Preschool settings play a significant role in promoting physical activity for children under five years. Most of the time, however, is sedentary (50-94%) with only a small percentage devoted to light (5-27%) or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (1-17%). While the experiences children have during childcare hours can impact their physical…

Texting-based programs are increasingly used to support parents as their child's first teacher and create links between home and school. However, there is scant evidence about the influence of program implementation on parent uptake and attrition--a key component of such programs. This article describes the design and delivery of Kindytxt, a…

The COVID-19 pandemic has profound implications for education of young children worldwide and especially for children in developing economies like India. This article presents a qualitative study that explored the challenges that private school teachers in low budget, mid-ranged, and high fee charging private schools faced in two cities in India.…

Parents' attitudes are an important indicator of whether and how parents engage in shared book reading (SBR) at home. This study analysed Norwegian parents' attitudes towards reading books with their children aged between 1-4.5 years. Thematic analysis of data from 24 interviews revealed two main themes in parents' accounts: agency (the child's…

Early introduction to science and math encourages interest and learning in these subjects later in life. As children's first teachers, parents can expose their children to informal science and math learning activities before they enter formal schooling. It is important to understand how parents engage in science and math activities with their…

The global spread of COVID-19 has caused disruptions in many aspects of our lives. Education systems worldwide have changed dramatically. Numerous countries have encouraged schools to shift to e-learning and, as a result, parental involvement in their children's education has changed. This study focused on parental involvement in children's…

This study evaluates the effects of a weekly home-visiting parenting program designed to enhance parent-child engagement with educationally-enriching activities and its potential interaction with children's participation in state-funded preschool. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset linked across various administrative sources, we employed a…

Childcare centers have faced many stressors both during and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on stress and coping theories, this study explores how the pandemic affected childcare center practices and how center directors responded. Childcare directors were surveyed to explore their perspectives about the pandemic's effects on teachers and…

In summer 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic, 8 parent-child dyads were recruited to participate in a pilot project to investigate the potential benefit of an at-home adaptation of an Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) for literacy. After completing a demographic survey and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (Cohen et al., 1983), children's reading…

This study examines the development of a STEM-based (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and parent-involved engineering design curriculum for early childhood education and investigates its design principles and contributions to children's STEM-related learning. This research utilized a design-based research methodology broken into…

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and use of diverse picturebooks to support reading development and social-emotional skills are gaining acceptance and broader use. With this shift, new measures of efficacy are needed to confirm, bolster, and source new policies and strategies for family and classroom literacy practices. To this end, the Reading Builds…

This study examines Chinese immigrant parents' educational involvement beliefs and practices during their children's transition to kindergarten in the United States. Interviews were conducted with 10 Chinese immigrant parents in an area with a small Chinese population and limited ethnic resources. Three main themes emerged. First, limited English…

This study's purpose was to elucidate the experiences of educators raising and responding to child-related concerns within Early Childhood Education and Care settings. Parent satisfaction with interactions, educators' ratings of how well interactions went, and educator confidence related to raising or responding to concerns, were examined.…

Building on Froebelian principles that highlight the importance of family and community, this study explored the importance of collaboration and communication as part of a two-way dialogue. The aim was to identify the key characteristics of a model that would encourage interest and commitment to partnerships from both parents and practitioners.…

There is considerable evidence that highlights the importance of family involvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) on children's development and how when combined with professional involvement has a very positive impact on children's holistic development and therefore, quality ECEC. However, in practice, communicating with families…