Increasing amounts of screen time among young children has become a growing concern. Childcare centres maybe one important setting to intervene. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of screen time and screen time policies within childcare centres as well as the association between these policies and screen time among toddlers (19-35 months)…

Whether high quantities of center-based care cause behavior problems is a controversial question. Studies using covariate adjustment for selection factors have detected relations between center care and behavior problems, but studies with stronger internal validity less often find such evidence. We examined whether within-child changes in hours in…

Job crafting offers an exciting way to understand how people engineer their jobs to create more meaningful work. Work is meaningful if workers perceive their work as significant and serving an important purpose. To examine how four early childhood educators individually and collaboratively craft their work, the study reported here examines data…

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of food and nutrition regulations in developing healthy behaviors of young children, this study profiled the food and nutrient contribution of snacks, the foods and drinks consumed outside of main meals, in the diets of a sample of children between the ages of 3-5 years overall and in regulated child care…

This study examined the longitudinal evolution of 3 to 5 year old children's level of engagement in Quebec's early childcare centres. A latent transition analysis was conducted on child engagement measured by the inCLASS. Results revealed three engagement profiles at ages 3 and 5: (1) low engagement profile; (2) low- medium engagement profile; (3)…

Research Findings: A growing number of stakeholders in early childhood education (ECE) rely on self-assessment to assess and improve the quality of ECE. In this systematic review, we investigated the reliability and validity of self-assessment in ECE, summarizing findings from 27 publications. We meta-analytically synthesized findings from 25…

In the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector there is a move to reduce oversight costs by reducing the frequency of quality assessments in providers who score highly consistently across time. However, virtually nothing is known about the stability of ECEC quality assessments over time. Using a validated measure of overall classroom…

While the importance of secure relationships between children and caregivers has been well established in the literature as an essential feature of healthy child development, the influence of animal-human relationships on healthy development and attachment is also beginning to gain attention. A burgeoning literature supports the developmental and…

This research aimed to examine the dialogical engagement of early childhood educators in an artmaking space. A descriptive-qualitative research model was used for this phenomenological case study. The study's findings reveal that pedagogical listening can facilitate dialogue among educators and children. Moreover, when educators are in this…

This study aimed to describe the quality of interactions between early childhood educators (ECEs) and children, as observed in childcare centers and as reported by early childhood educators (N = 15) working with 5 year-old children. To assess ECEs' practices related to the quality of these interactions as observed in childcare centers…

In Ontario, Canada, the movement toward inclusive education has led to a resource consultant model in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The purpose of this narrative case study was to analyze participant experiences involving a daycare setting previously attended by a young deaf child who benefits from American Sign Language (ASL).…

This article in the "Economic Insights" series examines participation in early learning and child care for young children in Canada. Child care is an important economic contributor for families since provision of non-parental child care is a necessity for some parents to engage in the labour market or to study. In addition, child care…

This paper explores a framework of family ecological theory for overcoming the challenges facing family childcare educators (FCC educators), who care for small groups of children in their own home. Pathways to overcoming these barriers through an ecological approach will be outlined by critically examining current research on these challenges. In…

Realist evaluation (RE) is increasingly adopted to assess the effectiveness of social programs. RE goes beyond measurement of outcomes, providing insight into how and why programs work by focusing on how participants experience and respond to programs within certain contexts. A RE was conducted on Healthy Start-Départ Santé (HSDS), an early…

This study examined early childhood education and care (ECEC) utilization in Canada, focusing on use of unlicensed home child care (HCC) from an equity perspective. Data from the 2011 cycle of the General Social Survey (GSS) were used. Across Canada, parent responses reveal that 16.6% of children between the age of 12 months and entry to school…