New Extension state specialists face many uncertainties when beginning to work in their new position, especially when it involves a state unfamiliar to them. Literature reviews may not provide the latest and clearest picture of the needs and challenges in the state. Furthermore, the between-county variation of issues may differ greatly. The study…

This study explored how parents and families perceive their own engagement in early years services in three communities in Ontario, Canada. Using an Appreciative Inquiry approach, focus groups, and questionnaires with parents, we investigated parent views of the strengths of early years supports and perceived outcomes of early years services in…

The author's students interviewed people over 50 years old about play when they were young. Their answers capture the many themes that come up in response to the following two questions: (1) Do you think the play of children today is different from when you were growing up?; and (2) If so, how do you think it has changed? In the past, when both…

Evidence-based treatments are increasingly important and necessary parts of many disciplines when working with very young children and their families. In using them, it is advantageous to be grounded in the principles and practices that research has shown are critical to children's healthy development, particularly the importance of supporting the…

How does a parent stay connected with an infant or toddler during a prolonged separation? Research has shown how important early connections are for child development. When a parent is not present physically, there are strategies that military parents have been using to keep a parent and child connected, promoting mindfulness. Because infants and…

The absence of a father figure has been linked to very poor developmental outcomes. The Baby Elmo Program, a parenting and structured visitation program, aims to form and maintain bonds between children and their incarcerated teen fathers. The program is taught and supervised by probation staff in juvenile detention facilities. This intervention…

Technology is the collection of machines, processes, methods, transactions, systems, administration and supervision mechanism, which serves as a bridge between science and practice and helps meet human needs using available information, materials, sources and energy. The developments in technology and educational aims follow a parallelism, which…

This edited international collection re-conceptualizes the place of early childhood education and care services (ECEC) within communities and challenges traditional approaches to family involvement and partnerships in ECEC. Using a range of theoretical positions, the authors present research-based discussions from five countries which challenge…

"Inclusion" has long been a term used to describe the practice of including a child with special needs in age-appropriate general education classes in their home schools. Increasingly, the term is being used to describe the process of including very young children--infants and toddlers--with special needs in a setting comprised mostly of children…

In this study, 5-year-olds and adults described scenes that differed according to whether (a) the subject or object of a transitive verb represented an accessible or inaccessible referent, consistent or inconsistent with patterns of preferred argument structure, and (b) a simple noun was sufficient to uniquely identify an inaccessible referent.…

Background: Temper modulation problems are both a hallmark of early childhood and a common mental health concern. Thus, characterizing specific behavioral manifestations of temper loss along a dimension from normative misbehaviors to clinically significant problems is an important step toward identifying clinical thresholds. Methods:…

This study tested the longitudinal measurement invariance and developmental changes of a newly developed battery of executive function (EF) tasks for use in early childhood. The battery was administered in the Family Life Project--a prospective longitudinal study (N = 1,292) of families who were oversampled from low-income and African American…

When people say that children grow up faster today, they are confusing appearance with reality. Children may be avid consumers of adult culture. They may adopt adult mannerisms and styles. They certainly get to grips with new technology far more easily than grown-ups. But when it comes to everyday freedoms--like walking to school alone, or meeting…

In this paper, I explore the enhancement agenda, which aims to enhance well-being nationwide and particularly among young people. Although it is said by its proponents to embody the ideas of Aristotle, I argue that its true theoretical underpinning is the polarised thinking of positive psychology. The sharp distinction between positive and…

Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event ("depth first") and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order ("breadth first"). Children with…