Forest learning has been encouraged globally in recent years as it regularly provides opportunities to interact with nature and one's own abilities. The contributions of forest and traditional kindergarten and home environment to children's ecological cognition and how ecological cognition relates to executive function (EF) is understudied.…

Motor skills during early childhood play a significant role in child development. We used the bioecological model to determine the bioecological factors associated with preschool children's gross motor skills (GMS). The GMS of randomly sampled 280 children were tested using a standardized checklist. The background variables theoretically framed in…

This study examined the effects of maternal and children's resources on school readiness, literacy achievements, and reading motivation in children. The participants included children (N = 180) (124 girls; 56 boys) from 19 kindergartens, their mothers, and their kindergarten teachers. Mothers reported on their working hours, interaction quality,…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the home environments of young children with (CWDs) and without disabilities (CWODs) with the aim of identifying the relationships between the development of children and their home environments. The study analyses further, whether inclusive preschools, as an intervention, have an influence on the…

This study investigated relations between parent teaching, cumulative instability/chaos and school readiness in a group of 130 children attending a Head Start preschool. Cumulative instability/chaos negatively predicted fall school readiness as well as spring school readiness. Parent teaching did not predict fall school readiness but did predict…

The weaning period, in which complementary foods are introduced into the infant's diet, can be challenging, with dislike of novel foods known to be common. However, even though at six months (the current recommended age for the introduction of complementary foods) most infants are able to feed themselves with graspable pieces of food, the majority…

The field of early childhood education is propelled by guiding principles stemming from philosophical and child development research positions. While the guiding principles of high-quality early childhood education are influenced by universal and local perspectives, it is critical that early childhood curricula and pedagogy are firmly…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services are vital in the establishment of optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and long-term health. This qualitative study, informed by Social Cognitive Theory, aimed to describe ECEC infant feeding environments. Nineteen formal long day care and family day care ECEC services and 124…

The present study examined parental guidance of young children's inquiry during joint interactions in the home environment. Half of the parents received inquiry-based guidance instructions, encouraging their children to observe, question, predict, and evaluate; the control group received no information about guidance. Thirty-two families were…

Early childhood care and development (ECCD) services have been steadily expanding with structures on the community, national, and international levels. However, many low- and middle-income countries still have very limited ECCD coverage, and there is a lack of global guidance on best practices for effectively expanding pre-primary education. In…

This cross-sectional observational study aims to examine the current status and familial factors associated with social competence and emotional well-being among young children in an urban city in the East Asia region. Early childhood teachers assessed the social competence and the emotional state of preschool children with the Social Competence…

Microtransitions can be identified as those exchanges that occur during everyday life when family members negotiate a change in their interactions. This study aims to highlight how certain aspects of family functioning during microtransitions could influence the development of children's socio-emotional competence in their interactions with peers.…

Recent re-conceptualisation of paternal involvement (Pleck, J. H. (2010). Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes. In M. Lamb (Ed.), "The role of the father in child development" (5th ed., pp. 67-107). London: Wiley), while proving fruitful, has yet to be applied to investigations into…

PreschoolThis study investigated the nature of parent involvement and parent-educator communication in prior-to-school early childhood settings and school, to explore relations to social capital variables and consistencies and changes in practices over time. Parent interview and teacher questionnaire data from two waves of the Longitudinal Study…

Mathematical knowledge at school entry predicts school achievement, and children from low-income families are at risk for low math achievement. The study purpose was to observe low-income parents' numeracy guidance in two contexts, a board game and a number concept assessment, and to compare preschoolers' independent and guided math…