Western conceptions of child development and the models of early education they engender predominantly shape services for young children in the first eight years of life all over Africa. This chapter brings a reconceptualist perspective to the critique of Kenya's continuing failure to ground early childhood programs and services in local cultural…

Children develop linguistic competencies during interactions with more knowledgeable others. Consequently, one way to support this development is by enhancing the home literacy environment (HLE) in which children live. In this study a non-intensive intervention procedure was developed to improve HLE and linguistic competencies of 125 German…

A review of the effects of generational poverty on the development of children and the well-being of their families is compared with nine years of experience by Generation One, a non-profit organization that operates a school and a revitalization program in the Third Ward of Houston, Texas. Analysis of student behavior and the level and quality of…

The home environment, which includes the level of organization and stability in the home, plays a crucial role in the development of executive function and oral language skills. For children who live in a low-SES environment, executive function and oral language acquisition are inferior compared to that of students living at other economic levels.…

Research conducted over recent decades show that parental involvement plays a significant role in children's academic achievement as well as their cognitive, social and emotional development. For effective parental involvement, understanding the conceptualization of early childhood educators should be significant. This research investigated the…

Eleven million children younger than age five are in some form of child care in the United States. The "Parents and the High Cost of Child Care: 2015 Report" summarizes the cost of child care across the country, examines the importance of child care as a workforce support and as an early learning program, and explores the effect of high…

This article reviews Diane Ehrensaft's "Gender Born, Gender Made: Raising Healthy Gender-Nonconforming Children", a thoughtful and practical guide that can help parents, other family members, and therapists better understand and support children and youth whom the author refers to as "gender creative." Ehrensaft's work is at the forefront of a…

Microtransitions can be identified as those exchanges that occur during everyday life when family members negotiate a change in their interactions. This study aims to highlight how certain aspects of family functioning during microtransitions could influence the development of children's socio-emotional competence in their interactions with peers.…

This study examined home environment conditions (housing quality, material resources, formal and informal learning materials) and their relations with the Human Development Index (HDI) in 28 developing countries. Home environment conditions in these countries varied widely. The quality of housing and availability of material resources at home were…

This study investigated whether the amount and timing of group-based childcare between birth and 51 months were predictive of cognitive development at 51 months, taking into account other non-parental childcare, demographic characteristics, cognitive development at 18 months, sensitive parenting and a stimulating home environment. Children's…

Challenging behavior often impacts a child's education along with peer and family relationships. It is estimated that 10-30% of all typically developing preschool children have chronic, mild to moderate levels of behavior problems. Given the significant impact that challenging behavior can have on a child's development, relationships, and future…

Recent re-conceptualisation of paternal involvement (Pleck, J. H. (2010). Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes. In M. Lamb (Ed.), "The role of the father in child development" (5th ed., pp. 67-107). London: Wiley), while proving fruitful, has yet to be applied to investigations into…

Although we rarely hear about it, children sometimes aggress against their parents. This is a difficult topic to study because abused parents and abusive children are both reluctant to admit the occurrence of child-to-parent aggression. There are very few research studies on this topic, and even fewer theoretical explanations of why it occurs. We…

Engaging families in their children's growth and learning can support the healthy social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of young children. These affirmative relationships also support positive life long outcomes for children. The Kansas Family Engagement and Partnership Standards for Early Childhood provide guidance for families,…

The home literacy environment (HLE) predicts language and reading development in typically developing children; relatively little is known about its association with literacy development in children at family-risk of dyslexia. We assessed the HLE at age 4 years, precursor literacy skills at age 5, and literacy outcomes at age 6, in a sample of…