Young children's social information processing (SIP) encompasses a series of steps by which they make sense of encounters with other persons; cognitive and emotional aspects of SIP often predict adjustment in school settings. More attention is needed, however, to the development of preschoolers' SIP and its potential foundations. To this end, a…

The aim of this study was to assess whether children's development benefited from teacher-and child-managed academic activities in the preschool and kindergarten classroom. Extensive systematic observations during four half-days in preschool ("n"?=?8) and kindergarten ("n"?=?8) classrooms revealed that classrooms differed in…

Building on Vinden's pioneering research [(2001). Parenting attitudes and children's understanding of mind: A comparison of Korean American and Anglo-American families. "Cognitive Development", 16, 793-809], we examined how parents' use of authoritative versus authoritarian styles of discipline related to their children's development of…

Family environment plays a very important role in early child development and the availability of stimulating material in the early years of a child's life is crucial for optimising development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory is one of the most widely used measures to assess the quality and quantity of…

Fundamental motor skills (FMS) affect children's physical, social, and cognitive development. To plan successful interventions when promoting the development of children's FMS, the underlying positive determinants for the acquisition of FMS competence during preschool years need to be identified. The purpose of this systematic review was…

This article presents an overview of family learning at the Children's Museum of Houston. Based on educational theory, and designed to support learning literacy and success in school, Museum programs provide parents with tools to help them nurture children's intellectual development. The goal of this work is for parents to become better prepared…

Despite a robust body of evidence of effectiveness of social programs, few evidence-based programs have been scaled for population-level improvement in social problems. Since 2010 the federal government has invested in evidence-based social policy by supporting a number of new evidence-based programs and grant initiatives. These initiatives…

Over the past three years, the Boston Birth to Eight Collaborative has convened more than 200 individuals and organizations from across the early childhood field--center and family-based providers, pediatricians, public health researchers, hospitals, family engagement organizations, and parents--to ensure all children are ready for sustained…

Vygotsky's work is extensive and covers many aspects of the development of children's meaning-making processes in social and cultural contexts. However, his main focus is on the examination of the unification of speaking and thinking processes. His investigation centers on the analysis of the entity created by this unification--an internal…

This article begins with a review of research providing evidence that social-emotional competence is a key component of school readiness and that the foundations for social-emotional competence are laid down in the earliest years. We go on to review effective practices and specific interventions that have been found to strengthen children's…

Prenatally and in infants and toddlers, the brain is being constructed as a foundation for all later learning. Positive early experiences contribute to the formation of a brain that is capable, early in infancy, of utilizing and strengthening the basic processes of learning. Throughout a lifetime, a person will repeatedly use these approaches to…

Contrary to the concept of school readiness as achieving a particular set of attributes considered essential for educational success, this article is grounded in the assumption that all children are ready to learn, but what they are expected to learn varies widely from one cultural setting and historic period to another. The authors challenge the…

The "Vygotsky on Education Primer" serves as an introduction to the life and work of the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Even though he died almost eighty years ago, his life's work remains both relevant and significant to the field of education today. This book examines Vygotsky's emphasis on the role of cultural and historical context in…

This testimony was presented before the Committe of the Whole Council of the District of Columbia on February 16, 2012. Experts in child development have long known that the earliest years of a child's life are a critical period of development across a range of domains: physical, socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive (Shonkoff and Phillips,…

The purpose of the research study was to explore the perceptions of Navajo mothers and Navajo fathers in the development and childrearing practices of their children and to what extent each parent was involved in their children by gender and age. The objective of the interviews was to capture the perceptions of each parent as to child development…