Overparenting--taking over and completing developmentally appropriate tasks for children--is pervasive and hurts children's motivation. Can overparenting in early childhood be reduced by simply framing tasks as learning opportunities? In Study 1 (N = 77; 62% female; 74% White; collected 4/2022), US parents of 4-to-5-year-olds reported taking over…

Parents are a child's first teachers. They are responsible for building children's social, emotional, physical, and intellectual foundations. The problem investigated through this dissertation case study was the inconsistent knowledge of child development and developmentally appropriate activities among parents of young and primary school aged…

Psychologists caution that the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate already existing mental health challenges -- warning that we may see more depression and anxiety in children due to fears about their health and that of their families, exposure to negative messages from the media, social isolation, and family financial issues due to economic…

With growing emphasis on the development and use of competencies (knowledge, dispositions, skills) for training and evaluating the early childhood workforce, this study aimed to identify sources of variation in undergraduate students' beliefs and knowledge related to competencies identified by the Collaborative for Understanding Pedagogy for…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience significant difficulties engaging in meaningful play. Although enabling their playful engagement in social interactions is an important objective, little is known about which interventions effectively promote it. The aim of this was study to conduct a scoping study to map the breadth and…

This article provides practitioners with a guide to (1) understand the developmental emergence of play skills in young children to inform developmentally appropriate instructional decisions (e.g., toy choices); (2) set up the play space to support social play; and (3) use key strategies from an evidence-based intervention for young children with…

A pioneer in the infant/family field in the United States, Magda Gerber was the founding director of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), known for its unique two-generation approach to the care and education of young children. This paper offers a summary of Gerber's teachings from the late twentieth century with citations pointing to their…

The number of preterm births is increasing globally and in England, yet professional knowledge about the short- and long-term developmental consequences and the psycho-social effect on parents is limited amongst the early years workforce. Using a social-ecological systems theory approach, this paper reports on a mixed-methods study that aimed to…

Judi Orion, a Montessori expert on the birth-to-six plane of development, delivers a no-nonsense call to arms about the vital importance of the right beginning to set the stage for all that follows. Although we often hear and read about the period from birth to two-and-a-half years, Orion communicates the urgency of responding to the developmental…

Parenting is one of the most emotionally powerful, demanding, and consequential tasks of adulthood. Previously, the task of parenting was shared with extended family and community members. Today, with less extensive networks of experience and support, parents are frequently not as well prepared. Research has identified the elements of competent…

In this paper, we call attention to the need to expand existing efforts and to develop policies, programs, and best practices in the United States designed to support parents at risk and promote parenting competence. Despite the existence of some services offered to parents of children at risk due to developmental delay or at economic risk, the…

Although parents may try to shield their children from information that may be upsetting to them, inevitably they will be exposed to life's challenges and painful realities. People live in the "information age" and children are frequently bombarded with overwhelming news from the media. Since children are very aware of the emotions of the adults…

The goal of the present study is to explore the use of developmentally appropriate practices in Asian Indian early childhood classrooms. This information is critical for all early childhood educators and teacher educators because the society we live in is fast becoming extremely diverse and our classrooms are becoming a cauldron of various…

Observed neglecting and nonneglecting mothers and their one- to three-year-old children during unstructured play interaction in their homes. Neglecting mothers were less positive in their responsiveness to their children and less competent in the developmental appropriateness of their play interactions than nonneglecting mothers. (MM)

This article presents a developmentally supported implementation of Internal Family Systems Therapy for school-age children and their families. Relevant developmental characteristics of children are described. Suggestions for working with parents, child-oriented interventions, and a case example are presented. (BF)