Early childhood programs strive to provide good-quality care and education as young children develop their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual skills. In order to provide children with positive, developmentally appropriate learning opportunities, educators ensure the safety and security of children, indoors and outdoors. The outdoor…

Aim: To describe neuropsychological disturbances and the developmental course associated with cerebellar cortical dysplasia (CCD). Method: The neuroimaging findings from 10 children (five males, five females; aged 3-10y) with CCD were reviewed and classified. These children all underwent clinical neurological examination and neuropsychological…

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare kindergarten and special kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their own competence in early childhood special education (ECSE) in Finnish day care. This comparison is based on the kindergarten teachers' and special kindergarten teachers' self-evaluation. Teachers evaluated their theoretical and…

Advances in neuroscience have brought new insights to the development of cognitive functions. These data are of considerable interest to educators concerned with how students learn. This review documents some of the recent findings in neuroscience, which is richer in describing cognitive functions than affective aspects of learning. A brief…

In a predominantly low-income population-based longitudinal sample of 1,292 children followed from birth, higher level of salivary cortisol assessed at ages 7, 15, and 24 months was uniquely associated with lower executive function ability and to a lesser extent IQ at age 3 years. Measures of positive and negative aspects of parenting and…

We review empirical studies on kinship foster care in the United States. We conceptualize kinship foster care within the context of Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1994) most recent ecological systems theory. Because there are multiple levels of influences on the developmental outcomes of children placed in kinship foster home, understanding the…

To better understand and promote healthy nutritional behaviour development in children, research suggests the need to develop a stronger comprehension of influences from their social environment. Yet research has favoured studying parents, with little attention being paid to other important individuals in children's lives, especially from a…

School psychologists often are involved with the provision of services to students with chronic physical health conditions and mental health problems. However, collaborative efforts between school psychologists and the medical professionals who treat these youth often are lacking despite the benefits that may result from interdisciplinary…

The intent of this manuscript is to inform others about stress, parental stress, and highlight the negative consequences of stress on children by directly providing information to parents of infant and preschool children in the form of a psychoeducational workshop. Given that the early years of life have many critical periods of development and…

Current clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) occurs between 3 and 4 years of age, but increasing evidence indicates that intervention begun earlier may improve outcomes. Using secondary analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data set, the current study identifies early predictors prior to the diagnosis of…

This guide was created because parents revealed, through extensive social research, that they often received inconsistent and confusing parenting information from different professionals and practitioners across different disciplines, leading to misunderstandings and a lack of confidence about how best to support their children's development. In…

Reports such as this typically begin with a statistic designed to highlight a problem. The girls and boys to whom this edition of "The State of the World's Children" is dedicated are not problems. Rather, each is a sister, brother or friend who has a favourite dish, song or game; a daughter or son with dreams and the desire to fulfil…

Each week, nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care setting for an average of 35 hours. Parents, as consumers of child care, equate a child care license with state approval--a gold seal for those businesses to which a state grants a license. Child Care Aware® of America reviews state licensing policies, which include…

Much recent research has described the development of innovative functions of "like" as a discourse marker ("'Like' they're trying to be discreet about it") or discourse particle ("Maybe it's 'like' a girl thing") and as a quotative marker ("He's 'like' 'I don't want to work until later'"). Comparatively little is known about how speakers acquire…

This working paper is part of a series on early transitions from "Young Lives," a 15-year longitudinal study of childhood poverty in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam. It explores the diverse experiences of 28 children from four contrasting communities in Peru as they start school. These detailed case studies highlight common problems:…