Jean Piaget, whose work continues to be very influential in early childhood education, associated young children's animism with their 'primitive thought' claiming children remain animists until they reach a more advanced and rational stage of development. This article proposes a rethinking of the Piagetian view of animism, suggesting instead that…

The exploration and/or manipulation of objects and materials, referred to as object-oriented play (OOP), is one of the most prominent activities children engage in during early childhood. Especially within early childhood education, it is important to be able to assess and understand OOP, its developmental trajectory, and developmental value. This…

Objective: As the number of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for children has been constantly growing, there is a benefit to be derived for a comprehensive study that gathers what mindfulness activities have been reported to be effective at particular developmental stages, and how these practices have been modified to make them…

The research presented in this article scrutinises how baby room leaders construct babyhood and how this impacts their practice. Our research feeds into a growing body of research that challenges the dominant developmentalist paradigm in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and instead highlights possibilities for self-determination, agency…

Recognizing the inherent attention in examining how educational practices affect our future, there is little known about society's demands related to early childhood education. This paper aims to analyze the current preschool enrolment situation in the Euro-Western world and the demands of society, focusing attention on the characteristics needed…

In the concept of early childhood education and care (ECEC), certain foundational principles stand out as vital and of paramount importance for ensuring ideal child development through different stages during the age of 1-5 years. While rooted in extensive research and best practices, the following five principles serve as guiding lights for…

Self-efficacy has been associated with benefits to everyday life such as resilience to stress and adversity, healthy behaviours, improved performance, and academic achievement. Research into self-efficacy development is scarce in early childhood, yet self-efficacy is associated with numerous skills and competencies taught in the early years of…

Tangible programming tools (TPTs) are promising teaching aids in programming courses due to their interactivity and ability to enhance early childhood students' computational thinking, spatial reasoning, and executive function skills. However, it remains unclear whether TPTs support these skills simultaneously. This study examines the impact of…

The Developmental Screening Guidebook is designed as a reference guide on how to best support healthy growth and development of children in your care throughout key developmental intervals and identify children who may benefit from specialized support. Early childhood program staff, service providers, health care systems, families, and communities…

The National Association for the Education of Young Children recently revised its Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), the standard for early childhood care and education. Josh Thompson and Zlata Stankovic-Ramirez explore how DAP has evolved over time and what guidance it provides early childhood educators regarding the interaction between…

Many scholars are influenced by the theoretical contributions of Lev Vygotsky. Significant post-Vygotskian scholarly writing highlights sociocultural perspectives of understanding everyday, informal learning as an important phenomenon. Ideas of participatory learning, and knowledge building through participation and inquiry, are included in the…

Waldorf Education follows a holistic approach of children's development, where the fundamental characteristics are creative/artistic activities, integrating imagination-based teaching methods to support and enhance the development of children's and adolescents' physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Neuroeducation provides the most…

How can we use Friedrich Froebel's play theory in order to analyze ECEC, Early Childhood Education and Care? Wolfgang Klafki builds his theory of categorical "Bildung" on Froebel's play theory, which presupposes the interaction between child, adult and content, as in the didactic triangle. Froebel's play theory was lost in the hands of…

Young children from around the world are accessing the internet in ever increasing numbers. The rapid increase in internet activity by children aged 4-5 years in particular is due to the ease access enabled them by touchscreen internet-enabled tablet technologies. With young children now online, often independently of adult supervision, the need…

When people address early mathematics education, commonly they write or reference policies, standards, "scope and sequences" and curriculum, or documents on instructional strategies. These are important; however, we believe that the core consideration should be the nature of mathematics and the development of mathematics "in…