Scholars theorize that "opportunity gaps" drive achievement disparities between children born into poverty versus affluence. In a 26-year longitudinal study (N = 814), we examine (a) economic disparity in children's accumulation of opportunities--from birth through high school--at home, childcare, school, afterschool, and in the…

Over the past few decades, scholars have paid attention to how PI (parental involvement) impacts children's performance at school. Hence, PI is often reduced to school-centric involvement. Moreover, several studies have shown social class differences in PI, but relatively little attention has been paid to social class differences in culturally…

Embedded learning opportunities (ELOs) are evidence-based practices that can increase the number of teaching and learning opportunities made available to children in their natural routines. Implementing ELOs is the optimal approach for parents in supporting their children's learning within the family's routines. This study assessed the feasibility…

The first years of human life are critical in all developmental areas. In these years, shared family experiences, social interaction, and safe, responsive, and nurturing environments provided to a child constitute the determining factor in their future life. The home environment is considered to be a place where the foundations of language and…

China has made significant progress in enhancing maternal and child health over the past 70 years but geographic-based disparities in early childhood development remain. This study investigated trends in urban-rural gaps in early childhood development and the factors that influence them by leveraging secondary data from the China Family Panel…

This study aimed to understand the relationship between reception children's experiences of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and their academic achievement and socio-emotional development during their first year at school in September 2020 to July 2021. This was an exploratory study combining parent and school surveys with children's…

Children's time use is a complex developmental phenomenon in need of a more in-depth, detailed understanding. The present study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of children's everyday lives in middle childhood and examine how different portfolios and patterns of daily activities occurring at home, school, and community are influenced…

Unintentional injury represents a significant health threat to children, and infancy marks a particularly vulnerable stage. This multi-method study (questionnaire, diary) measured parents' (N = 143) use of three popular home-safety practices (teaching about safety, environment modification to reduce access to hazards, supervision) and child injury…

Parents have the option of enrolling their children in the first stage of early childhood education (from 0 to 3 years of age). However, not all parents decide to do so, waiting until the second stage of early childhood education to enrol them in the education system (from 3 to 5 years of age), or even until compulsory education when their…

Despite initiatives by key actors in the last two decades, Early Childhood Development in Ghana, measured by physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional development of children up to 8 years of age, remains poor. This study aimed to assess Ghana's Early Childhood Development (ECD) status and determinants by analyzing the Ghana Multiple…

Real-time attention coordination in parent-toddler dyads is often studied in tightly controlled laboratory settings. These studies have demonstrated the importance of joint attention in scaffolding the development of attention and the types of dyadic behaviors that support early language learning. Little is known about how often these behaviors…

Research Findings: Parents' academic socialization of their young children is a critical yet understudied area, especially in the context of vulnerable parent-child dyads. The current longitudinal study examined factors that informed mothers' beliefs and practices concerning children's kindergarten readiness in a sample of 204 Mexican-origin…

By the time children in low- and middle-income countries start primary school, large socioeconomic disparities are evident in children's learning and development. Both pre-primary and home environments can play important roles in influencing school readiness and can contribute to disparities in early childhood development, but there is limited…

This study, using longitudinal data from the South African Birth to Twenty Plus study, assessed associations between early childcare quality in the home between six months and two years, household SES and cognitive development at age 5. Childcare quality was assessed using measures of maternal responsiveness and cognitive stimulation. Cognitive…

Across geographically diverse samples, engagement in stimulating activities with young children is considered an important element of parenting that promotes cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional development. Indicators of stimulation activities are often summed, based on the assumption that more stimulation is better and that different…