Montessori education was developed over 100 years ago, and persists as a marginal 'niche reform' of the standard model. Here I discuss two unresolved dichotomies in early childhood education -- the tension between work and play, and between structure and freedom. I explain how Montessori collapses and thereby resolves the dichotomies, and does so…

The current study explored the home and school factors that are important for Singaporean pre-schoolers' (N = 1440) early English development from K1 to P1. Language input quantity and quality factors at home (e.g., number of English books,) and at school (e.g., instructional support in class) were used to predict children's English vocabulary and…

While researchers acknowledge the importance of parents feeling welcomed and engaged in their child's school, the school's welcoming practices to engage parents have been rarely explored. Parents' qualitative responses provide insight into what impacts their initial and ongoing experience of being welcomed into their child's new school. In total,…

Research Findings: In recent years, several initiatives have been put into place both federally and state-wide to expand access to high-quality early education programs. At the center of these efforts are the tools that measure program or classroom quality. The present study compares the psychometrics of two such tools used in Michigan, the…

Literacy is an essential human right that serves as the basis for advancing one's education. Literacy education focuses on two key areas: foundational reading and reading comprehension skills. The five foundational literacy skills are phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension. Providing students with direct…

In the United States nearly one third of children under five live in homes where a non-English language is spoken. However, many of these language-minority (LM) children shift towards English monolingualism after beginning school in early childhood. While language input and usage are central to acquisition and maintenance in each language, less is…

Research Findings: Given the variable nature of early childhood settings, practitioners and researchers need better guidance on what conditions influence observations conducted within early childhood settings (National Research Council, 2008). Using 230 observations from 23 three- and four-year-old children, we conducted a Generalizability study…

Object exploration is considered a driver of motor, cognitive, and social development. However, little is known about how early childhood education and care settings facilitate object exploration. This study examined if children's exploration of objects during free play was facilitated by the use of particular spatial components (floor, tables,…

Reliable information regarding interaction quality in preschools is essential because children's preschool experiences predict educational success. The Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS) is a new tool to assess interaction quality developed in the United States. Research on the validation of the factorial structure of the…

High-quality learning environments are critical to support students' learning and development. This study supported eight lead teachers of Starting Strong classrooms in four different early learning programs to try to improve teachers' knowledge, self-efficacy, and use of Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) within their classrooms. Four…

In Jamaica, the majority of practitioners working with infants and toddlers are largely untrained. While continuing professional development (CPD) provides practitioners with the skills to meet children's needs, the provision of CPD also serves as the means by which nursery practitioners upgrade their competencies. This study presents the findings…

In Germany, there is still a great need for research on the quality of teacher-child interactions in ECEC institutions. Especially, because social interactions and relationships are crucial for (early) learning and development (Ulferts et al., 2019). However, there are hardly any results on factors influencing the interaction quality. This paper…

This study analyses practices regarding home languages in a nursery school from a multilingual district in Germany, and the language policies and discourses that become visible in these. First, the context is outlined of Early Childhood Education and Care for multilingual children in Germany; then, the concepts of practices, discourses and…

Play, of varied type and form, provides opportunities for children to acquire a sense of competence and belonging when engaging in classroom life. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways that the inclusion of play as a curricular component eased academic stressors and supported motivation during the transition to kindergarten. In this…

This study examines how asymmetric job conditions deplete the psychological resources of the ECE workforce in a lower-middle-income country (LMIC). Specifically, this preliminary study, using data from preschool teaching staff, examined the influence of (a) job demands (emotional demand, workload, role conflict and work-family conflict) on…