In recent years, the concept of "deeper learning" has generated great interest in the field of preschool education in China. However, deep learning in the preschool stage is different from that in school education, as it requires explaining content characteristics, developing observational tools to identify deep learning, and exploring…

Video has become a widespread tool for capturing naturalistic behavioral data. While mixed methods show great potential in understanding the active nature of children's interaction, only a few studies have developed mixed methods for video-based interaction research. This paper presents a mixed methods embodied interaction model appropriate for…

The present study compared Japanese and U.S. preschool children's knowledge of geometric shapes. The main goal was to explore if differences in shape-naming conventions in Japanese and English could explain differences in children's understanding of geometric shapes. In ancient Chinese-based languages (e.g., Japanese), all standard 2D shapes…

Large-scale research such as the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) study (Sylva et al., 2004) confirms the significance of educator and teacher practices for improvement in learning outcomes for young children. The quality of instruction children receive in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and programs can…

This study investigated whether transitory and persistent poverty spells were associated with children's learning (literacy and numeracy scores) and executive function outcomes in Ghana. Children resided in the Greater Accra region (N = 2,154; 49% female; M[subscript age] = 5.2 years at wave-1) and were followed at four-time points over three…

We report on a scaled-up mathematics intervention in preschool classes (children age six) in Sweden. In the intervention, teachers at seven schools in four municipalities implemented the Thinking, Reasoning and Counting in Preschool Class (TRC) teacher guide in their teaching of 254 students. Results are compared to a previous randomized…

In this paper we direct attention to 5-6-year-olds' learning of arithmetic skills through a thorough analysis of changes in the children's ways of encountering and experiencing numbers. The foundation for our approach is phenomenographic, in that our object of analysis is differences in children's ways of completing an arithmetic task, which are…

Purpose: This short article takes the play and passion of children's literacy as its focal point. Rather than orienting reading and writing around what should be taught or how children should respond and understand written text, in this short reflective essay we aim to explore the play and passion inherent in children's literacy practices. We do…

Government guidelines are demanding greater educational outcomes and intentional teaching in Australian preschools. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study of how children incorporate concepts into child-initiated play. A cohort of 18 children (aged 3.0-5.8, mean age of 4.8) were digitally observed over seven weeks…

A documented transcript and a series of still images from two spontaneous, incidental and intra-active pedagogical encounters in a preschool are the focus and the source of this article. A turning over of data generated through a piece of doctoral research that explored intra-active learning as a phenomenon makes visible the agency of names and…

This paper reports a finding that emerged from a wider study into children's engagement with literacy provision in child-initiated play. In this observation-based study 25 of the 42 children involved were observed engaging a particular form of participation, a learning modality that aligns with Rogoff's et al.'s (2003) description of first-hand…

This study investigated whether transitory and persistent poverty spells were associated with children's learning (literacy and numeracy scores) and executive function outcomes in Ghana. Children resided in the Greater Accra region (N = 2,154; 49% female; M[subscript age] = 5.2 years at wave-1) and were followed at four-time points over three…

This article explores children's self-initiated outdoor play and holistic learning in a Norwegian kindergarten. While children's self-initiated play is valued in Nordic ECEC, it is rarely analyzed in relation to holistic learning. To explore how children's self-initiated outdoor play contributes to children's holistic learning in ECEC, we observed…

The purpose of this study is to analyze the play behaviors of children aged 60-72 months with respect to individual differences, cultural differences, and special needs differences. The study employs the basic qualitative research method. Fifty-two children enrolled in four different pre-school classes were given toys that featured diversity. The…

Young children can exploit the syntactic context of a novel word to narrow down its probable meaning. This is "syntactic bootstrapping." A learner that uses syntactic bootstrapping to foster lexical acquisition must first have identified the semantic information that a syntactic context provides. Based on the "semantic seed…