Within South Africa, approximately 1.5 million children suffer from malnutrition and stunting with dire effects on their early development and thriving potential. Nutritional care within the first 1000 days of children's life plays pivotal role in their holistic development when a stable, safe, nurturing and responsive relationship is provided by…

This paper presents a biographical profile of Alfred Adler aiming to provide a measured overview of the impact of Alfred Adler's work on the theoretical paradigms and research avenues of contemporary developmental psychology. The key concepts of his theory are exposed: Feeling of Inferiority, Strive to Overcome, Style of Life, Superiority Complex…

Many governments have launched the top-down early childhood curriculum (ECC) reforms to enhance the accountability of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The present discourse analysis of latest ECC policies across four diverse but representative countries -- Australia, China, New Zealand, and Singapore -- aims to examine the…

Major developmental theories been a resource to early childhood education researchers and educators. They help to explain how child development unfolds, sources of vulnerability and protection that influences child development, and how the course of development may be altered by prevention and intervention efforts. Understanding factors which may…

Literacy is one of the most important areas of development. Several pieces of research examine the positive impact of the arts on children's literacy development. However, most of them focus on specific literacy skills and not in providing a holistic examination of literacy. Also, they adapt a structured methodology, with pre-decided lesson plans,…

The importance of a Piagetian approach is recognized in South African early childhood educational practices and teacher training, but the reality of the implementation of teaching and learning in the domain of early years opposes his philosophy in many ways. Our Early Childhood Education policies strongly advocate a Piagetian approach such as the…

This article offers a novel and timely context for understanding mindfulness practices in early childhood education. Positioned within a larger social context of mindfulness, we conducted an extensive systematic review of the literature to examine the scope and nature of mindfulness and early childhood. We found that mindfulness and young children…

One of the critical challenges that faces societies today is how to educate children and young people to cope with the ever demanding contexts in which they live. This education must include the relationships and support that facilitate socio-emotional development. This writing explores the work of Pestalozzi, a pioneering pedagogue, who, over two…

This article draws on current literature leading to the development of a holistic framework to support practitioners in observation and assessment of childrens evolving inquiry skills. Evidence from the 2011 Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) in England identifies a decline of year five student achievement in science. A…

Parents play an influential role in children's emotional development. Numerous quantitative studies have examined the correlations between a "single" dimension of parents' emotion socialisation practices (e.g. parental emotion expression or attitudes) and children's emotional development. However, little attention has been paid to a…

Although developmental researchers endorse a multifaceted view of early communication, where language, non-verbal behaviour and socio-affective exchange contribute concurrently to the social construction of shared meanings, past studies of social development usually focused on component parts of interpersonal communication. This research…

The primary focus in managing asthma is the control of inflammation, as asthma is an inflammatory disease. Because of this chronic airway inflammation, the lungs of asthmatic patients are exposed to oxidative stress due to the generation of reactive oxygen- and nitrogen species (ROS and NOS). Oxidative stress therefore plays an important role in…

The purpose of our study was to compare the effectiveness of two song-teaching methods: holistic and phrase-by-phrase. Thirty-two first-grade children (n = 32) from two music classes in an urban elementary school were taught two folksongs. The first class (n = 16) was taught one song through the phrase-by-phrase method and another song through the…

Over the past decade great changes have occurred in the Estonian system of education, including changes in the content and organization of early childhood education. The aim of the present study is to find out about the views of staff of early childhood institutions on educational objectives, some aspects of the educational process and the role of…

After attempting to correct misconceptions about philosophy, explains several reasons why philosophy should be taught to children, noting that philosophy teaches people to think effectively. Outlines several reasons why "Philosophy for Children," a program created by Lipman, should be used to teach philosophy to young children. (BC)