Might interacting with relatively wild forms of nature help move our world away from its largely domination-oriented and destructive sensibilities? Toward broaching this question, this study used an Interaction Pattern Approach to model child-nature interaction in a Hong Kong nature program. Observational video data were collected of 54 children…

Educators and families frequently use children's picture books to introduce young children to unfamiliar experiences, including the start of school. In this study, we examine 52 U.S. picture books portraying the transition to kindergarten. Specifically, this content analysis explores the depiction of kindergarten teachers, including the…

A child's readiness for school can impact their trajectory in subsequent grades and later in life. Therefore, children must be prepared when transitioning to kindergarten. As a kindergarten teacher at a Title I elementary school, I noticed a lack of readiness and conducted this qualitative action research study to create a readiness plan for my…

In recent decades, Iceland has become a more diverse nation, as witnessed, for example, in the increasing diversity of the school population. While recognising these changes, teachers have reported feeling unprepared to respond as they engage with students with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The interview study presented in…

Early childhood development research typically focusses on populations that are either of upper or lower socioeconomic status. A population especially overlooked is the 'missing-middle', represented by middle-income, urban populations. Knowledge of children's development from middle-income populations to guide the implementation and customisation…

The exploration and/or manipulation of objects and materials, referred to as object-oriented play (OOP), is one of the most prominent activities children engage in during early childhood. Especially within early childhood education, it is important to be able to assess and understand OOP, its developmental trajectory, and developmental value. This…

While much has been done to advance narrative assessment practice in the early years, less attention has been granted to the role of the image in this pursuit. As a consequence, the purposes, value and strategic use of images (photographs, videos, visual metaphors etc.) in foregrounding learning of young children are not well understood. This…

The purpose of this study is to gain a deep understanding of kindergarten children's drawings as a form of documentation of their work, of their ability to notice and depict substantial details, as well as their understanding of how objects in the world "work". In the study, we examined drawings created by kindergarten children for…

Both language input and output are important to child language learners' heritage language development. Nevertheless, existing studies mainly focus on language input, leaving the significance of language output underexplored. The current study assessed 201 kindergarteners' Mandarin skills (i.e., receptive vocabulary, receptive grammar, and verbal…

Literacy educators are often unequipped to help young children contend with the world we inhabit, where linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism are not always valued or sustained. In fact, educators are routinely bombarded by programs that position literacy as a simple, one-size-fits-all practice. This resource will help pre-K-3 teachers…

Tangible coding toys have been promulgated as useful learning tools for young children to learn computer science and mathematics concepts and skills. Although research shows coding toys can support mathematics for early childhood aged children, little is known about the specific design features of coding toys that afford mathematical thinking…

The importance of children experiencing a successful transition to school is well established in research literature. Central to this is including the children themselves in the conversation about their learning and ensuring they develop a sense of fit and belonging to their new school environment. The findings shared in this paper sit within a…

The Hearts and Flowers (H&F) task is a computerized executive functioning (EF) assessment that has been used to measure EF from early childhood to adulthood. It provides data on accuracy and reaction time (RT) across three different task blocks (hearts, flowers, and mixed). However, there is a lack of consensus in the field on how to score the…

Only a very few studies to date have comprehensively assessed children's knowledge of sexuality. In this study, we examined the level of sexual knowledge among children aged 3-6 years in Finland. We analysed children's explanations of what they saw in drawings related to genital naming, conception and childbirth, safety skills, and adult sexual…

This study examined the direct and indirect relationships between playfulness (social and cognitive spontaneity), executive functions, convergent thinking, divergent thinking, and academic skills in Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 181 second-year (4 to 5 years) kindergarten children (45.9% boys) and their parents.…