Two early childhood researchers from a local public university, have been visiting Mrs. Ball's kindergarten classroom in a small, rural elementary school in the Midwest to read books and discuss characters' identities. In this article, the authors share stories of how they laid the foundation for these conversations and others like it through…

This study investigated the effect of traditional interactive reading and interactive reading using mindmaps on children's language competence and their story comprehension and causal reasoning. Furthermore, we explored teachers' dialogic scaffolding in the two approaches and investigated the relation between teachers' dialogic scaffolding and…

In language learning, aided language modeling refers to the method by which communication partners provide models of the communication system used by individuals with complex communication repertoires that involving both symbols and speech. Providing aided language models creates opportunities for individuals with complex communication repertoires…

This study investigated the effects of a parent-implemented dialogic reading approach--Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning (RECALL)--on the engagement in reading and inference-making ability for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thirty-one preschoolers (mean age = 5.90 years, SD = 0.69; 26 boys, 5 girls)…

The professional development (PD) of early childhood educators (ECEs) is key to childcare quality. The Professional Learning Community (PLC) model has been well-researched in K-12 settings and is found to have advantages over traditional models of PD; thus, it holds promise for educators in other settings such as early childhood education centers.…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seemingly prefer tablets to other methods of intervention, though professionals posit that a therapist's presence is beneficial. In this experiment, two unique e-stories were created specifically for children with ASD. Ten children with low- or nonverbal ASD heard each story presented on an iPad; one…

Background: Prior research has described the prevalence and utility of questions in children's language learning environment. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the interaction sequences that ensue following caregiver questions. Understanding these interactions may be especially important for children with autism spectrum…

Purpose: Previous research shows that shared storybook reading interactions can function as effective speech and language interventions for young children, helping to improve a variety of skills--including word-learning. This study sought to investigate the potential benefits of elaboration of new words during a single storybook reading with…

It is well documented that early social skills and inattention are linked to the development of children's emergent vocabulary skills; however, the existing literature primarily focuses on White, non-Latinx and/or African American children. Few studies have examined the relationships between these domains with Latinx dual language learners (DLLs)…

Towards the end of the first COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020, in Aotearoa New Zealand, the authors conducted a small-scale study to gain insight into children's responses to the pandemic restrictions. As it was not possible to interview children ourselves, we recruited parents to read a set of digital stories about a toy bear in lockdown to their…

Whereas previous studies show that children are able to make meaning about evolutionary concepts within read-aloud contexts, little is known about how semiotic resources and interaction influence children's meaning making about evolution. This study investigates children's meaning making about evolutionary concepts during a modelling activity…

Research Findings: Reading e-books is becoming common even among toddlers, but we have limited understanding of how parents-toddlers reading e-books together compares to print books. To address the gap, we investigated interactions of 30 mother-toddler (12 months) dyads, in particular, mothers' language use, while reading both electronic and print…

Purpose: Understanding others' mental states including thoughts (cognitive theory of mind [ToM]) and feelings (affective ToM) is an important component of communication, particularly for individuals with communication challenges. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are critical members of the team that supports these individuals; however, little…

Purpose: This tutorial is designed for speech-language pathologists who supervise speech-language pathology assistants (SLP-As) and/ or paraeducators. SLP-As and paraeducators often support young children with disabilities within early childhood settings, but do not always have access to professional development to learn and/or enhance their skill…

This study investigated the effect of moral stories on children's honesty during a temptation resistance paradigm in a large sample of 3 to 6-year-olds (N = 296). Both children and their parents were also asked to anticipate if a child vignette protagonist would confess to a minor misdeed and also to predict the consequences of this potential…