited research has examined the specific moderating role of family and child characteristics in this relationship. In this study, we investigated the relationship between screen time exposure and children's development and moderating effects of the family environment…

Adverse health events within families can harm children's development, including their early literacy. Using data from a longitudinal Wisconsin birth cohort, we estimated the spillover effect of younger siblings' gestational ages on older siblings' kindergarten-level literacy. We sampled 20,014 sibling pairs born during 2007-2010 who took…

Overparenting is an emerging topic in parenting research and has gained increasing attention in media. Most studies have focused on adolescents and young adults in Western countries, while it remains unclear whether overparenting is related to young children's outcomes in non-Western contexts. The present study aimed to examine the mechanism by…

This paper studies the association between caregiver--child interactions and early childhood development in literacy and numeracy in West and Central Africa. Data comes from Multiple Cluster Indicator Surveys (MICS) conducted in Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Togo…

This study examined the emergence of digital literacy in early childhood among 2272 parents with at least one child under age six in central China. Findings revealed that: (1) there was a significant age difference in early digital literacy, with television literacy emerging first, followed by touchscreen, artificial intelligence, and personal…

This quasi-experimental design study was conducted to examine the effect of the Science Activities Education Program for Parents (SAEPP) on parents' ability to create opportunities for their children to develop basic scientific process skills at home. The study group consisted of 108 parents (54 experimental, 54 control) whose children attended…

The objective of this study was to evaluate the motor, cognitive and language development of babies living in two institutional contexts. Seventy babies participated in the study: 35 from prisons and 35 from shelters. Thirty-five mothers of hospitalized babies and 10 caregivers of hospitalized babies also participated in this study. The…

The kindergarten teachers of the Religious Kibbutz movement (RK) as a unique group are connected both to the educational approaches of the kindergartens in the general Kibbutz Movement and the state religious kindergartens. A qualitative study included semi-structured interviews with 15 RK kindergarten teachers in order to explore their…

Developing children's FMS and executive function is a critical aspect of early childhood. The aim was to evaluate the fundamental movement skills (FMS) and executive function. The objectives were to investigate the locomotor and object control skills as well as inhibitory control and working memory of the selected children. Grade 1 (6-8-years-old)…

This study aims to investigate the impact of digital storytelling activities on children's language skills, specifically focusing on expressive, receptive, and narrative abilities, as well as their utilization of technological elements in their stories. The study involved 18 children who were enrolled in a public kindergarten classroom, and it…

Reviews concerning the enhancement of preschool children's social competencies reveal areas within which teacher approach, definitions of social competence and methods of study can be enhanced. In response, teachers and researchers co-developed and introduced a peer-based relational intervention to support children's communication, empathic…

Critical thinking is essential for young children and can be enhanced through appropriate and supportive curricula. With the rich affordance of digitalization, this study evaluated the effects of a hybrid STEM curriculum on critical thinking skills in 74 kindergarteners (42 boys and 32 girls) aged 5.83-7.25 years (Mean = 6.44, SD = 0.31) from a…