The objective of the present study is to identify the language development process, early literacy experiences and educational problems of an early reader identified as gifted. The research method was determined as a case study in line with this objective. The research was structured on the experiences of a fourth-grade male student born in 2010…

There are multiple explanations for why many children do not have access to well-prepared pre-K teachers. The five programs profiled in this report show that it is possible to give pre-K teachers rich, research-based training that prepares them to work with young children. However, there is a scarcity of opportunities focused on the developmental…

The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

Early educators often do not have even basic expectations of working conditions -- such as program policies providing for payment for planning time, staff meetings, and professional development; a salary schedule accounting for experience and varied levels of education; and provision of health, retirement, sick-, and vacation-leave benefits that…

Many parents find it hard to make decisions about screen time for their kids because advice comes from different directions and often conflicts. In the field of child development, there are decades of theory and research that can be very helpful as a guide for screen and digital device use with young kids. These ideas can be a resource for parents…

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have shown mixed effects on child development outcomes in the context of poverty. Direct parenting support integrated with CCTs may improve the effectiveness of CCTs for children's development, and benefits could occur via improvements in parenting practices or the home environment. Here, we use data from…

Principals are critical to school improvement efforts, yet few studies aim to elicit their perspectives on what contributes to teaching, learning, and broader school improvement. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to elicit principals' perspectives on (a) teacher and school staff needs, and (b) student needs, in an effort to uncover…

This study examined the influence of spending time outdoors on young children's physical and socioemotional development. We observed preschoolers' activities in two naturally provisioned outdoor environments over the course of one year. Eleven preschoolers were videotaped continuously for 16 days at a local river and 9 days at a creek adjacent to…

Maternal responsive-didactic caregiving (RDC) and infant advanced object play were investigated in a sample of 400 mothers and their 10-month-old infants during video-recorded semi-structured play interactions. Three maternal behaviours: contingent response, cognitively stimulating language and autonomy-promoting speech were coded and infant…

Early childhood centres are vibrant social communities where child and adult emotions are integral to learning. Previous research has focused on teaching practices that support children's social-emotional learning; fewer studies have attended to relevant centre-level factors, such as the emotional leadership practices of the centre director. The…

This study explored the relationship between electronic media use, sleep and behaviour in preschool-aged children between the ages of three and five years. The primary hypothesis of this study was that excessive electronic media use (>2 hours a day) would positively correlate with sleep patterns (in particular, disturbances) and negative…

Objective: This article describes an intervention development focusing on the early design stages of a model to improve psychosocial and behavioral health outcomes among children of fathers with incarceration and antisocial behavioral histories. Method: We use a synthesis of the literature and qualitative interviews with key informants to inform a…

The next several pages are intended as a "Commentary" on the six target articles bundled together as a Special Issue of the "Journal of Cognition and Development"--literature reviews and research reports all intended to "build bridges" between the study of cognitive development in typical and atypical populations.

The purpose of this article is to explore the way preschool teachers teach reflective care in Japan. The article builds on a two-month ethnographic study conducted in Japanese kindergartens and nurseries among children aged 3-6 years. The data were analysed using concepts of age and gender. The results show that care in Japan, in contrast to…

A substantial body of research has reported significant associations between children's levels of self-control and a variety of academic and behavioural outcomes. As a result, studies have begun to investigate the factors involved in the development of self-control. The current study builds on this body of research and examines the extent to which…