Recent studies report high levels of physical inactivity among most of the global population, including young children. As young children spend a large fraction of their time in school, early childhood teachers have important roles in promoting adequate physical activity (PA) among children. This scoping review aims to synthesise existing evidence…

Entry of children to primary schools in India marks a sudden shift in the pedagogical approach as play-based pedagogy gives way to formal instruction. This paper argues that children's play motives do not subside when they enter school, rather play takes a more mature form and represents a strong linkage between their thought and reality. The…

This classic text has been helping teachers better understand young children's behavior for over 6 decades. Now available in an updated seventh edition, this popular resource is designed to deepen pre- and inservice teachers' understanding of children (birth--age 8) as unique individuals within a developmental context. Observation notes recorded…

Young children do not develop language skills by studying grammar and rules for forming sentences. Children's brains are wired to acquire language naturally; all they need is exposure. Many opportunities for language learning are lost to deaf children if they are not surrounded by other signers. In fact, the loss can be so severe that deaf and…

Prosocial behaviours such as sharing are essential for young children's collaborative learning experiences and social development. When learnt during the early years, these behaviours enable positive peer interactions and relationship building in social settings, laying the foundation for young children's social and emotional competencies with…

Background: Recent research emphasizes the role of the classroom context in promoting self-regulation development. However, the results are equivocal. Additionally, research tends to focus on studying the two extremes of classroom contexts (e.g., teacher fully involved vs. teacher absent during a task), which does not represent the everyday…

Today, digital games are considered important tools for learning, but using them in early childhood education and care (ECEC) has raised the question of educators' roles when children play an educational digital game. The aim of this study was to explore how ECEC educators differed in their attitudes and perceptions toward and ways of supporting…

The teaching of fundamental movement skills (FMS) such as catching, throwing, running, jumping and rolling is widely accepted as the cornerstone of physical education in the primary school. However, there is limited debate about the use of different pedagogical approaches when teaching FMS. In this article, advice is offered for teachers vis-à-vis…

Children with special needs may have less access to play due to the nature of their developmental delay or disability or their lack of experience with typically developing peers. Many preschools and kindergartens have reduced play in their daily schedules and elementary schools have reduced or eliminated recess (Jarrett et al., 2015; Zigler &…

Child-centred and teacher-directed curricula have long been presented as mutually exclusive approaches to early education. Interestingly, recent research suggests a 'balance' of the two yields the best child outcomes, yet how this balance is struck varies considerably across contexts and even studies. In this paper, we use the writings of Russian…

Practice is essential to the acquisition and development of musical skills, requiring musicians' time, investment, application, motivation, metacognitive strategies, and ability to self-regulate. Research in children's music practice indicates the type, quality, and duration of practice, along with adult support, contributes to fluency in musical…

The separation between young children with disabilities and their peers is not merely physical but represents a deeper gap in opportunity, engagement, and understanding. True equity in inclusive education hinges on viewing disability not as an inherent limitation, but as a gap between personal capacity and the demands of the educational context --…

Although abundant evidence demonstrates that play is the source of development for preschool-aged children in various cultures, few studies have investigated the role of adult-children collective play in supporting the development of children in institutional care settings. This study examined whether and how a play-based programme created…

Teachers' perceptions are important in identifying and serving gifted children. However, little attention is given to gifted education in the early years in China. This study aimed to investigate teachers' perceptions of young gifted children (aged 3-6), exploring teachers' understandings, feelings, practices, and perceived challenges. Qualitative…

For children to know how to fully participate in and most effectively lead the world they will inherit, they must learn how to critically engage with it and be knowledgeable about foundational rights and instruments that support such engagement. Together, critical literacy, which encourages the examination and interrogation of the underlying…