Often, because of low wages for center and family childcare providers, low-income family financial constraints, and sometimes lack of societal awareness and appreciation for the crucial nature of early childhood relationships for later life flourishing, many agencies and decision-makers do not set specific standards for qualifications for training…

Exercise times can enhance a variety of child learning goals and especially help some children with attention span difficulties to concentrate better on class lessons. Specific ways for teachers to create exercise sessions are suggested and how teachers can use exercise times to promote new word learning, creative imagination, as well as pride in…

Teachers are sometimes puzzled and frustrated by some children's difficulties and troubles as these children respond aggressively when feeling that peers crowd too close or seem 'threatening'. This article provides a variety of bodily games to help children become more aware of how their bodies and muscles work. The activities suggested are…

Outdoor experiences allow teachers to focus on expanding child learning in different domains. Nature experiences can sharpen child senses, enrich vocabulary, increase spatial understandings, and permit more practice for large muscle skills. As well, teachers can arrange outdoor activities to promote positive peer cooperation and aesthetic…

Young children's dreams can be a way for teachers and caregivers to share with children and an opportunity for children to describe and even draw dreams. In two different preschool settings, in two different geographical locales, 94 children, aged 3-5 years, shared 266 dreams with a trusted, familiar teacher. Dreams were coded anonymously. The…

Thirty-five children (17 boys and 18 girls, 4 to 8 years old) in 2-parent Chinese immigrant families had attended English-speaking facilities for 35.0 months (boys) and 32.9 months (girls), respectively. They were tested at home with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Mandarin version of PPVT-R. No gender differences were…

Research using an intensive single-session training to increase use of Socratic (open-ended) questions and to lengthen turn-taking talk with low-income preschoolers showed that immediate posttraining gains were not sustained in classrooms 3 months later. Suggestions are given for trainers and for teachers that can boost teacher ability to…

This study examined effects of 1-session training to increase 2 targeted teacher language behaviors: use of Socratic (open-ended) questions and length of turn-taking conversations with low-income preschoolers. Teachers, matched in 21 pairs for education, age, and training in early childhood education, were assigned to E (experimental) or C…

This article explains the causes of children's fears and anxieties in the following age brackets: (1) 0-2 years old; (2) 3-4 years old; and (3) 5-6 years old. It presents situations wherein children develop fears and anxious feelings. It also discusses how to deal and manage these fears and anxieties and enumerates what can be done to make…

This article presents the causes of anger and frustrations of children at different ages. Honig discusses understanding children's anger from ages 0-2 and gives suggestions on how to cope with anger. Miller discusses how children ages 3-4 provoke to anger, and recommends ways to prevent it. Church discusses the cause of anger in 5- and 6-year old…

For 75 children aged 6 months to 3 years, observed expressions of children's fear and adult caregivers' responses to children's distress in public areas such as shopping malls. Found that 61% of the children responded by crying when frightened. Caregivers responded by picking up the frightened child 41% of the time. (MDM)

Research shows that stress in the crucial early years of a child's life can pose dramatic, lasting challenges to development, learning, and behavior. This is the practical book early childhood professionals need to recognize stress in young children--and intervene with proven relief strategies before pressures turn into big problems. Developed by…

This article presents calming activities and routines for children at different ages and stages. Honig discusses the different stages of arousal for children ages 0-2 and gives suggestions for ways to sooth fussy babies. Miller discusses calming activities and comforting environments for children ages 3-4, and recommends activities that require…

Interpersonal, familial, and situational risk factors that predict young children's aggression and non-compliance are explored. Here examples of specific techniques and provided to help teachers and parents effectively support children's early development of cooperative and prosocial behaviours as well as problem-solving skills in family and…

Used Smilansky and Parten/Piaget play measures to assess social class and sex differences in Singapore preschoolers' play at home and preschool centers. Found that parallel and functional play were higher at home than in centers and associative/cooperative play was higher in centers than homes. Smilansky scores were higher at centers than homes,…