Children are born to play and are born as intuitive scientists and use numeracy and literacy in their play. Playing is an essential apprenticeship for developing scientific (STEM) literacy. Observing children spontaneously playing reveals that they are experiencing STEM in action. They are observing phenomena, asking questions, solving problems,…

There is a persistent suggestion that the lack of men who choose to work with young children (0-5 years) is detrimental to children's learning and development. This study analysed whether practitioners believed that men who work with young children adopt specific approaches within a play pedagogy. Practitioner beliefs about how their gender…

Much of the research into factors that affect children's school performance has focused on parental involvement rather than the nature of children's activities undertaken in school. More research is therefore needed to examine the kinds of activities that affect performance and, in particular, whether the degree of involvement children experience…

This study sought an answer to the question whether the digitalization of play is technological mutation or digital evolution. To this end, 14 studies published over the last five years were reviewed and discussed under four themes, namely digital technology and children, parents', and teachers' perceptions of digital technology, screen effects,…

The quality of early childhood programs plays a crucial role in improving outcomes for children. Play-based practices are considered a vital component in early childhood development as they offer opportunities for children to learn and grow. Despite this, the field is still trying to understand the role of teachers in facilitating play and their…

Teachers face a growing call for implementing inquiry-based teaching and learning in a current pedagogical environment that contradicts this through educational practices that silo content, disseminate knowledge, and produce classrooms of passive learners. We address a hot topic in the United States on how a push for more "academics" is…

This study explores "toddling style" in adult-child interaction. Toddling style was conceptualised by Gunvor Løkken in relation to toddlers' playful and social style in peer groups; however, adults' position was rarely explored. Therefore, this article aims to examine adults' emotional and playful support in creating, maintaining and…

Many approaches to reading that are common in schools focus narrowly on the skills and strategies that comprise the technical ability to read. In contrast, attention to reading identities prompts teachers to center children's ideas about what reading is and who they are as readers. In this article, the author draws on his own experiences with…

In this research, the playfulness of 4- and 5-years-old 181 children, 100 boys and 81 girls, attending a kindergarten in Turkey, was examined. The research was designed according to relational-correlational survey/research model, one of the quantitative research methods; the data were collected using Personal Information Form and Children's…

Recent findings from the Kids Activity and Learning Study complement North Carolina's multidimensional approach to promoting school readiness by emphasizing the integrated nature of motor and cognitive development in early childhood. Children whose motor skills improved the most over the course of an academic year also tended to demonstrate the…

With the decline in Australian school children's mathematics skills, the spotlight is shining on the quality of early childhood mathematics teaching and learning in the preschool years. Spatial thinking--which includes spatial orientation and spatial visualization--contributes to early mathematical thinking and children have the capacity to…

The ability to construct shared meaning with peers is important for young children's social and linguistic development. Previous studies have mainly focused on shared meaning-making within cooperative pretend play with little mention of other childhood activities that might promote intersubjectivity. This study investigated the group play that…

This paper reports on the perceptions early childhood teachers hold about digital technologies, children and childhood and how their perceptions influence their pedagogical decision-making. Symbolic interactionism was the theoretical lens used to give insights and meanings to the early childhood teachers views, experiences and ascribed meanings.…

There is a prevailing myth that young children do not notice race (Doucet & Adair, 2013; Hirschfeld, 2012). While, in fact, infants as early as three months old notice race (Bar-Haim et al., 2006; Kelly et al., 2005). If numerous early childhood educators find discussing race and ethnicity inappropriate for young children, children could be…

This article explores gendered processes in preschool science through Barad's agential realism [2007. "Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics of the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning." London: Duke Universal Press], and as such, the study makes both theoretical and empirical contributions in how it combines perspectives from…