Early exploratory behaviors have been proposed to facilitate children's learning, impacting motor, cognitive, language, and social development. This study related the performance of behaviors used to explore oneself to behaviors used to explore objects, and then related both types of exploratory behaviors to motor, language, and cognitive measures…

A long-standing question in developmental science is how the neurodevelopment of the brain influences cognitive functions. Here, we examined the developmental change of resting EEG power and its links to vocabulary acquisition in school-age children. We further explored what mechanisms may mediate the relation between brain rhythm maturation and…

Purpose: This case series documents developmental changes over time and in response to a novel intervention, Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play), in children with early-life seizures. Methods: Thirteen children with early-life seizures were included from a subset of participants in the START-Play multisite, randomized controlled…

This study explored whether the directionality of the relation between majority language and various facets of socioemotional development (three to 5 years old) differs between children with different language backgrounds. 12,951 children (49% girls; 85% White, 6% Pakistani and Bangladeshi, 3% Black, 3% Mix, 2% Indian) from the British Millennium…

The need for valid and reliable ways to assess developmental outcomes of preschool children becomes continually more acute as public investments in preschool education grow, with corresponding pressure for programs to demonstrate their ability to influence child outcomes. The authors conducted studies of one assessment widely used in Head Start…

The transition to early childhood education is important for all stakeholders. This study aimed to examine the expectations of teachers and parents whose children were starting school for the first time regarding themselves and each other during the preparation for and transition to school. Sixteen parents and eight teachers participated in the…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is inherently relational, shaped by the interactions children have within their homes, schools, and communities. Grounded in ecological systems theory, this chapter explores how family-school-community partnerships can serve as a powerful mechanism for promoting SEL and fostering positive developmental outcomes.…

Aim: As more children become increasingly physically inactive, efforts to reverse this negative trend are growing. Research has indicated, however, that we know relatively little about the pedagogical processes built into programmes and interventions. This is especially true in respect of how children view the process of becoming more physically…

Background: Previous research suggests that interactions between preschool teachers and children in early care and educational contexts can contribute to the child's positive attachment development and socioemotional adjustment. Objective: Investigate how the transition process to preschool is organized and whether various ways of organizing it…

Although a growing literature has linked extreme psychosocial adversity in early development to brain structure and function, recent studies highlight that differences in socioeconomic resources may also affect brain development. In this article, we describe research linking variation in neighborhood context and parenting practices, two contexts…

Traditionally, giftedness was perceived as a fixed trait, exclusively evaluated through cognitive testing. However, contemporary perspectives view it as a dynamic and socially constructed attribute reflected in many domains. As this paradigm-shift aligns with global movements emphasizing the importance of avoiding labelling students and enhancing…

Although the role of the home in supporting early childhood development, early learning and school outcomes is well established, the perspectives of caregivers on child development and schooling outcomes are comparatively underexplored. This qualitative study was conducted with caregivers of children aged 6-10 years in Mahikeng, South Africa and…

Contemporary discourses regarding children's spirituality in ECEC professional publication streams (academic and practitioner readership) were analysed, with consideration of impacts of these discourses on practice in the early years sector. Many established theoretical concepts regarding children's spirituality were not evident in the early years…

This study examined children's emotion attributions and moral judgements to hypothetical procedural justice outcomes when the candidates were equal in merit but different in need. Children (7 to 11 years old, N = 88) were presented with four vignettes depicting resource-rich and resource-poor candidates losing educational materials and…

During human childhood, brain development and body growth compete for limited metabolic resources, resulting in a trade-off where energy allocated to brain development can decrease as body growth accelerates. This preregistered study explores the relationship between language skills, serving as a proxy for brain development, and body mass index at…