The idea that language skills support school readiness, predicting later self-regulation and academic success, is widely accepted. Although vocabulary is often emphasized in the developmental literature, the ability to use language appropriately in the classroom, or "social communication skills," may also be critical. This paper examined…

Executive function (EF) predicts children's academic achievement; however, less is known about the relation between EF and the actual learning process. Furthermore, more research is needed to better understand how different aspects of the learning environment interact with EF to influence learning. The current dissertation includes two studies to…

This article compares developmental kindergartens of the past to current academic kindergartens through the voices of kindergarten teachers who taught in both types. Data were obtained from interviews of ten public school kindergarten teachers from California with experience in kindergarten ranging 18-34 years (M = 24). Teachers indicated that…

Preschool education is fundamental to shape children's aptitudes and skills in early life. Ecuador is following a global education trend for starting-up mathematical thinking at earlier development ages, but this is only reflected in vehement curricular changes that are not supported properly. As a result, the safeguarding of a good children's…

Recent education policy analysis has revealed the standardisation of education systems and an intensified focus on learners and learning to meet the requirements of the global economy and neo-liberalism. In this paper we analyse the way that early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand has become increasingly entangled with school sector…

This paper focuses on the importance of children's out-of-school experiences as their popular culture and discusses how such experiences contribute to their creativity and critical thinking. In addition to this, the paper also discusses the critical role of researchers' values in terms of how values affect the design and process of research. From…

Professional development for early childhood educators (ECE PD) is an essential component of supporting a professional early childhood workforce. Yet research on ECE PD frequently centers on narrow fidelity data, while teachers' individual voices and teaching contexts are only rarely considered in order to understand teacher experiences with PD…

States and local communities are increasing access to preschool, but there is a significant divide when it comes to the quality of these early learning programs. Education and training requirements for preschool educators vary based on setting and state regulations, and while districts and nonprofits may offer professional learning, effective…

This article explores the challenges of rewriting prescriptive early childhood curriculum wherein settler colonialism and childhood innocence as a discourse reinforce one another. We attend to two primary ideas: 1) that the presence of settler colonialism pervades everyday practices in the early years, and 2) early childhood curriculum maintains…

The purpose of this study was to examine the transference of an informational brochure elucidating the importance of developmentally appropriate practice, along with assessing the interplay between prior implicit beliefs about educating and raising children and the informational brochure. Participants included 210 college students who completed…

The current study aimed to examine Turkish early childhood education curriculum prepared for 36-72 month children relative to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. To that end, 240 developmental features, 65 objectives, and 230 indicators under developmental fields in the curriculum and 40 sample activities in a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate impediments to effective enactment of early childhood education curriculum and pedagogy in Tanzania, issues and experiences encountered by teachers in the enactment of the preschool education curriculum and their pedagogy in a Tanzanian context. This study was informed by sociocultural persectives which…

In this study, it was aimed to identify the perceptions of preservice preschool teachers about music lesson through metaphors. The study group of the research includes 137 teacher candidates studying in Trakya University, Faculty of Education, and the Department of Preschool Education in 2015-2016 spring semester and taking the course of Music…

Over the past few decades, instructional policy supports -- encompassing standards, curricula, and assessments -- have featured centrally in the education reform movement. So, too, have efforts to align them. In this article, we conduct interviews with local educators with responsibility for early education about the alignment of instructional…

School readiness occurs within a broad context that includes the four components of community, educational environment, family and the individual child. These four components function as interdependent systems of support that have multidirectional influences. Early childhood experiences, from birth through age 8, are necessary for school success…