Early childhood forms the fundamental basis for developing various social-emotional skills and represents a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for healthy development. Insensitive learning environments in early childhood may lead to social-emotional difficulties, increasing the risk of developing severe behavioral problems. However,…

Effective transitions to kindergarten engage families and ease children into new environments. Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK), a program in a southeastern U.S. state that serves more than 1,000 children each year and is grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, partners kindergarten teachers and families to facilitate effective…

This article describes the evaluation of a pilot Montessori-based home visiting program called "Mi Pequeño Mundo" (MPM) aimed at promoting optimal child development in Spanish-speaking Latine children from birth to three years old in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Phase I included World Cafés and interviews to gather Centro Tyrone Guzman…

Globally, there is great interest in enhancing young children's literacy development as a route to improving worldwide literacy. To contribute to this area of interest, this paper reports findings from a multi-pronged early-literacy program designed to improve the print-knowledge of young children in Yucatec Mayan villages. The school-based…

Public library storytimes have been well-established as informal learning environments that can support the learning and development of young children through interactive, intentional programming produced by storytime providers (McKechnie, 2006; Becker, 2012; Campana et al., 2014; Campana et al., 2016; Mills et al., 2018; Campana, 2018; Campana,…

In response to the global pandemic, we adapted a Jamaican early childhood, violence prevention, parenting program (the Irie Homes Toolbox (IHT)) for virtual delivery. The resultant virtual IHT (vIHT) is a 10-week program that consists of weekly, one-hour, virtual group parenting sessions and e-summary sent via WhatsApp, three SMS messages/week,…

Preparation of early childhood special educators, including early interventionists, includes knowledge and application of different practices than either early childhood generally or school-age special education. Several organizations, including the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, have identified relevant…

The "first-grade problem" of the lack of concentration, listening, and following of instruction has been widely identified among Japanese kindergarten students. To promote their executive functioning and self-regulation to prevent this issue, we developed the Social Thinking and Academic Readiness Training (START) program. The…

Interventions for promoting physical activity designed specifically for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are lacking, which is problematic given the low rates of physical activity among this population. This study used a stakeholder-engaged approach to adapt the Wellness Enhancing Physical Activity for Young Children (WE PLAY)…

This document seeks to provide a broad overview of the contemporary trends and existing research related to young children experiencing homelessness in the United States. Conducted by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Research and Reform in Education in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins IDEALS Institute, this research was conducted for…

Children are at high risk of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during early childhood. This developmental period, marked by rapid growth in fundamental skills, may render children particularly vulnerable to adverse developmental effects. Embedding universal trauma-informed supports within early childhood education (ECE) settings has…

Information about effective interventions for students with early reading difficulties is essential when deciding about how best to provide support. MiniLit, a small-group intervention for young struggling readers, was released in 2011 after several years of development and trials. This paper provides a rationale for MiniLit, a brief history of…

A description of a partnership between a university's child and family development program and a local program is provided. Through this partnership, pre-service educators participate in home visits to learn strategies to support effective communication, collaboration, and implementation of evidence-based practices to enhance the learning of young…

This study aims to design an authoring system of robots and IoT-based toys for creating a scenario-based interactive learning environment for young English as a Foreign Language learners. This study adopts a design-based research approach to investigate the pedagogical needs, the critical features and usability of such a authoring system. Twelve…

Teaching basic personal financial concepts and principles even among young learners is beneficial not only for the child, but also for the family and the entire society. This study aimed to develop an integrated financial education program for kindergarten learners. The study employed developmental research following three stages (analysis,…