Play has a significant role in children's learning and development. "Play in the Early Years" examines the central questions about play from the perspectives of children, families and educators, providing a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of play for children from birth to eight years. In its fourth edition,…

A powerful discursive formation claims 'bad parenting' amongst the poor predisposes their children to educational underachievement. A small number of children in poverty succeeding within early education potentially undermines this construction of 'parent blame'. This requires an explanation which perpetuates the dominant discourse about…

A double-blind randomized controlled trial of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) supplementation or matching placebo during third trimester of pregnancy was conducted within the COPSAC[subscript 2010] mother-child cohort consisting of 736 women and their children. The objective was to determine if maternal n-3 LCPUFA pregnancy…

What do we know about immersive media--virtual, augmented, mixed, and cross realities (VR, AR, MR, and XR)--and young children? So far, designers, developers, and media producers have been focusing on creating hardware, software, and content for and conducting studies with adolescents and adults--but children find these technologies incredibly…

The purpose of this viewpoint is to consider the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis on the educational prospects of young children attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Studies show that health pandemics and environmental, political, and socio-economic crises jeopardize children's development and education. It is likely…

Background: There are 78,150 children in care in England and 12% live in group residential settings. Little empirical research informs our understanding of how these vulnerable children heal from multi-type trauma in residential homes. Evidence-based multisystemic trauma-informed models of care are needed for good quality consistent care.…

This study quantified changes in self-reported sexual orientation from adolescence to early adulthood, and whether childhood gender nonconformity (GNC) predicted sexual orientation changes. Youth (2,678 boys and 3,359 girls; 96.09% ethnically White) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were included. Self-reported…

Executive functions (EF) are domain-general cognitive skills that predict foundational academic skills such as literacy and numeracy. However, less is known about the relation between EFs and science achievement. The nature of this relation might be explained by the theory of mutualism, which states that development is the result of complex and…

Adverse childhood experiences (typically referred to as ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences and events, ranging from abuse and neglect to parental incarceration. A growing body of research has made it increasingly apparent that ACEs are a critical public health issue that can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being in…

Every aspect of child development--from cognition to relationships--is shaped by macrolevel ideologies (e.g., white supremacy, patriarchy) that reflect the social hierarchies and embedded power structures of society. While ecological theories have long underscored the impact of macrosystems and cultures on humans, the field of child development…

The majority of evidence on the interplay between academic and non-academic skills comes from high-income countries. The aim of this study was to examine the bidirectional associations between Ghanaian children's executive function, social-emotional, literacy, and numeracy skills longitudinally. Children (N = 3,862; M age = 5.2 years at time 1)…

This report offers insight into a reflective and critical practitioner's role in carefully planning an environment that reflects young children's need for independence. Education as an agent of liberation is the key to the child obtaining that freedom and achieving independence. It is argued that liberation can only be achieved when an effective…

Only three out of five children are enrolled in preschool globally, and only one out of five in low-income countries, yet the expansion of preschool education came to a near standstill in 2020. To restart it, we propose a policy instrument called the Preschool Entitlement. It entails the right of every child to 600 hours of quality…

Research Findings: Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) -- assessment tools used at the beginning of kindergarten to provide educators with a snapshot of children's readiness for school -- are increasingly being adopted by states across the country. The purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of North Carolina's KEA through…

Children in the 21st century are avid users of technology--more so than generations past. This rise in use has led to much attention on the consequences of technology use, and how this impacts children's brains and their socio-emotional, cognitive and physical development. Much of the research in these fields, especially brain-based research, is…