Social-emotional skills as valid predictors for subsequent school success should be promoted in early childhood. Preschools are a relevant setting to reach children from families with low socioeconomic status. The federal state law for children´s day-care and preschools in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania offers preschools in difficult…

Aim/Purpose: This study explores the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) application designed to teach Theory of Mind (ToM) skills to children aged 5-6, addressing the gap in research on the use of VR for typically developing children. Background: ToM is a critical skill for social interaction and understanding others' perspectives. Despite…

Possessing sufficient social skills is a crucial aspect of child development. The level of social skill that a child has is a strong predictor of their future behavioral functioning and academic achievement. Due to the impact social skills have on a child's later life, having a better understanding of how to enhance social development is…

Language, literacy, and social-emotional skills are important for successful participation in society. These skills develop through interaction with others and through explicit instruction. An important activity to contribute to the development of these skills in young children is shared storybook reading. For deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH)…

Practice-based coursework in higher education programs is considered a critical aspect of early childhood practitioner preparation. Many undergraduates also have formal (e.g., childcare) or informal (e.g., nannying, babysitting) work experience outside of their degree programs, which may influence their caregiving competencies. In this study we…

The overall purpose of this study was to examine parents' role in the development of character among young athletes, with a particular focus on life skills development across learning contexts (i.e., sport, family, school). Participants were 20 parents (13 mothers, 7 fathers, M[subscript age] = 46.8 years, SD = 4.6) and 24 children (14 girls, 10…

Doll play provides opportunities for children to practice social skills by creating imaginary worlds, taking others' perspectives, and talking about others' internal states. Previous research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) found a region over the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) was more active during solo doll play…

Autistic regression (AR) is commonly characterised as the loss of previously acquired language and social skills. This systematic review sought to identify studies that used family home videos to investigate early developmental patterns before AR onset and the domains involved in regression. Of 654 records screened, 12 studies were included. Two…

Although a number of studies have emerged in recent years on the role parents play in their children's musical development, few have examined fatherhood. Through this phenomenological interview study, the author considers the lived experiences of musical fathers and their children, which are retrospectively recounted by three father-child pairs.…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are interpersonal, self-regulatory, and task-related behaviors that are important for adaption to and successful performance in educational and workplace settings (Casillas et al., 2015). These skills are related to important outcomes such as academic achievement and job satisfaction (e.g., Judge et al., 2002;…

The Measures for Early Success Initiative aims to reimagine the landscape of early learning assessments for the millions of 3- to 5-year-olds enrolled in Pre-K, so that more equitable data can be applied to meaningfully support and strengthen early learning experiences for all young children. This document outlines design parameters for child…

This article embeds the study of character development within the two-decades-long research program framed by the Lerner and Lerner model of positive youth development. Character development involves attaining the feelings, thoughts, and skills needed to act coherently across time and place to serve self and others in mutually beneficial, positive…

This study examined proficiency levels in fundamental motor skills (FMS) in children within Key Stage 1 and 2 of the English school system. Four hundred and ninety-two children aged 6-9 Years old (245 boys, 247 girls) from school Years Two (n = 130), Three (n = 154) and Four (n = 208) participated in this study. FMS for the run, jump, throw and…

Research Findings: This study evaluated the impacts of the Summer Preschools Program on 5-to-6-year-old Syrian refugee and local children from vulnerable communities of Turkey. Developed as a community-based contextually sensitive early intervention model, the program aimed to promote developmental well-being and school readiness of children from…

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of the Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS) Model--based interventions in supporting developmental skills of children who were diagnosed with or at increased likelihood of autism. Method: We searched six electronic databases, in addition to…