This paper provides evidence on the predicted benefits of maternal education, in terms of reduced child malnutrition at ages 1 and 5, focusing specifically on the complementarities with early life interventions across contexts. Using data from the Young Lives Longitudinal Study for Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, results show the expected…

Home-visit parenting programmes have been linked to positive developmental outcomes among participating children, yet few studies have explored the mechanisms behind this impact. We observe 40 home visits across seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, using an observational tool to assess visit content, coaching strategy, and the…

The prevalence of refractive error and ocular disorders among infants and young children with severe behavioral problems and developmental disorders is not well defined, particularly in developing countries. We performed a retrospective review of ophthalmic examinations performed during a National Institutes of Health--funded cohort study of very…

Southern Peruvian Quechua is an indigenous language spoken primarily in rural communities in the Peruvian Andes. The language includes a syntactic construction, "-paq", that expresses purpose or function, thus providing an opportunity to trace how parents and children with little formal education express teleological concepts. The…

The cultural components of drawing allow one to consider it a symbolic form of cultural communication. The behavioural and cognitive mechanisms involved in the cultural transmission of symbolic communications are situated in an environment embedded in cultural-historical features that should be taken into account, as they give rise to variations…

Children face many important changes in the first eight years of life, including different learning centres, social groups, roles and expectations. Their ability to adapt to such a dynamic and evolving environment directly affects their sense of identity and status within their community over the short and long term. In particular, the key turning…

Examined children's understanding of false belief, representational change, and appearance-reality distinction. Subjects were 34 Junin Quechuan children, 4 to 8 years old. Findings indicated an understanding of the appearance-reality distinction and suggested an improvement with age. Children demonstrated poor understanding of representational…

This article reports on a specific aspect of a larger study of "a day in the life" of five two-and-a-half-year-old girls in families in Canada, Italy, Peru, Thailand and the UK. The larger study involved filming each of the five children in their family contexts for one whole day and studying a number of emerging themes related to the…

The present study examines educational policy documents and programs on early childhood development and education in Peru. The author provides an evaluation of early childhood learning programs and their outcomes in different education centers in Peru. Health, nutrition, development, and participation are identified as key areas of concern. The…

This document consists of the three 1999 issues of The Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Early Childhood Matters." This periodical, addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood education, evolved from an in-house publication directed to projects funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Articles in the February 1999 edition…

This document consists of the three 2001 issues of The Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Early Childhood Matters," a periodical addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood education and including information on projects funded by the foundation. Articles in the February 2001 edition focus on fathers and include: (1)…

This digest presents the main elements of a regional seminar held in Sucre, Bolivia, to analyze and assess basic education and literacy programs that have been implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to UNICEF and UNESCO officials, some 36 experts from 11 countries participated in the meeting. Although the initial aim of the…