Many preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present relative lack of receptive advantage over concurrent expressive language. Such profile emergence was investigated longitudinally in 54 infants at high-risk (HR) for ASD and 50 low-risk controls, with three language measures taken across four visits (around 7, 14, 24, 38 months). HR…

Conflicts between immediately rewarding activities and more enduringly valued goals abound in the lives of school-age children. Such conflicts call upon children to exercise self-control, a competence that depends in part on the mastery of metacognitive, prospective strategies. The "process model of self-control" organizes these…

Studies examining the well-being of British children find that about 5-10% are at risk of developing problems. This study aimed to examine the emotional and behavioural development of six to eight year olds in an area of socio-economic deprivation in Glasgow (Scotland) and compare this with UK norms. Furthermore, it aimed to look at overlap…

Policy in relation to early years education is developing apace and is likely to be a significant issue in the 2015 election. This articles critiques current government thinking with its emphasis on "school readiness". The article argues that the emotional and learning needs of young children are being neglected by a system that sees…

Children's early social experiences shape their developing neurological and biological systems for good or for ill, writes Ross Thompson, and the kinds of stressful experiences that are endemic to families living in poverty can alter children's neurobiology in ways that undermine their health, their social competence, and their ability…

Many studies have demonstrated a positive association between familial activities (e.g. reading to the child) and children's development in different domains. It is also well-known that social and ethnic differences exist regarding the frequencies of such activities. However, the mechanism behind these differences is less clear. This article…

Debate about the definition of a "child" occurs in multi-disciplinary contexts, most recently located in the new sociology of childhood where social constructionism is the dominant discourse. Given that the child's voice has become an increasingly valued component of research, this paper reports on one aspect of a study which explored…

Discrepancies among informants' ratings of a given child's behavior complicate the study of linkages between child behavior and academic achievement. In the current study, we examined the potential moderating effect of informant type on associations between behavior and two types of achievement in a longitudinal growth model that…

Recent surveys have provided some guidance and recommendations for the student teaching component in early childhood teacher preparation, but specific information on the focus of supervision and evaluation of student teachers is limited. The current study surveyed 128 early childhood programs in 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education…

The physical environment of the preschool programmes has been proven to affect both children's overall development and the quality of the programme. However, both nationally and internationally the contribution of the physical environment in the effectiveness of a programme and in the achievement of educational goals is often overlooked. The aim…

In this research, children's creativity in pretend play and the conditions for creativity during high involvement are studied from four points of view: as a zone for proximal development, as a skill, as a personal orientation and as a culturally shared environment creation. The theoretical model is influenced by Vygotsky's ideas of creativity as…

Shortly after discovering that her youngest daughter was deaf, Amie Stelmack began hearing frightening statistics about children who were deaf. Many people--including professionals--told her about shocking statistics. The statistics indicated that deaf children often did not read beyond upper elementary level. They seemed to suggest that this…

This landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children's Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances--and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines…

West Baltimore stands out in the popular imagination as the quintessential "inner city"--gritty, run-down, and marred by drugs and gang violence. Indeed, with the collapse of manufacturing jobs in the 1970s, the area experienced a rapid onset of poverty and high unemployment, with few public resources available to alleviate economic…

The objective of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis to examine existing research studies on video modeling as an effective teaching tool for children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Study eligibility criteria included (a) single case research design using multiple baselines, alternating treatment designs,…