Several decades of research has found that early education and care can have a positive effect on children's cognitive, behavioural and social outcomes, particularly if it is of high quality, and particularly for disadvantaged children. However, less is known about the optimum number of hours, including whether this differs by socio-economic…

Little is known about the modes of active commuting to and from school (ACS) in toddlers (2-3 years old). The aims of the present study are threefold: (a) to describe the modes of transport to and from early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions in toddlers; (b) to analyze the role of different barriers and neighbourhood…

The purpose of this study was to (1) explore demands and resources among centre-based and Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) early childhood education (ECE) caregivers, and (2) investigate how these factors are associated with the quality of caregiver-child relationships. ECE caregivers (n = 257) completed a survey that assessed demands, resources,…

Computational thinking (CT) has been regarded as an essential skill set that students should acquire from their early years of life. As a thinking practice applicable to problem-solving processes, it has been argued that CT can be demonstrated and incorporated into other disciplines. While most studies have focused on CT integration with science,…

Young children (birth to age 5) are more likely to be expelled or suspended than school-aged children, but we know comparatively little about the precursors to and prevention of exclusion in early childhood settings. Furthermore, what research has been conducted has not been systematically synthesized to inform policy and funding decisions. The…

Families face challenging decisions about early care and education (ECE) for their children. Decisions about what is best for each child and family are constrained by family and contextual factors and are prone to disruptions. This study provides a descriptive look at patterns of ECE settings children were in the year prior to kindergarten,…

Past research has found that intergenerational programmes can benefit the social and emotional development of participants in the early years. This paper presents a systematic review of studies that address the social and emotional outcomes of young children (aged between 1 and 6 years) who participate in intergenerational programmes. Objective:…

Chronic absenteeism in early childhood is associated with numerous adverse outcomes throughout childhood and adolescence. Interventions are needed to prevent chronic absenteeism and support child development in early education. The present study investigated the effect of Primary Project, a school-based prevention program, on average school…

This paper reports on an investigation into the potential effects of the Symbol Literacy Approach (SLA) on the metaphorical reasoning of 25 five-year-old children attending a Maltese Catholic School. This was implemented via six pedagogical activities comprising the 'St. Michael Project', which sought to prompt the children's symbolic engagement…

The purpose of this research was to study and compare children's collaborative behaviours through organising experiences based on the engineering design process. This research was conducted in the context of Thai early childhood classroom. The study group used in this research was 30 students from Kindergarten 3/1 Anubansamsen School (The…

Using an intersectional analysis, this article critically analyses implied and expressed norms to identify perceptions of appropriate behaviour in children's play, and to explore how social communicative arenas such as Internet forums construct knowledge and values. Adults' responses to an incident that occurred amongst a group of children in…

This is a conceptual paper based on existing literature aiming to provide practical information on designing and implementing activities to promote children's computational thinking. Computational thinking is a relatively new term in early childhood education that refers to a specific problem-solving thinking process involving various logical and…

For decades, important early childhood scholars who critiqued normative ideas about early childhood frameworks, guidelines, and assessments have been silenced in highly ranked child development and early childhood journals. The qualitative methods needed to prioritize the perspectives of marginalized communities (i.e., ethnography, interview and…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore ways in which educators can provide space for critical literacy and transactional responses with literature in early childhood classrooms. This approach to early literacy involves bringing the following three theories into practice when teaching young children: Transactional Theory of Reader Response,…

This article examines young children's perceptions and ideas about their emergent bilingualism drawing on data from an ethnographic case study of the language development of a Head Start classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine the language practices of 4-year-olds in a bilingual (Spanish/English) classroom. The findings discussed in…