Motor skills develop rapidly during early childhood and are considered important for optimal child development. However, little is known about the relationship of motor skills with indicators of cognitive and socio-emotional development in typically developing preschoolers. In view of this, the present study examined the association of gross motor…

Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states and feelings to others, and to understand that those mental states and feelings affect their behaviour. It is one of three core developmental tasks for children in preschool years, along with emotion self-regulation and relationships with parents and family members. Given there are…

Background/purpose. This study investigates "manjujai," a traditional Minangkabau parenting practice, as a culturally embedded method of early childhood care and education. The research aims to uncover the meaning and function of "manjujai"--specifically its role in transmitting cultural values, historical narratives, and…

Early childhood education (ECE) is vital for children's development, especially from birth to age five. Yet, there remains significant variation in teachers' qualifications across different settings and countries. While previous research suggests that teachers' qualifications may influence children's development outcomes in early childhood…

Research has shown that the first few years of a child's life are critical for developing executive functioning and emotional regulatory skills. This study aimed to evaluate how begin to ECSEL (Emotional, Cognitive and Social Early Learning), an intervention designed to promote young children's emotional competence, influenced children's…

This study investigates how family cultural capital, particularly through museum and theatre attendance, is related to the cognitive and socio-emotional development of preschool children. The study included 1285 preschoolers (M = 70.6 months, SD = 4.43) and their parents. Assessments were conducted on children's executive functions, non-verbal…

The host of the internationally popular early childhood podcast "That Early Childhood Nerd" provides a framework for understanding the importance of free play. Free play is disappearing from the lives of too many young children, leaving them vulnerable to negative effects on their physical and mental health, social and emotional growth,…

The ability to categorize emotions has long-term implications for children's social and emotional development. Therefore, identifying factors that influence early emotion categorization is of great importance. Yet, whether and how language impacts emotion category development is still widely debated. The present study aimed to assess how labels…

This article offers insights into trends found in 74 empirical studies on teaching and learning a foreign language (FL) in pre-primary schools in 25 countries. The emerging picture is like that of primary-school programs: most are implemented in English, mostly owing to parents' enthusiasm rather than evidence on long term FL benefits. Researchers…

Research Findings: Self-regulation is an important determinant of children's developmental outcomes, but little research has explored its different facets simultaneously. This study aims to explore a sample of Chinese children's behavioral, cognitive and emotional self-regulation characteristics by examining their gender and age differences,…

This study examined the moral discourse of 79 dyads of Taiwanese parents and children during shared storybook readings and the associations with children's cognitive and affective moral attributions. This study involved four- to six-year-old children who participated in a receptive language test and a moral reasoning task. Their responses were…

This study examined Chinese preschoolers' affective experiences during organized activities. One-on-one child interviews were conducted in which children were asked to rate their general affect during each organized activity in which they participated, and then provide reasons for their responses. Child-reported emotional engagement was related to…

This study aimed to discover the effect of physical education on the emotional and mental development of pre-schoolers. The study involved 355 pre-schoolers (162 males and 158 females) aged 4 (N = 215) and 5 (N = 150) years (mean age = 4.36, SD = 0.76) who attend public preschool institutions in Moscow, Russia. All respondents were divided into…

The present study examines variation in the effect of birth weight on children's early cognitive and socioemotional outcomes by family socioeconomic status (SES). It is hypothesized that not only will lower birth weight children display worse cognitive and socioemotional outcomes prior to school entry, as prior research has found, but that effects…

This study investigated associations of three teacher-reported health indicators--hunger, tiredness, and sickness--with kindergarten readiness skills in San Francisco Unified School District (N = 12,423; female = 48%; M[subscript age] = 5.47, SD[subscript age] = 0.30, range[subscript age] = 4.67--7.00; Asian American = 26%, Black = 5%, Latinx =…