Differences in children's math knowledge emerge as early as the start of kindergarten, and persist throughout schooling. Previous research implicates the importance of early parent number talk in the development of math competency. Yet we understand little about the factors that relate to variation in early parent number talk. The current study…

Young children have an overall preference for child-directed speech (CDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS), and its structural features are thought to facilitate language learning. Many studies have supported these findings, but less is known about processing of CDS at short, sub-second timescales. How do the moment-to-moment dynamics of CDS…

Few studies have explored autism spectrum disorder (ASD) screening in the first year of life. The current investigation examines the psychometric properties of the Infant-Toddler Checklist starting in the first year of life in a sample at elevated and average risk for ASD based on family history. 283 participants were followed from 6 to 36 months,…

Boost young children's problem-solving skills and set them up for long-term success with the second edition of this practical guidebook! Enhanced with new lessons and timely topics--including equity and the use of makerspaces--this book will help you get all children ready for kindergarten by teaching them basic practices of engineering design and…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) collaborates with the Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) community and allied partners to create resources (such as publications like Young Exceptional Children [YEC] and The Journal of Early Intervention [JEI] and products like The DEC Recommended Practices and Learning Decks)…

We report two studies that investigated the continuity and stability of maternal mind-mindedness (MM) across different times, contexts, and relationships, and also examined child communicative development in the second year of life. Three main findings emerged. First, the percentages of appropriate mind-related comments (AMRC) decreased between 16…

Designed to spark an interchange of ideas, this book presents early childhood education as a nuanced, shifting, and complex field. Readers will bear witness to several decades of the lived experiences of influential leaders engaged in conversation about seven major topics: systems of early care and education, diversity and children's rights,…

Attention deficit/hyperactivity behaviors in children are often unnoticed until they reach school age; however, evidence suggests that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tends to develop at an earlier age. Recent studies also indicate that perinatal maternal mental health is associated with ADHD symptoms in offspring. This study…

Despite consensus on the importance of early detection and intervention for autistic children, health disparities exist, limiting access to timely services. One specific service type in the United States is Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part C Early Intervention programs, which are federally funded interventions for children…

Emotion dysregulation is a common challenge for autistic individuals, yet research examining early emotion regulation processes in autism is lacking. The present study examined negative emotion expression and parent-child co-regulatory processes in 18-month-old younger siblings of autistic children (children with an "elevated likelihood"…

This snapshot provides updated findings about parents' child care and early education (CCEE) search and decision-making using the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Household (HH) Survey. We present findings on (1) the prevalence of CCEE searches among household respondents, usually parents, that reported on children under…

The possibilities and challenges of digital technologies for young children are widely documented. However, parental guidelines place greater emphasis upon potential harms, advocating that parents limit their children's screen time, or advise that parents simply read digital texts as they would a printed text. Our study investigated 22 Australian…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, P.L. 108-446) is primarily thought of as the nation's special education law, and Part B, which focuses on providing special education and related services to children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 years old, is the largest part of the IDEA both in terms of populations served…

This study examined long-term mediating effects of the "smalltalk" parenting intervention on children's effortful control at school age (7.5 years; 2016-2018). In 2010-2012, parents (96% female) of toddlers (N = 1201; aged 12-36 months; 52% female) were randomly assigned to either: standard playgroup, "smalltalk" playgroup…

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screening at 18 and 24 months. However, utility of rescreening at 24 months, after a negative 18-month screening, remains unknown. We identified cases of ASD detected at 24 months after a negative 18-month screening (i.e., Catch-24 group; n = 10) and compared them to…