Research has consistently established the positive impact of sharing books with young children. Evidence suggests several important factors when evaluating book sharing with young children, including the quality of educator practice = and the nature of groupings, as well as the frequency and duration of book sharing sessions and access to books.…

"Research Findings": The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand parents' perceptions of changes in early care and education (ECE) in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Thirty-three parents of young children who attend three different types of ECE programs (i.e. kindergartens, childcare centers, and…

Researchers of early childhood educators' practice have noted the usefulness of applying various conceptual and methodological resources to create accounts of complexity. This article contributes to an under-researched area, providing evidence of multi-tasking and task rotation as aspects of the complexity of early childhood educators' practice.…

Despite the acknowledged complexity and time pressures of early childhood educators' work, very few studies have examined the nature of this work, minute-by-minute, over the working day. This paper reports on data gathered through 10,155 time-use diary (TUD) records provided by 321 educators participating in the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators…

This study investigated children's cooperative problem solving (CPS) behaviors during play in classrooms and associated influencing factors (school, age, and gender) in a Chinese kindergarten and U.S. early learning center. Four- and five-year-old participants (n = 39) were from one Chinese kindergarten and one U.S. center. They were video…

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global health issue that affects significant proportions of women and girls. Despite research showing that children understand and perform stereotypical gender norms from as young as 3 years, addressing gender with young children is controversial. Programs that aim to teach gender fairness and respectful…

Despite widespread availability, accessibility and affordability of early years settings in the Maltese context, the quality of services within childcare and kindergarten has never been explored. This study presents the perspectives of 436 practitioners from 50 childcare or kindergarten settings who were invited to reflect upon their understanding…

Early childhood assessment in Australia is guided by Australia's Early Years Learning Framework and a 'storied' approach. This article argues that Australia's policy and practice discourses of assessment in early childhood education lack clarity. The article situates early childhood assessment practice within Australia's curriculum, policy and…

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore cognitive performance and visual motor integration, and investigate the relationship between them in preschool children in a community. Forty-nine participants were selected by stratified random sampling from a local community school and community child development center in Thailand. The instruments…

Inhibitory control is a core executive function that develops during childhood and is measured with tasks that require the inhibition of a dominant response. The current study examined the diagnostic value of using response accuracy and latency in a simple inhibitory control test, the computerized Pointing-Stroop Task (cPST), for kindergarten…

Self-care ability and social skills are potential areas of difficulty for preschool children. However, values about young children's self-care ability are different worldwide. This longitudinal study examined the influence of early self-care ability on social skills at the end of the preschool years. Participants were 509 children recruited from…

In this research, feminist post-structuralism and queer theory were used to examine Australian early childhood educators' views on children's gender identity development, and the content on gender in the Australian Government's Early Years Learning Framework. The methodology and study design were based upon qualitative phenomenological research…

This study of South Korea's response to COVID-19 has three purposes. First, it uses document analysis to examine policies, strategies, and resources offered by the South Korean government and public organizations to support young children and families during the first 6 months of the pandemic. Next, it uses open-ended surveys with 30 directors of…

Parental pressure to include formalised school-type literacy lessons has been reported as a factor influencing the types of phonics instruction young children encounter in the prior-to-school years. Parents and early childhood teachers support effective phonics instruction through guided play-based learning in the prior-to-school years. Few…

The study presented in this article is part of a larger study called Progressive Feedback (blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate), which is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) research and development project. The aim of this article is to find out: (1) how children's tested creative thinking abilities, fluency, originality and imagination…