Current conceptualizations of process quality in early childhood education highlight a variety of global classroom indicators that directly link to improved child outcomes. This conceptualization may need to be extended, however, to facilitate more meaningful change in children's development and readiness for kindergarten. To enhance our current…

This article describes ways for early educators to support communication of young children with complex communication needs (CCN) in classrooms through a simple three-step process. First, identify the child's preferred activities and items. Second, identify vocabulary and prepare the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. Third,…

In this article, the authors adapt the "Family Musicking Framework" (Koops, 2020) for use in exploring teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms (birth to age 6). The Family Musicking Framework contextualizes family musical interactions using the paired concepts of musical parenting/parenting musically and practical…

Social competence is the ability to achieve interpersonal goals by engaging in social behaviors that are appropriate and context-specific. It develops early in childhood as children interact with others and it is a significant contributor to children's social development. The purpose of this article is to describe a practical method for how early…

Research on educational activities generally focuses on the importance of positive emotions in the interaction between teachers and children. This article will focus on the challenging emotions that can arise when kindergarten staff interact with the children. The empirical material has been collected from a qualitative study of conflicts between…

Science instruction is a critical aspect of early learning. Teachers can support young children's learning about scientific concepts through the use of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which is a proactive approach to instructional planning that helps ensure success for all learners. This teaching techniques article offers…

The preschool years are fundamental for children's social development as they navigate novel and complex social situations, which include interaction sequences and relationship features. As young children notice aspects of human difference, they develop schemas by classifying and situating attributes (e.g., skin color, hair type, communication…

High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes can strengthen the social, emotional and cognitive skills that are crucial for future learning and wellbeing. Teacher-child interactions are the most vital component of ECEC service quality in terms of children's social-emotional functioning. However, many children are not…

According to the recent estimate reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018), 1 in 59 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of the core characteristics of ASD is a social communication deficit (American Psychiatric Association, 2017). Young children with ASD may exhibit early difficulties in…

After a first peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, early childhood education and care (ECEC) again plays an important role in the educational system in Austria. Over 90% of 3-5-year-old children attend non-familial institutions such as preschools. A consequence of this development is that new challenges arise, which have become the subject of…

In 2017, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funded Mathematica to conduct the Infant and Toddler Teacher and Caregiver Competencies (ITTCC) project. The project aims to examine existing efforts across states, institutions of higher education, professional organizations, and…

Second Substitute Senate Bill 5903 (2019) directed the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to contract with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants, i.e., Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA WA), to provide statewide Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) to Early…

The twofold purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of fostering social competence within inclusive preschool programs and to describe a model for training teachers in research-based social facilitation strategies so as to promote social interaction between children with and without disabilities. This model was developed to address…

Excellent teachers in early childhood programs are intentional in all they do with and for children. They do not assume that children's development will happen without support, encouragement, and scaffolding or without presenting appropriate challenges for the children. Intentionality is a key message in "Developmentally Appropriate Practice…

Young preschoolers (ages 2-3) have not been the focus of story drama discussions, as some developmental beliefs suggest that this kind of curriculum is beyond their reach--children in this age group do not yet engage in pretend play, are not generally interested in organized social interaction, and their language skills are too immature. In his…