An evaluation of the national curriculum by practitioners suggests that learning materials across school levels still overlap, are irrelevant to student development phases and competencies required, too challenging for students to learn, too broad in terms of topics, and lacking in depth. This evaluation encourages the needs for special studies…

Adults modify the way they speak to children to support children's learning across several domains. However, no previous research has studied whether adults change their language when explaining science to children. The current study examined if and how adults change the manner in which they talk about science when providing explanations to…

As the United States experiences greater income inequality, more and more students experience an early science achievement gap. This study tested several competing theoretical models of early science achievement with a longitudinal sample of 14,624 children who were followed from kindergarten entry to the end of 1st grade. To understand why and…

Previous research indicates children reason in different ways about horizontal motion and motion in fall. At the same time, their understanding of motion down inclines appears to result from an interaction between horizontal and vertical motion understanding. However, this interaction is still poorly understood. Understanding of speed change may…

Investigated effects of two instructional interventions on 5- to 9-year-olds who could perform a balance beam task but either could not explain the principle or had naive theories. Found that more students who had observed the experimenter model and were then encouraged to explain what they saw improved performance over the pretest than students…

The development of the concept of matter was explored in children aged 3-13. Eighty four children were asked to classify four sets of objects and matter and to explain their classifications during interviews. Younger children tended to classify using a mixture of extensive properties (properties of objects) and intensive properties (properties of…

Using the book "Fostering Intellectual Development in Young Children" by Kenneth D. Wann and the book's impact on education as a point of departure, this paper presents a way of looking at the early childhood curriculum that goes beyond the book but is in keeping with its concerns for the education of young children. The book was a…

Noting that unilateral definitions of motor learning as separate from ideational learning are inadequate, this book identifies and explores certain branches of specific aspects of motor learning. The book is divided into three parts, dealing with curricular motor learning, compensatory motor learning, and cognitive motor learning. Part I is…

Responds to a recent critical report on computers in childhood. Highlights include computers, children, and research; social and emotional development; types of software; motivation; social and cognitive interactions; cognitive development; creativity; language and literacy; writing and word processing; mathematics and reasoning; and science and…