This study examined Chinese preschoolers' affective experiences during organized activities. One-on-one child interviews were conducted in which children were asked to rate their general affect during each organized activity in which they participated, and then provide reasons for their responses. Child-reported emotional engagement was related to…

The quality of early caregiving and educational environments has a significant effect on children's later cognitive outcomes. Early childhood teachers are an important determining factor in the quality of these environments and therefore they need appropriate professional preparation. The purpose of this study was to describe the ways in which…

This study aimed to investigate the influence of Outdoor Education (OE) on different areas of development in 1-3-year-old children attending Italian nursery schools. The sample was composed of 160 children (1-3-year-old) divided into a first group (Traditional), with 76 children attending nursery schools with traditional educational activities;…

This study aimed to examine the unique and interactive contributions of the quality of mothers' and fathers' relationships with their toddlers to the prediction of children's subsequent executive functioning (EF). The sample included 46 low-risk middle-class families. The quality of mother-child and father-child interactions was assessed…

Aggression in early childhood has been found to predict future psychopathology, academic problems, and delinquency. In a sample of 136 mother-child pairs (M[subscript age] = 4 years, 11 months, SD = 11 months, 58% boys) associations among mothers' responding with distress to children's negative emotions, children's emotional control, and…

The purpose is to discuss two competing theories of learning in preschool based on preschool teachers' views of knowledge and learning. The focus is mathematical learning but the discussion is applicable to all early childhood learning contexts. Preschool teachers' views on children's learning and development is important for the pedagogy they use…

Body image research with young children has typically examined their body satisfaction and overlooked developmental theories pertaining to their emergent body-knowledge. Though existing research suggests that preschoolers do demonstrate anti-fat attitudes and weight-related stigmatisation, body dissatisfaction can be difficult to assess in…

Research suggests that social communication (verbal and non-verbal) plays a key role in students' and teachers' elementary-school experiences. Within the framework of sociocognitive developmental theory, this qualitative study investigates teachers' experiences and perceptions of children's talking and listening habits within the elementary-grade…

This paper aims to describe the quality of play as offered by early childhood educators working with four-year-olds within an educational childcare service. It also aims to identify the correlation between the quality of play support and a child's cognitive, language and socio-emotional development. Finally, it focuses on the factors associated…

There is growing evidence that high-quality non-parental child care can contribute to children's learning, development and successful transition to school. Research examining the quality of child care and the effect on children's development is not well documented outside the USA. We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to…

Research on children's concepts of intelligence has not considered how children conceptualise specific thinking skills. This study extends previous research on the development of children's concepts of intelligence and produces novel data on children's understandings of effective thinking and thinking skills. Seventy-five children were sampled…

Turkish mothers' self-efficacy beliefs and their interactional behaviors with their children with language delays are described and explored. Participants included 19 mother-child dyads. Mothers' interaction with their children with language delays was videotaped for 30 minutes in a free-play context. Regarding mothers' interactional behaviors,…

Argues that it has not been fashionable to value literacy stories from parents as a source of knowledge for interpreting the home literacy environment. Compares teacher descriptions of several at-risk children to their parents' literacy stories. Concludes that understanding multiple home literacy environments can help teachers think critically…

Discusses the implementation and evaluation of a program designed to introduce student portfolios in place of formal assessments at a university preschool. Parents of an experimental group of 20 students who constructed portfolios had a better understanding of the preschool program's cognitive and academic components than parents of a control…

Asked 30 children aged 4 years and 30 children aged 6 years to explain what they found funny in 2 humorous pictures. Results indicated that the older children explained humor differently than the younger children and that boys recognized the humor of the visual images more easily than did girls. (MDM)