This study investigated the direct relationship between home play opportunity and prospective school readiness, and the indirect relationships as mediated through object and social mastery motivation among Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 106 local children (44.4% girls, mean age = 60.0 months) and their parents and…

A growing number of toddlers are attending childcare institutions as part of China's establishment of its infant-toddler childcare service system. However, there is limited empirical evidence available regarding the quality of these childcare services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of teacher - child interactions in…

Research Findings: The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between social play and involvement in the outdoor preschool environment. The study included 173 children ranging in age from 3 to 6 years (M[subscript age] = 3.95, SD = 0.82) and attending 19 preschools in the Basque Country (Spain). A total of 51 teachers…

Research Findings: Preschool is a critical period during which children's development and learning exert a long-lasting impact on their school adjustment and academic outcomes. Although research on monolingual English-speaking children has identified elements of high-quality preschool experiences that can serve as the foundation for teaching all…

This study identified patterns of classroom and family experiences and developmental outcomes for young children in segregated early education. This study is based on data from a high-quality early education program serving young children from low-income households in 19 schools across the U.S. The sample included 1,521 children during the…

Research Findings: The Scottish government is in the process of transforming their early childhood learning and care landscape by doubling the number of free hours of childcare for families and by requiring that all children in care spend a significant portion of each day outdoors. Thus, the government is promoting outdoor play programs. We…

Research Findings: Community-based playgroups in low-and-middle-income countries increase access to early learning at lower cost than centers. However, evidence of effectiveness is limited. The effects of one, two, or three playgroup sessions per week on children's performance on the Early Learning Outcome Measure (ELOM) (n = 112; baseline M…

This cross-national study involved 56 toddler classrooms in Poland and the Netherlands. A cluster analysis was conducted to identify classroom profiles based on observed quality and these were compared regarding structural (group size and children-to-teacher ratio) and curriculum (e.g. pre-academics and pretend play) characteristics. In total, 224…

Preschool process quality and activity setting are considered important aspects influencing child engagement. As such, it is important to understand how educational settings can promote engagement, particularly for children with disabilities and/or at risk. This observational study describes process quality and activity setting in inclusive…

Research Findings: The current study explored the ethnotheories of 6 Chinese families regarding their young children's play in Shanghai, the most Westernized metropolis in China. A triangulation of multiple data sources was established through in-depth interviews, home visit observations, and 1-week recordings of child's daily play activities. The…

Research Findings: Three former teaching colleagues at the University of California's Harold E. Jones Child Study Center discuss an interpretative approach to child observation and assessment and how this approach was developed (1970s-2005) within this lab school's early childhood education setting. With teaching practice shaped and driven by a…

Research Findings: Environmental print provides children with their earliest print experiences. This observational study investigated the frequency of mother-child environmental print referencing and its relationship with emergent literacy. A total of 35 mothers and their children (ages 3-4 years) were videotaped interacting in an environmental…

Research Findings: Two forms of exercise play (toy mediated and non-mediated) and 2 forms of rough-and-tumble (R&T) play (chase and fighting) were examined in relation to preschoolers' peer competence. A total of 148 preschoolers (78 boys, 89 Euro-Americans) were observed during free play at their university-sponsored child care center. The…

Research Findings: The present study concerns children's behavioral adjustment in the context of pre-primary schools in Tanzania. Twenty teachers and 320 children from 20 pre-primary schools participated in the study. Teacher-child relationships, children's behavioral adjustment, and teachers' cultural beliefs were reported by teachers; classroom…

Research Findings: We examined whether "affective social competence," or the ability to effectively send and receive emotional signals and to manage one's own emotional experience, contributes to preschool children's peer relations. Forty-two previously unacquainted preschoolers were observed while participating in a week-long playschool. Greater…