Self-regulation in early childhood, including the ability to regulate one's own thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, are associated with a range of outcomes including academic performance, and social development. Research has extensively examined the effects of mother's parental involvement and parenting experiences, such as parenting stress and…

This dissertation investigated the roles of early childhood fundamental motor skills (FMS) competence on physical, cognitive, and psychosocial health outcomes among underserved preschoolers in Head Start, and examined parental influence on their children's FMS competence. An explanatory sequential mixed methodology was used to examine the…

A socio-psychological analytical framework will be adopted to illuminate the relation between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. The framework puts the emphasis to incorporate micro familial factors into macro factor of the tracking system. Initially, children of the poor families always lack major prerequisite: diminution of cognitive…

The aims of this research were to identify the ways in which parents may most constructively support their children's musical development, and to ascertain whether styles of parent-teacher and parent-pupil interaction would influence the extent to which parents engage in different types of supportive behaviours. A model of parent involvement as…

Teasing involves unexpected, novel, ambiguous, and destabilizing parental behaviors toward children. Teasing is displayed more often by fathers than mothers. Teasing may have a positive impact on cognitive and social development, because teasing introduces novelty and ambiguity, as well as negotiation of a struggle. (TM)

Two studies investigated the role that parental attitudes and behavior play in filtering the complexity of the world into manageable forms for children. Cognitive and behavioral patterns used as dependent variables were cognition (reading scores, language use, general information, beliefs, reality-fantasy discrimination); imagination;…

This document contains the three papers that comprised the Head Start Research Seminar No. 5 on Intervention in Family Life. The main thrust of this seminar is the investigation of family and parent characteristics that influence the academic performance of young children. Robert Hess, in the opening paper, summarizes the information available on…

Investigated 60 parents' perceptions of influence of their eldest child's (aged 4, 7, or 10 years) development and the extent to which these perceptions varied as a function of five factors. Cognitive and social development were significant variables for beliefs about influence. (RJC)

This longitudinal study investigated the relation between mothers' descriptions of mental states portrayed in pictures and 2- to 4-year-old children's theory of mind. Mothers described pictures to children at 3 different times during the year. Findings indicated that mothers' use of mental state utterances at early time points correlated with…

Reviews research assessing the mother's contribution to children's early symbolic play competence, focusing on children ages 12-36 months. Finds that, as with other family members, mothers can encourage pretend play, but perhaps there is no special maternal role in the process. The quality and quantity of sophisticated play might be affected by…

This paper discusses research findings concerned with the reemergent recognition of the role of the father in early childrearing, the attitudes these fathers have towards their parenting role, and the identifiable impact they have on their progeny. Following a brief review of the literature on (1) how the American culture prepares boys for…

Explored how mothers convey information about category structure during naturalistic interactions. Videotaped reading-aloud sessions between mothers and toddlers; coded their interactions for explicit and implicit discussion of animal and artifact categories. Found that mothers provided a rich array of information beyond simple labeling routines,…

Examined effect, after 1 year, of parental cognitive stimulation, emotional support, and intrusiveness on verbal and nonverbal abilities of low-income children in Head Start programs. Found that children of parents who provide the highest cognitive stimulation and emotional support coupled with no intrusive behavior fared best in later perceptual…

Categorizes motor, emotional reaction, social, and academic tasks that will enable parents to assess a child's educational readiness for school. Provides a parent self-rating scale to assess standing as a reading role model for children and a checklist to rate how conducive the home environment may be to school achievement. (NEC)

Examined: (1) what is the self-concept of a 6-year-old child; (2) what is the picture of a child (real and ideal) in parents' minds; and (3) the relation between self-concept of a child and the picture in parents' minds. Found that perceptions of the child were positive, and clear conformity between parents' image of their child and children's…