Research Findings: Temperament, which can be assessed as early as 3 months, is associated with school readiness and later academic achievement in children born full term. Although children born preterm demonstrate a dysregulated temperament and are at significant risk for lower school readiness, we found no studies investigating whether early…

This study examined maternal support of children's math learning at 36 months (n = 140) as a mediator of the association between early childhood family income and children's counting and calculation skills at 4½ and 6-7 years. Family income was associated with this measure of children's math school readiness, but the association was almost…

Children's lexical processing speed at 18 to 25 months of age has been linked to concurrent and later language abilities. In the current study, we extend this finding to children aged 36 months. Children (N = 126) participated in a lexical processing task in which they viewed two static images on noun trials (e.g., an ear of corn and a hat), or…

The present study used a subsample of 450 children from the ECLS-B data set to examine longitudinal associations between multiple features of nonparental care at age 2 and socioemotional development at kindergarten entry, taking into account parents' attitudes and behaviors, family composition, poverty status, and child characteristics.…

The effects of high- versus low-quality child care during 2 developmental periods (infant-toddlerhood and preschool) were examined using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Propensity score matching was used to account for differences in families who used different combinations of child…

Using nationally representative data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; N = 5,107), this study assessed prospective connections between children's early education and care (EEC) experiences from infancy through preschool and their cognitive and behavioral functioning in 1st grade. Incorporating 6 waves of data, analyses…

This paper aims to test the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1 (H1): Everything else the same, high quality infant-toddler care will increase children's cognitive scores immediately (i.e. at 24 months of age). However, without subsequent high quality preschool, children with high quality infant-toddler care will not have higher cognitive and…

The present study examined the associations between stable nonresidence among never married parents (compared with coresident parents) and outcomes for toddlers using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Birth Cohort. The authors found small to medium negative associations between stable nonresidence and toddlers' positive social behavior and…

This research study investigated the at-home literacy behaviors and experiences of young children before and during their kindergarten year. Research has shown that the frequency and quality of at-home literacy experiences can either hinder or hamper children as their formal schooling begins (Fletcher, Cross, Tanney, Schneider, & Finch, 2008;…

This study examined the relations between the home language and literacy environment and emergent skill to use academic language in a sample of 58 3-year-old Dutch children, focusing on production and comprehension in 3 genres: personal narrative, impersonal narrative, and instruction in play. Regarding production, children used academic language…

Research Findings: The objective of this study was to understand how two dimensions of parent-child book-reading quality--instructional and emotional--interact and relate to learning in a sample of low-income infants and toddlers. Participants included 81 parents and their children from Early Head Start programs in the rural Midwest. Correlation…

Home environment quality is a well-known predictor of school readiness (SR), although the underlying processes are little known. This study tested two hypotheses: (a) child language mediates the association between home characteristics (socioeconomic status and exposure to reading) and SR, and (b) genetic factors partly explain the association…

Research Findings: Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, this article relates neighborhood characteristics to the type of child care used in families with toddlers and preschoolers (N = 1,121; representative of children in Chicago in 1996-1998). Neighborhood structural disadvantage was assessed via U.S. Census…