Autistic individuals often exhibit motor atypicalities, which may relate to difficulties in social communication. This study utilized a smart tablet activity to computationally characterize motor control by testing adherence to the two-thirds power law (2/3 PL), which captures a systematic covariation between velocity and curvature in motor…

Previous research suggests that book reading and screen time have contrasting effects on language and brain development. However, few studies have explicitly investigated whether children's brains function differently during these two activities. The present study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure brain response in 28…

This report examines how First 5 Alameda can lead efforts to strengthen alignment and coherence across Alameda County's early childhood mixed delivery system. As the agency administering Measure C and partnering on the Oakland Children's Initiative, First 5 Alameda is well positioned to help build a more integrated early care and education system.…

Advances in comprehensive community-based early childhood systems require sophisticated partnerships among numerous constituencies including health, education, human services, and parent groups. Considered here is the potential for early childhood inclusive practices based on a commonly shared developmental framework to facilitate those…

Research suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) profoundly affect multiple aspects of childhood development. The present study endeavors to elucidate the impact of ACEs on critical school-related outcomes within the areas of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, academics, and school disciplinary measures. Utilizing a…

Early childhood development (ECD) initiatives are championed globally due to their proven ability to help children at risk of developmental delay attain their developmental potential. A comparative study was conducted using a mixed research approach to assess child development disparities among rural and urban children across the domain of child…

In recent years, out-of-school learning has gained significance in Turkiye and has been increasingly integrated into education programs and especially in preschool programs. This research aims to explore the perspectives of preschool teachers, guides, and parents on out-of-school learning environments. Within the scope of this qualitative…

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly limited access to vital services and resources required to support the health, education and development of neurodivergent children, especially children with Down syndrome (DS). We undertook qualitative analysis of responses to open-ended questions exploring caregiver (n = 194) concerns about the impact of the…

Research shows responsive caregiving enhances children's brain development, with parental knowledge predicting positive behaviors and outcomes. However, knowledge varies widely across educational levels, highlighting the need for targeted interventions. Despite evidence that this knowledge can be improved, no comprehensive metric exists for…

This study investigates how family cultural capital, particularly through museum and theatre attendance, is related to the cognitive and socio-emotional development of preschool children. The study included 1285 preschoolers (M = 70.6 months, SD = 4.43) and their parents. Assessments were conducted on children's executive functions, non-verbal…

The host of the internationally popular early childhood podcast "That Early Childhood Nerd" provides a framework for understanding the importance of free play. Free play is disappearing from the lives of too many young children, leaving them vulnerable to negative effects on their physical and mental health, social and emotional growth,…

Chinese educator Mr. Chen once said, "Anything that children can do on their own should be done by them. If children develop bad habits, they will suffer from them throughout their lives." This is especially true for children with disabilities. However, early life skills training for children with intellectual disabilities is more…

Education faces barriers all over the world, which sometimes makes it difficult to look after children's rights and their individual development. Hence, society is clamoring for new practices, and different approaches are emerging, Montessori among them. Despite the fact that this approach was developed to attend to the poor strata, nowadays it is…

The capacity of working memory is limited and undergoes important developmental changes during childhood. One proposed reason for the expansion of working memory capacity during childhood is the emergence and increased efficiency of active maintenance mechanisms, such as that of refreshing. Refreshing is a proposed mechanism to keep information…

Similes require two different pragmatic skills: appreciating the intended similarity and deriving a scalar implicature (e.g., "Lucy is like a parrot" normally implies that Lucy is not a parrot), but previous studies overlooked this second skill. In Experiment 1, preschoolers (N = 48; ages 3-5) understood "X is like a Y" as an…