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…

During infancy and toddlerhood, parents show large individual differences in the extent to which they are able to tailor their parenting behaviors to their children's swiftly changing developmental needs. The first aim of our study was, therefore, to distinguish parenting profiles at three time points during infancy and toddlerhood (i.e., 5, 10,…

Language is the basis of human communication and is the most important key to complete mental development and thinking. Therefore, children must learn to communicate using appropriate language. For this to happen, the development of language in the child must be understood as a biological process, complete with internal laws and with marked stages…

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies with adults provide evidence that functional brain networks, including the default mode network and frontoparietal network, underlie executive functioning (EF). However, given the challenges of using fMRI with infants and young children, little work has assessed the developmental trajectories of…

Like many Montessori educators, the author was immediately drawn to the materials Maria Montessori designed for children in the conscious absorbent mind. They are simple, beautiful, and attractive to children. To many, including some parents, these materials are the essence of Montessori. However, Maria Montessori herself thought of her Method as…

By 12 months of age, infants exhibit behavioral sensitivity to sound symbolism (e.g. sound-shape correspondences) when they hear universally sound symbolic pseudowords (e.g. "bouba," "kiki"). Here, we investigated whether infant's sensitivity to sound-shape correspondences is affected when they hear language-specific sound…

Montessori communities are known for beautiful mealtimes. Even at the Infant & Toddler level, mealtime is a key moment for children to exercise independence and healthy social interactions. Meals and snacks with the youngest Montessori students are an essential component of the work cycle and daily routine. The Practical Life curriculum allows…

This study explored child behaviours that enable mothers to perceive their child's minds. We administered the Mind Perception Questionnaire to 216 women with children aged between 0 and 24 months and 221 working women without children. Participants responded with mind perceptions for various entities, including for their children (a 0--2-year-old…

Incarceration in the United States affects not only the individuals incarcerated, but also the whole family system, including children. 1.5 million children younger than 18 have had parents incarcerated at some point in their life (U.S. Census Bureau, 2021), and children have been called the hidden victims of the mass incarceration that is…

Researchers and practitioners need robust measurement tools for evaluating knowledge of child development to better support parents and their children during pregnancy and the transition to parenthood. We addressed this need by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Domains of Development Instrument (DoDI) for measuring knowledge of…

Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…

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…

Purpose: Parent report was compared to judgments made by a trained researcher to determine the utility of the Vocal Development Landmarks Interview (VDLI) for monitoring development of vocal behaviors in very young children. Method: Parents of 40 typically developing children, ages 6-21 months, provided full-day naturalistic audio recordings of…

Purpose: Instances of laryngeal constriction have been noted as a feature of infant vocal development. The purpose of this study was to directly evaluate the developmental occurrence of laryngeal constriction phenomena in infant crying, cooing, and babbling vocalizations. Method: The cry and noncry vocalizations of 20 healthy term-born infants…

The purpose of the present case study was to conduct a detailed analysis of the developmental characteristics of a gifted child. WISC-R intelligence test was administered to a 7-year-old participant. The test result was 140 IQ. The early developmental characteristics of the participant were evaluated using parent-recorded videos over a 3-year…