Reflective practice helps clinicians manage the complexity and uncertainty inherent in day-to-day practice. This is important given the high rates of burnout, turnover, and trauma-related stress among social workers and other clinicians. Using focus groups with 55 social work and child development graduate students and alumni, this study explored…

This study, using longitudinal data from the South African Birth to Twenty Plus study, assessed associations between early childcare quality in the home between six months and two years, household SES and cognitive development at age 5. Childcare quality was assessed using measures of maternal responsiveness and cognitive stimulation. Cognitive…

In this article I wish to defend hope by arguing that it is a child-like predisposition and that its strength and uniqueness stem exactly from its naïve, infantilizing character. To discuss the concepts of hope and of childhood and the relationship between them, I read in Kazuo Ishiguro's latest book -- "Klara and the Sun" (2021), using…

Reduced eye contact early in life may play a role in the developmental pathways that culminate in a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. However, there are contradictory theories regarding the neural mechanisms involved. According to the amygdala theory of autism, reduced eye contact results from a hypoactive amygdala that fails to flag eyes as…

We describe the development of 236 children with Angelman syndrome (AS) using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. Multilevel linear mixed modeling approaches were used to explore differences between molecular subtypes and over time. Individuals with AS continue to make slow gains in development through at least age…

Creative thinking is critical to overcome many daily life situations. As such, there has been a growing interest on how creative thinking develops during childhood. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms driving its development. Indeed, almost all research has focused on divergent thinking, leaving aside convergent thinking, and…

Two preregistered experiments (N = 218) investigated children's developing ability to respond reasonably to disagreement. U.S. children aged 4-9, and adults (50% female, mostly white) formed an initial belief, and were confronted with the belief of a disagreeing other, whose evidence was weaker, stronger than, or equal to participants' evidence.…

Self-regulation and metacognition are important for lifelong functioning and can be strengthened with intervention at a young age. Research proposes that musical play enables self-regulatory development, but lacks rigorous approaches to investigate whether a causal relationship between the two exists. We introduced a musical play intervention in a…

This systematic literature review examines emergent approaches toward media literacy education for parents. Method guidelines for review originated from the 2020 update of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The review sample consists of twelve studies, six originating in the United States,…

Like the depiction of plagues in apocalyptic science fiction, neoliberalism continues to infect education at all levels. This infection causes educators to care not for the children, but to embrace the figure of the Child. Reproductive futurism, in the imagined redemptive figure of the Child has been regulating the structure of education not for…

"Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Education and Care" delves into the dynamic landscape of early childhood education and critically addresses the intersection of theory and practice, offering a range of theoretical frameworks and practical strategies to support the holistic development of children. It explores a diverse array of…

Despite the variety of positive influences siblings have on developmental outcomes, very few interventions targeting these outcomes include siblings. In this article, we argue that practitioners should consider including siblings in interventions. We provide evidence highlighting the positive influence siblings have on three developmental…

Donald Stewart Early Childhood Center is a dual-language preschool located in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The school is comprised of 22 classrooms in which students are grouped by age group and includes two special education classrooms. Donald Stewart has high academic expectations for all 308 of it's students. In order to help each learner meet these…

The case study of Michael Jackson illustrates the concepts of high potential, talent, and precocity in the musical domain. Studying this case of exceptional musical talent highlights the usefulness of a multidimensional approach to exploring human potential, which is not limited to academic abilities. It offers a better understanding of the…

Background: While delays in cognitive development are detectable during early development in Down syndrome, the neuropsychological and biomedical underpinnings of cognitive skill acquisition in this population remain poorly understood. Method: To explore this issue, 38 infants with Down syndrome [mean chronological age = 9.65 months; SD = 3.64]…