The purpose of this study was to examine the comparability of counts of embedded instruction learning trials when different methods of viewing and recording direct behavioral observations were used. In 13 classrooms, while videotaping embedded instruction implementation for a larger randomized controlled efficacy trial was occurring, teachers'…

Within the United States, publicly funded pre-Kindergarten (pre-K) is a borderland of teacher practice--somewhere between early childhood and Elementary approaches to pedagogy. For pre-K teachers, this can mean negotiating many different, and oft-competing conceptions of what curriculum and practice should look like in order to support the…

In this ethnographic research, discovery of how preschool-aged children use play to wield their individual power in the outdoors is documented in a single classroom. Embedded as a participant-researcher and working from constructivist and critical theory orientations, the researcher seeks to understand how children use their play to construct the…

Variability in children's early-learning home environments points to the need to better understand specific mechanisms of early mathematical development. We used a sample of 66 parent-preschool child dyads to describe parent-reported mathematical activities in the home and observed parent-child mathematical activities in a semi-structured play…

Observation is one of the basic methods in science. It is not only an epistemological method itself, but also an important competence for other methods like experimenting or comparing. However, there is little knowledge about the relation with affective factors of this inquiry method. In our study, we would like to find out about the relations of…

Early childhood advocates agree that positive teacher-child relationships are critical to classroom quality. Much research has emphasized quantifiable teacher characteristics and child outcomes without fully capturing the complexity of these relationships. Drawing on extensive classroom observations, two video-recorded free play sessions and…

Research Findings: Digital play is now commonplace in many young children's lives, but not in preschool settings. This situation is likely due to the fact that the existent literature seldom highlights what digital play looks like, the various ways it can be situated, and what young children do when they play together with digital devices in the…

This study investigated the extent to which preschool teachers and children (ages 4-6) used literal and inferential language within the context of whole-group instruction in four kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong. A total of 20 sessions of videotaped classroom observations of linguistic interactions between teachers and children were…

The study seeks to understand the relation between preschool children's mode of participation and negotiation strategies during play and their theory of mind (ToM) development in the Hong Kong context. Forty-two 5-year-old children were recruited. Their emotional and cognitive ToMs were assessed along with expressive language ability. Children's…

Engaging in moderate to vigorous amounts of physical activity is needed for young children to grow and develop to their full potential and the playground environment can help play a role. The purpose of this study was to determine the physical activity levels of children in preschool settings during outdoor playground activity time. Four…

Purpose: This study explores whether communicative function (CF: reasons for communicating) use differs by socioeconomic status (SES), race/ethnicity, or gender among preschoolers and their mothers. Method: Mother-preschooler dyads (N = 95) from the National Center for Early Development and Learning's (2005) study of family and social environments…

This study examines how acceptable play was framed for a class of pre-Kindergarten children by their teacher and classroom aide. Using comic subjectivity theory [Zupancic, A. (2008). "The odd one in: On comedy." Cambridge: MIT Press], the author explores how children's playing at pretend violence (bad guy and pretend gun play) is…

The current study aimed to examine the associations between teacher presence and social scaffolding and preschool children's peer interactions. Using a time sampling method, peer interactions of 22 four- and five-year-old preschoolers (12 girls; M[subscript age] = 52.95 months) and teacher behavior were observed on two different days during…

Little research exists on young children's beliefs about mathematics, and current research perspectives on early mathematical activity may overlook a great deal of young children's sophisticated mathematical thinking. We argue this is attributable, in part, to a need for a broader view of what mathematics is, including cultural practices that are…

There has been a growing awareness of the contribution of play to the young children's learning and development. This study aims to investigate the implement of board games play on children's aesthetic experience and interpersonal understanding in Montessori and Constructivist classrooms. With the underlying framework follows a developmentally…