This study explores the influence of kindergarten care on the social and cognitive development of Saudi Arabian and international students in early childhood education in Saudi Arabia. A mixed-methods approach assessed the development of 302 children, aged between 5 years and 11 months to 7 years, and their mothers in Saudi Arabia's Eastern…

The present study examined mothers' responses to their at-risk preschool-age children's (N = 156) successful and unsuccessful attempts during a puzzle task. Associations between mothers' responses and the children's ecological context, as well as children's cognitive and academic abilities at two subsequent time points (ages 6-11, and 9-13 years),…

For over five decades, teen parent programs (TPPs) have offered mothers an opportunity to increase their self-sufficiency and invest in their children's development. Yet to date, no systematic review has examined overall effects of these programs on parenting behaviors or child developmental outcomes. Using a meta-analytic database of 25 studies,…

Early childhood poverty is a prevalent social issue, both in the United States and in the wider international community. It has been well established that factors associated with poverty, including familial income and parental education level, can negatively affect children's language and cognitive development, which can result in academic…

Despite the strong argument for investing in young children and the many types of interventions and delivery mechanisms that have been developed, knowledge on Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs' effectiveness in low-income settings remains thin. Yet a growing number of programs in developing countries contain interventions seeking to…

The child population in the United States is rapidly changing and diversifying--in large part because of immigration. Today, nearly one in four US children under the age of 18 is the child of an immigrant. While research has focused on the largest of these groups (Latinos and Asians), far less academic attention has been paid to the changing Black…

Children's exposure to mind-related talk has been shown to foster young children's metacognitive understanding and to orient them to the patterns of literate language long before they commence formal literacy instruction at school. In this paper, we report on a longitudinal study of the mind-related talk of 22 mothers when their infants were aged…

Children of 200 low-income families were studied to determine possible deleterious outcomes due to maternal employment in the child's first 3 years of life. When 8-year follow-up data were controlled for maternal variables, 30 differences in outcomes were found, 27 of which favored children of workers. (Author/JMB)

Relates studies of the effects of pre- and post-natal and childhood malnutrition on physical and mental development. Discusses national and international nutrition problems and solutions. (DR)

This Yugoslavian study aimed to describe the ways in which mothers are (or are not) using the opportunity, created by interacting with their children on tasks which are in the child's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), to foster the child's metacognitive development. The underlying assumption of this study on metacognition is derived from the…

Recent findings from neuroscience have confirmed the critical importance of the early years to the development of human intelligence. However, these findings may be misunderstood or misapplied by policy makers and educators. We must preserve a balanced view of early education that recognizes the importance of the mother-child relationship and the…

A study involving three children with impaired hearing, three typical children, and three showing intellectual advancement, found children scoring above 130 IQ at age four demonstrated significantly advanced pretend play as toddlers. Mothers of the high IQ children engaged in scaffolding behaviors involving higher stages of pretend transformation,…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) is designed to provide detailed information on children's development, health, and early learning experiences in the years leading up to entry into school. The ECLS-B is the first nationally representative study within the United States to directly assess children's early mental and…

This study attempted to determine whether the mental test performance of 77 children tested at 6, 12, and 36 months of age could be predicted from scores on an Inventory of Home Stimulation used to assess the children's home environment during their infancy. The Inventory of Home Stimulation had six subscales: (1) emotional and verbal responsivity…

Examined the role of four separate maternal parenting factors (warmth, punitiveness, intrusiveness, and involvement in school activities) in kindergartners' cognitive competence among Head Start children. Found that maternal intrusiveness predicted child cognitive competence while children were in Head Start, and maternal school involvement…