This article affirms the essential role of play for the well-being of children within the school context. The article explores the definition of play, why play is so important, gives examples of play in schools, and advocates for a child-centered approach to learning. The downside of a curriculum-centered approach is explored as an agent of…

This research set out to enhance instruction for early education and child development majors in a community college setting in a manner that allows them to gain content knowledge while becoming more prepared to practice effective pedagogy in early learning classrooms. This study examined how metacognitive awareness changes throughout a semester…

"Early Childhood Development in Tonga: Baseline Results from the Tongan Early Human Capability Index" offers a comprehensive assessment of early child development across Tonga. This book reports on a census of child development using the Tongan Early Human Capability Index. The data includes information on more than 6,600 children ages 3…

The human brain is plastic -- which means the brain changes its connectivity and even its structure in response to learning. This brief report highlights the following points: (1) A human's first learning experiences are foundational for later education, and experiences in the early years of life can greatly impact on later achievement; (2) Waves…

The concept of "perezhivanie" has received increasing attention in recent years. However, a clear understanding of this term has not yet been established. Mostly what is highlighted is the need for more informed theoretical discussion. In this paper, discussions centre on what "perezhivanie" means for research in early…

Douglas Martin (an editor) wrote a memoir in New York Times about Matthew Lipman, the founder of philosophy for children, today's classic thinker. Lipman's death brought attention again for the philosophy for children's status among professionals. Later one of the most prestigious international educational periodical review, the "Journal of…

In this paper, I study the narrative structure of comics as a means to describe the ways that indeterminate modes of representation can allow the reader to imagine that which in childhood can never be fully expressed. Analyzing a number of panels from Gilbert Hernandez's graphic novel, "Marble Season," I describe a conceptual link…

This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of televised children programs in the linguistic development of kindergarten children from the viewpoint of teachers. To achieve this, the researchers prepared the study instrument which is represented in a thirty-part questionnaire that was distributed to the study sample. The teachers'…

Four tasks (N = 191, 3- to 6-year-olds) examined the effect of instrumental versus conventional language cues on children's imitative fidelity of a necklace-making activity, their memory and transmission of the activity, and their perceptions of functional fixedness. Children in the conventional condition imitated with higher fidelity, transmitted…

Research suggests that young children transgress conventional rules in every culture and society. In this article, the argument is made that rule teaching and learning provide insight into how children learn to be part of a group. The research question addressed is, "Why do some children transgress the rules if their actions risk jeopardising…

One of the most powerful ways to boost the payoff from school sports lays in helping coaches build developmental relationships with student-athletes. Developmental relationships are close connections through which young people develop character skills to discover who they are, gain the ability to shape their own lives, and learn how to interact…

Reading difficulties are found in children with both high and low IQ and it is now clear that both groups exhibit difficulties in phonological processing. Here, we apply the developmental trajectories approach, a new methodology developed for studying language and cognitive impairments in developmental disorders, to both poor reader groups. The…

This paper sets out to explore the thinking underpinning young children's earliest drawings, often regarded as "scribbling." It questions whether the physical satisfaction of making marks is sufficient reward for this often repeated activity, or whether with each repetition children intend deeper meanings not apparent to the eyes of the…

The science is unequivocal in showing that infants and toddlers begin learning very young, and the workforce must be equipped with the specific skills and practices to fully support this important period of development. A major conclusion in the 2015 report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, "Transforming the…

This study tested whether maternal responsiveness may buffer the child to the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on DNA methylation of "NR3C1," "11ß-HSD2," and neuroendocrine functioning. DNA was derived from buccal epithelial cells and prestress cortisol was obtained from the saliva of 128 infants. Mothers with depressive…