The benefits of musical play in cognitive development have recently received an upsurge of interest in the field of early childhood music education research. This study examines the positive learning transfer from a musical play early-learning system® to cognitive development. Specifically, we investigated the effects of early musically enriched…

This study describes the development and evaluation of a behavioral parent training protocol via telecommunication for three parents of preschool children with autism, with limited access to behavioral expertise. A single-subject, multiple baseline experimental design across child behaviors, replicated across parents, was used to evaluate the…

This study was conducted as a program evaluation of an existing social skills program. A review of literature identified a limited number of empirical studies on group-based social skills training for young children with social delays. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social skills groups as well as the effects of homework…

Researchers, educators, professional organizations, administrators, parents, and policy makers have increased their involvement in the assessment and evaluation of early childhood education programs. This interest has developed swiftly during the last decades. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National…

Low-income preschool children face many risks to their social-emotional development that can affect their school experience and social outcomes for years to come. Although there are some promising approaches to improving young children's social-emotional competence, the evidence base is limited, particularly on the effectiveness of these…

To ensure the best possible outcomes for young children with and without disabilities, early childhood educators must enter the classroom ready to conduct all types of early childhood assessment--including determining if children need additional services, planning and monitoring instruction, and determining program effectiveness. They'll get the…

Recent research has shown that behavioral skills training with in situ training is an effective strategy to teach children the safety skills needed if they ever encounter an unattended firearm. The current study evaluated the use of parents as trainers to increase the efficiency of training. The success of parent training on their children's…

The "THOMAS" course (The Hampshire Outline for Meeting the needs of under fives on the Autistic Spectrum) is a four-day training programme to enhance the learning of young children with impairments in social understanding, communication and play by increasing the use of appropriate interventions. It has been supporting families and…

Recently, nonmaternal center-based child care has been linked to problem behavior in young children (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2003). In response, a comprehensive program to promote prosocial skills was evaluated in a classroom of 16 children between the ages of 3 years and 5 years. Classroom observations were…

Background: In 2000 the so-called "Reception" class was re-conceived (in curricular terms, at least) as the second and final year of the Foundation Stage, a distinctive educational phase for children aged 3 until entry to key stage 1 at 5 or 6 years old. The "Curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage" endorses a play-based,…

Play for Peace (PFP) is an international initiative bringing together children, youth, and organizations from communities in conflict, using cooperative play to create compassion and peace between cultures that have a history of conflict. A 2-year study examined PFP's history and methodology and conducted a program assessment. Data were gathered…

These conference proceedings comprise 19 papers and the plenary session presented at the Early Years Schooling Conference held in Melbourne, Australia. The plenary session was "A Developmental Approach to Teaching Young Children" conducted by Lilian Katz. The keynote addresses and breakout sessions were: (1) "Developmental Learning:…