Given the importance of writing for academic achievement, this study aimed to understand how early oral language contributes to later writing skills. The first objective was to determine if preschool language skills were associated with high school writing, and if so, whether they contributed directly or indirectly through school age language. The…

The authors tested theoretically driven predictions as to the ways in which syntactic awareness, or awareness of word order within sentences, might contribute to reading comprehension, the end goal of reading development and instruction. They conducted a longitudinal study of 100 English-speaking children followed from Grade 3 to 4. Children…

In 2010, the province of Ontario introduced a new universal two-year play-based full-day kindergarten program. The authors exploited the phasing-in of this program over five years, allowing a natural experiment in which children from full-day kindergarten could be compared with those from half-day kindergarten in matched neighborhoods. Children (N…

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine spelling acquisition in French children with developmental language disorder (DLD) over a school year. Through a fine-grained spelling error analysis, we investigated whether spelling profiles could be established in the DLD population. This study comprised three groups: a typically developing (TD)…

Recent studies demonstrate that emerging literacy depends on earlier language achievement. Importantly, most extant work focuses on "parent-reported production" prior to 30 months of age. Of interest is whether and how "directly assessed vocabulary comprehension" in the 2nd year of life supports vocabulary and kindergarten…

Children with conduct problems are at greater risk for internalizing problems. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine trajectories of internalizing problems among children with and without clinically significant conduct problems during the transition to adolescence; and (2) identify how academic achievement, peer rejection, parent…

Executive functions (EFs) and intelligence were examined concurrently and longitudinally in 126 preschool children. EF was assessed using the Flexible Item Selection Task (FIST) and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P). Children's intelligence was assessed using the Verbal and Performance subtests from…

A critical skill in emergent writing is the developing ability to take the perspective of different readers; however, the precursors of this skill have not yet been identified. In this longitudinal study, 105 children (90 after attrition) were tested at 3 time points: pre-kindergarten (3-4 years old, n = 105), kindergarten (5 years old, n = 97),…

The present study investigated the contribution of morphological and cognate awareness to the development of English and French vocabulary knowledge among young minority and majority language children who were enrolled in a French immersion program. Participating children (n = 75) were assessed in English and French on measures of morphological…

We explored longitudinal effects of a two-generation preschool programme on receptive language scores in children (n = 78) at age 10 years, living with low income. Scores at four time-points, programme intake, exit, age 7, and age 10 years were measured using the "Peabody picture vocabulary test" (3rd ed.). Effects of culture…

Previous studies have demonstrated that various psychosocial risks are associated with poor cognitive functioning in children, and these risks frequently cluster together. In the current longitudinal study, we tested a model in which it was hypothesized that cumulative psychosocial adversity of mothers would have deleterious effects on children's…

The current study examined income disparities in a comprehensive set of preschoolers' outcomes (verbal ability, developmental skills, number knowledge, and hyperactivity) and the factors that could reduce differences in outcomes between children in the lowest and highest household income quartiles. Findings using Cycle 6 data from the Canadian…

Objective: Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is now recognized as being the main cause of severe traumatic brain injury in infancy. However, our understanding of the impact of this type of abuse on child development remains sketchy. The main objective of the current study was therefore to shed light on the cognitive dysfunctions that are particular to…