In countries with universal access to early childhood education and care (ECEC), child participation is high across a range of socioeconomic groups. However, ECEC quality is often varying, and many children spend much time in ECEC settings that are not necessarily high quality. In this observational study, we therefore examined the relationship…

The aim is to investigate Swedish preschool teachers' accounts of children's learning in relation to the goals in the Swedish preschool curriculum. The research question is: "What do preschool teachers see as fundamental aspects of learning in preschool practice?" The study is based on interactionist perspectives founded in Urie…

As a result of public discussions regarding Germany's standing on international rankings of student achievement, increased attention was focused on enhancing cognitive stimulation in preschools. There are some concerns that preschool curricula that focus more on cognitive stimulation rather than on socio-emotional skills might neglect the…

The authors used qualitative case study methodology to explore parents' perceptions of their children's readiness for kindergarten. The authors interviewed parents, focusing on their children's experiences during their transition from a child-centered, play-based preschool setting guided by an emergent curriculum into a range of diverse…

Research into preschool education has paid a lot of attention to investigating children's conceptual development and cognitive learning about nature, with methods based on observations and verbal interviews before and after a teaching period. The purpose of this study has been to present and illustrate an approach that facilitates the analysis of…

Although conversations have been identified as an important means to promote young learners' language development, preschool children often have limited opportunities to be involved in complex conversations. This study examined preschool adaptations of Instructional Conversation, a small group discussion between teachers and children in which…

The federal Early Head Start (EHS) program began in 1995, and a randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of 17 EHS programs. In all, 3,001 low-income families (35% African American, 24% Hispanic, and 37% White) with a pregnant women or an infant under the age of 12 months were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group (with…

This study examined the multiple factors that contribute to the school readiness and early school progress of children living in an urban disadvantaged area. Structured interviews were undertaken with parents of children who had recently started school to elicit information about those aspects of children's health, and their home and neighbourhood…

The main purpose of this study was to trace the development of children's awareness that they can learn and to describe the forms of their ideas of learning. A complementary aim was to account for the extent to which such conceptions can be found at different levels of development. The investigation consisted of two observational studies and a…

Discussion of developing children's awareness of their own learning focuses on a study of preschool children ages five-seven in Sweden. Metacognitive skills and phenomenography are discussed, interviews with the students are described, and treatments for the experimental and control groups are explained. (16 references) (LRW)

This study examined participation in preschool and its relationship with the cognitive and social development of language-minority students. Although there is a large body of research that demonstrates the cognitive and social benefits of attending preschool (Barnett, 1995; Gorey, 2001; National Research Council, Committee on Early Childhood…

This interpretative study explored the view of how children construct knowledge as proposed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in its position paper "Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8, Expanded Edition" (DAP-DOC) (Bredekamp,…

This document is a verbatim transcription of an interview conducted by Thomas C. O'Brien under the auspices of the Teacher's Center Project of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. The transcript presents the views of Professor A. I. Weinzweig for the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Distinctions between training and education,…

This study examined the development of causal expressions in children's discourse from two to three years of age. Linguistic, contextual, and pragmatic influences on language development were the major factors considered. (CM)

In this interview, Cuban psychologist and scholar Franklin Martinez discusses the importance of early childhood education to the development of intelligence. Education affects child development, but it is the knowledge of child learning and development that makes education effective, not material resources. Cuba has invested heavily in preschool…