Far more has been written about the possible outcomes of cross-age mentoring than about actual outcomes and the processes that lead to change. This study examined the effect of mentors' attendance on their mentees' outcomes after six months of developmental mentoring. Developmental mentoring is a structured, cross-age peer mentoring program…

Discusses the importance of music centers in the early childhood class to the development of music abilities of children. Significance of understanding of the fundamental concepts in music including pitch and duration to the musical skills of primary and elementary students; Impact of environment on the learning abilities of children; Role of…

Research patterns from the past three decades and several current directions of research are used to describe emerging trends in the study of cognitive development. These trends are discussed as moving the field into new areas, particularly biology, learning, and social context, and contributing to a more integrated understanding of psychological…

A more pessimistic assessment to study the effects of maternal employment on children's learning abilities is presented. Parental investments during infancy and childhood not only result in improved cognitive development but also in overall improvement in learning abilities.

The study investigated the recognition of standardized facial expressions of emotion (anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise) at a perceptual level (experiment 1) and at a semantic level (experiments 2 and 3) in children with autism (N= 20) and normally developing children (N= 20). Results revealed that children with autism were as…

Proficiency in social interaction with adults and peers is an important outcome in early childhood. The development of an experimental measure for assessing growth in social skills in children birth to 3 years is described. Based on the general outcome measurement (GOM) approach (e.g., Deno, 1997), the measure is intended for use by early…

This study examined attachment in institutionalized and community children 12-31 months of age in Bucharest, Romania. Attachment was assessed using ratings of attachment behaviors and ratings of caregiver descriptions in a structured interview. As predicted, children raised in institutions exhibited serious disturbances of attachment as assessed…

Mathematics and language both involve learning skills, but the letters and sounds of literacy seem distinct from the basic facts of mathematics. In this article, the author explains the connection between language and mathematics. She explains that mathematics and language are interconnected because when one discusses and debates about…

Promoting interactions between preschool children is an important topic because peer social interactions provide a crucial context for children's development. However, many young children experience difficulty with peer relations, particularly children with disabilities. Indeed, children with disabilities have problems with peer interactions…

The health, development, and sleeping patterns of 240 children adopted from China were examined using a survey research approach. Eighty percent of the children were 18 months of age or younger when adopted, and 98 percent of the children were girls. Sixty-two percent of the children were reported to have been developmentally delayed at the time…

We investigated whether the memorability-based strategy, a process supporting the rejection of nonexperienced event occurrence, could be promoted through training. The performance of children who received memorability-based training was compared with that of (a) children who received source-monitoring training and (b) children who did not receive…

Teachers of young children are concerned about biting. While it is unusual for a preschooler to bite, biting is still within the range of normal behaviors a 3- or 4-year-old may exhibit. Children at this young age have neither sophisticated language nor refined social skills, so they tend to express their wants physically. This article discusses…

In this article, the authors discuss how children learn to problem solve from birth to 6 years. At 0 to 2 years, children learn to be very effective problem solvers by encouraging children's explorations and supporting their efforts to resolve difficulties. When they reach 3 years old, children enjoy experimenting with a wide variety of materials,…

The warm days of spring announce an end to the dark days of winter, more time out of doors, and escape from the confines of heavy clothing. For many directors of early childhood centers, a school year does not end with the onset of summer. However, even if it is a year-round program with no official conclusion, warmer days are bound to bring a…

Kowalski and Zimiles (2006) and O'Hanlon and Roberson (2006) address an age-old question: Why do children find it difficult to learn color terms? Here these articles are reflected on, providing a focused examination of the issues central to this question. First, the criteria by which children are said to find color naming difficult are considered.…