Preschoolers have different experiences in different environments. These experiences can stimulate children's imaginations. This longitudinal study examines the impact of preschool children's three-year experiences in early childhood institutions, which are their primary educational environments. The question 'Do preschoolers imagine different…

Mathematical thinking is a complex, multi-faceted process that has been described as messy and difficult but can also show growth and insights into conceptual understanding and knowing. This paper explores the application of Edward de Bono's practical thinking, in particular, the occurrence of porridge words to examine the mathematical thinking of…

This is qualitative action research where an immigrant Muslim mother journaled about her Yemeni-American daughters (ages 7 and 13, born and raised in USA), visiting two museums for the very first time. Her reflective journaling recorded mother-child and sibling interactions, when (1) viewing Islamic visual arts during six museum visits, and (2)…

The Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT) is a non-verbal assessment designed to infer young children's levels of intellectual development and understanding via the collection of three human figure drawings (HFDs)--one each of a man, a woman and a self-portrait. This paper presents findings from a research project that applied the Rasch model for…

This paper sets out to explore the thinking underpinning young children's earliest drawings, often regarded as "scribbling." It questions whether the physical satisfaction of making marks is sufficient reward for this often repeated activity, or whether with each repetition children intend deeper meanings not apparent to the eyes of the…

This article aims to explore the role of drawing as a means of communication in the early childhood setting. Through an analysis of different types of drawing, the article explores how children create meaning and develop a universal language. The importance of the teacher in facilitating this process is considered.

This study examines the conceptual understanding of the mechanisms of rainwater among elementary educational level children by means of two different experimental procedures: a semi-open questionnaire and drawings. The sample study comes from four different schools located in The Basque Autonomous Community (Spain) and is comprised of 124 children…

Early childhood experiences have a great effect on the course of a child's life. Preschool education can offer benefits for children, particularly those who do not have advantages at home, including benefits related to academic skills, social-emotional development, and communication. Thus, preschool experiences are a potential key to improving…

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of The Play supported Program designed for 60-72 month-old disadvantaged children on their readiness levels. The sample of the research has consisted of an experimental group and a control group, each having twenty 60-72 months old children (10 girls and 10 boys) at Göztepe Semiha Sakir Children's…

A substantial amount of learning in schools takes place within social contexts and class-based group activities; however, social learning situations, communication and social cognition development for children with ASD can be a challenge for the children and their teachers. This paper explores what happens when children with ASD draw…

This paper describes a study conducted with 235 children from Brazil and Switzerland. The children, from 5 to 13 years of age, were asked to draw the journey they undertake every day from home to school. The purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between the cognitive development and map-drawing abilities of children in both…

Studies of the development of racial awareness have used--albeit asystematically--stimuli of varying degrees of realism (dolls, drawings, photographs). Although researchers have weighed the advantages and disadvantages of using one or the other type of material with young children, there are no empirical studies that determine whether the nature…

The object of this paper is to learn what little children know about the inside of their bodies before they have studied these particular aspects at school. The data for our project were collected by means of drawings made by 342 Spanish children aged four to seven. They were required to depict where the food, drink, and air which enter their…

This study assessed children's graphic flexibility and their ability to report on their use of drawing strategies when drawing characterized figures. 253 children (129 boys, 124 girls) aged between 4 years 3 months and 11 year 10 months formed three groups, either drawing a man, a dog or a tree. Each group was asked to draw three emotionally…

As education plays such a vital role in economic competitiveness, it is no surprise that the focus for many governments is to invest in educational initiatives. Innovation in pedagogy, refined curriculum and much research into the science of teaching and learning is hoped to promote a knowledge economy. In recent years the Irish education systems…