The importance of children experiencing a successful transition to school is well established in research literature. Central to this is including the children themselves in the conversation about their learning and ensuring they develop a sense of fit and belonging to their new school environment. The findings shared in this paper sit within a…

"Research Findings:" Playfulness is an important personality tendency with an important role in the well-being, mental health, and various other aspects of an individual's life. Previous studies have shown that the development of children's playfulness is related to parents' playfulness. However, limited research has been conducted on…

The goal of this study was to track the progress of Italian children at risk for school failure enrolled in preschools based on the Reggio-Emilia approach. Risk factors considered included family socioeconomic status (SES), child receptive language, and child gender. Participants were 211 children (Mage = 60.8 months, 116 girls) in Reggio-inspired…

Background: Socio-economic status (SES) is a powerful predictor of attainment. Research has identified multiple mechanisms that underpin the effect of SES on attainment. For example, self-regulation (processes through which individuals direct and control their attention, emotion and behaviour) has been identified as one mechanism mediating the SES…

The aim of the study is to develop a Likert-type scale to determine the play preferences of children attending pre-school education. The research was designed and carried out according to the survey research model. Data collected from 3 different study groups were used in the scale development process. The study groups consist of parents of…

In this article, we analyse overarching patterns of social stratification in, and quality differences between, Swedish preschools. Drawing on a Bourdieusian social classification scheme, we evidence in what type of preschools different social groups enrol their children in, and to what extent Swedish preschool children encounter different levels…

This study, aiming to reveal preschool children's mental models of their environment, was carried out with the participation of 225 children aged 36-72 months attending 8 different preschool education institutions. It is based on qualitative research designed around a case study. The Word Association Test and Drawing were used as the data…

Museums are traditionally considered public service settings with educational functions and practical learning resources for students. Early childhood teachers' intention to implement class visits to museums is still very low. This paper synthesizes the theory of planned behavior model (TPB) and core determinants of the technology acceptance model…

In this article, a collaborative Deleuze-Guattarian-inspired cartography is produced with preschool practitioners to explore the assemblages of teaching in preschool. The aim is to map how teaching comes into being in preschool planning and reflection practices following the movements of territorialisation and re-/de-territorialisation. Unwinding…

This research aims to understand Turkish children's views on why protecting the environment is important and to identify the role of schools in the rationales that underlie these views. The research was conducted with 18 preschoolers from two schools, one a state school providing traditional education and the other a private school blended with…

Exposing children to STEM education from an early age increases their curiosity and interest in STEM careers. Thanks to STEM education, children learn by working like little scientists and putting forward their own scientific products. Based on this approach, the aim of this research is to raise awareness among preschool children about the concept…

Research has shown that children's responses differ depending on the questions asked. These differences alter the questions that can be posed to children in an educational environment and the expectations about their possible responses. Understanding children's questions and the abstract level of their answers is key to support their development…

Using behavioral network analysis, the present study aimed to examine the relation between various cognitive-linguistic skills and Chinese character reading in children from preschool to primary school. A cohort of 172 Chinese children (41.3% female; M[subscript age] = 5.74 ± 0.32 years) were followed from the end of kindergarten (T1) to first…

The Montessori method offers an alternative approach to public and independent schooling. In the Greek educational system, the Montessori method is mainly applied in preschool and primary educational contexts. The main research objective was to investigate the early mathematical competence of students aged 4-7 years old attending a Montessori…

The aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of how preschool teachers can use representations of different kinds to bring fore the mathematical content that may be afforded in pictures and narrative designed for numerical learning purposes. Seventy-three video documentations of reading sessions with 27 toddlers (1-3 years of age) over the…