Background: This study examined whether social-cognitive processes in children mediate relations between mothers' depressive symptoms across the first 3 years and children's first-grade social competence. Three maladaptive cognitions were examined: self-perceived social inadequacy, hostile attribution, and aggressive response generation.…

Research Findings: National policy today is on the brink of defining preschool experiences as essential for children's academic success. Indeed, many children's classroom experience begins as they transition from infant/toddler care to a preschool classroom. This study examined developmentally relevant skill domains among 36-month-olds (effortful…

This study focuses on the nature of children's participation in an Australian early childhood context in which their second language is used. The aim is to create knowledge of toddlers' modes and trajectories of participation. Empirical data documenting the participation of two toddlers were gathered through video observations of everyday…

A group of toddlers was offered long, colorful, translucent tubes to enjoy and explore. As always, they amazed adults with the many ideas they used to investigate and learn with them. The tubes are long and the children marveled at how they could easily lift these objects up taller than their bodies. At the center of the children's explorations…

This report reviews and analyzes California policies that are designed to support early learning in children from birth through age five years. The analysis is limited to early childhood (EC) education-related programs and supports that are likely to directly affect children's cognitive and social development. The information in the report comes…

As states work to strengthen supports for young children's mental health, often with the goal of reducing the incidence of costly conditions at later ages, they face the question of how to finance new or expanded services. This brief examines states' use of Medicaid as a key source of funding for early childhood mental health (ECMH) services. It…

Two studies investigated young 2- and 3-year-old Turkish children's developing understanding of normativity and freedom to act in games. As expected, children, especially 3-year-olds, protested more when there was a norm violation than when there was none. Surprisingly, however, no decrease in normative protest was observed even when the actor…

Learning in the earliest stage of life--the infancy, toddlerhood and preschool period--is relational and rapid. Child-initiated and adult-mediated conversations, playful interactions and learning through active involvement are integral to young children making sense of their environments and to their development over time. The child's experience…

Research Findings: This study evaluated the effectiveness of 2 professional development interventions aimed at improving the quality of care provided by caregivers in ordinary infant-toddler child care settings, both center- and home-based. In all, 183 participants in a community college course on infant-toddler theory and practice, an in-service…

This study examines the community-wide effects of two statewide early childhood policy initiatives in North Carolina. One initiative provides funding to improve the quality of child care services at the county level for all children between the ages of 0 to 5, and the other provides funding for preschool slots for disadvantaged four-year-olds.…

The evidence to date on the federal child-care subsidy program's effect on preschool child-care quality is mixed. However, an as-yet untested outcome of subsidy receipt is subsequent child-care choice. Specifically, it is possible that subsidy receipt in toddlerhood increases the likelihood of attending other publicly funded preschool…

This paper critically examines current concerns regarding professional issues in labour force development for teachers with children up to two years of age (UtoT). The concerns in New Zealand (NZ) relate to whether initial teacher-education (ITE) qualifications prepare teachers to work with children UtoT, involving synergy between ITE and the…

Purpose: In this study, the authors aimed at gaining understanding on the associations of different types of early language and communication profiles with later self-regulation skills by using longitudinal data from toddler age to kindergarten age. Method: Children with early language profiles representing expressive delay, broad delay (i.e.,…

The physical environment of the preschool programmes has been proven to affect both children's overall development and the quality of the programme. However, both nationally and internationally the contribution of the physical environment in the effectiveness of a programme and in the achievement of educational goals is often overlooked. The aim…

The article explores the need to eat as a biological and social practice among children in a preschool in Norway. The children in this preschool are aged from one to two years of age, and some of them have just started there. Different events from mealtimes relate to Derrida's concept of touch and Grosz's notion of bodies in-place and…