This study examined the development of emotion understanding. Children (N = 296, 157 boys, 139 girls) and parents (67% White, 8% Black, 15% Hispanic, 2% Asian American, 6% Biracial, 2% "Other") recruited from Denver, Colorado were observed annually for four years starting in 2019 (beginning M[subscript age] = 2.44 years, SD = 0.26)…

Mother-child emotion-related conversations, as a practice of parental socialization of emotion, can help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) develop socio-emotional skills. This study intends to explore relationships between mother-child conversations about emotions and socio-emotional skills of children with ASD by accounting for the…

Background: Spontaneous upper extremity movements in infancy provide insight on neuromotor development. Spatiotemporal kinematics have been used to evaluate typical development of reaching, a foundational motor skill in infancy. This study evaluates the relationship between spontaneous upper extremity movements, not elicited by a toy, and motor…

A meaningful curriculum is one that is individualized, inclusive of the individual's unique needs and interests, and focused on building independence in current and future environments. A meaningful curriculum addresses an individual's needs and prioritizes instructional programs based on what is, potentially, most important to their lives and not…

Infants and toddlers spend a substantial amount of their time in out-of-home care, and are thus being tended to not only by their mothers but also by their caregivers. It is therefore of considerable importance to study the effects of caregiver-infant compared to mother-infant interactions. To address this issue, first, various variables of…

This study examined two subfactors of fundamental movement skills: locomotion skills and object-control skills. The direct and indirect effects of children's temperament on fundamental movement skills and the mediating effects of autonomy and self-regulation were examined. Participants included 278 pairs of 3- to 5-year-old children and their…

Research Findings: Parents' academic socialization of their young children is a critical yet understudied area, especially in the context of vulnerable parent-child dyads. The current longitudinal study examined factors that informed mothers' beliefs and practices concerning children's kindergarten readiness in a sample of 204 Mexican-origin…

The significance of learning to think critically from a young age is well documented. Early childhood educators play an essential role in children's critical skills development. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their perceptions of this concept. This qualitative study explored Norwegian early childhood educators' perceptions of critical…

Despite findings that developmental timing of maltreatment is a critical factor in predicting subsequent outcomes, children's developmental stage is understudied in maltreatment research. Moreover, childhood maltreatment is associated with the development of maladaptive peer relationships and psychopathology, with social cognition identified as a…

Background/Context: The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the way we conduct research. For some modes of data collection, such as interviews, there was a ready (if not perfect) analog: face-to-face became phone-based; paper and pen surveys moved online. Others, such as direct assessments of child development, proved more challenging. Despite the…

This brief summarizes the working paper, "Understanding Motivation: Building the Brain Architecture That Supports Learning, Health, and Community Participation. Working Paper 14," which explains the science behind motivation--the "wanting" system and the "liking" system--as well as how those systems develop, and how…

In line with international trends in early childhood care and education (ECCE) recognising the importance of early learning, the Department of Basic Education in South Africa has pledged to professionalise the sector, increase access and improve quality. From a systemic point of view, professionalisation of the sector will require collaboration on…

This study explores the professional development (PD) of rural teachers in China based on their relationship with "left-behind" children, guided by two research questions: 1) How do rural teachers describe their relationship with left-behind children? and 2) How do rural teachers perceive the influence of their relationship with…

The aim of this study is to reveal preschool teachers' views on sensory education. In the study, phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was selected. The study group of the research consists of 20 preschool teachers working in a city in Turkey in the 2022-2023 academic year. Maximum diversity sampling, one of the…

Childcare services are widely used by families and thereby exert an important influence on many young children. Yet, little research has examined whether childcare may impact the development of child executive functioning (EF), one of the pillars of cognitive development in early childhood. Furthermore, despite persisting hypotheses that childcare…