Recent work suggests that differences in functional brain development are already identifiable in 6- to 9-month-old infants from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Investigation of early SES-related differences in neuro-cognitive functioning requires the recruitment of large and diverse samples of infants, yet it is often difficult to…

The use and understanding of ordinal terms (e.g., "first" and "second") is a developmental milestone that has been relatively unexplored in the preschool age range. In the present study, 4- and 5-year-olds watched as a reward was placed in one of three train cars labeled by the experimenter with an ordinal (e.g.,…

This study examines "First 10 Schools and Communities"--coordinated efforts to improve teaching, learning, and care during the first decade of children's lives. First 10 initiatives take two basic forms. First 10 School Hubs are anchored by a single elementary school, which provides direct support to families and collaborates with nearby…

Coupled with reflection, play leads to the development of thinking dispositions and promotes deep learning and understanding. The twenty-first century world demands that children learn how to learn by becoming reflective, self-regulating inquirers capable of metacognition (thinking about thinking). This manuscript aims to analyse how young minds…

This article explores qualitative shadowing as an interpretivist methodology, and explains how two researchers participating simultaneously in data collection using a video recorder, contextual interviews and video-stimulated recall interviews, conducted a qualitative shadowing study at six early childhood centres in Norway. This paper emerged…

The goal of this research is to compare curricular expectations regarding caring behaviour in the USA and Turkey and to analyse the practical implication by investigating boys' and girls' caring behaviour. Conceptual framework of this research is underpinned in philosophical ideals of ethics of care and is grounded in theories stressing the…

Family involvement, an important resource for early learning among children in poverty, is a primary focus of the Head Start preschool program. The current study examined the extent to which families in Head Start were involved in children's learning at home, in the community, and at school, as well as the child, family, and center factors that…

Providing high-quality education and care for young children at a historically Black university in rural South Africa was a challenging task. But despite many obstacles, two teacher educators (an American and a South African) worked together, partnered with a surprising collection of others, seized every possible opportunity, and persisted, seeing…

Since 1809, there has almost always been a school in Macworth Point (now Falmouth), Maine, just north of Portland. In 1916 a brick, one-room schoolhouse was built on this property and named Pine Grove School. Unfortunately, it burned down a few days before the school opened and was rebuilt, and then expanded in 1941. In 1984, after a brief…

This article features The SPARK Center, a program of Boston Medical Center, located in Mattapan, Massachusetts. The Center has pioneered a whole-child approach to address the multi-dimensional needs of Boston's most at-risk children, recognizing that vulnerable children need more than educational supports to flourish. The Center's integrated model…

What is it like being a male early childhood educator? What advice do men in the field today have for men entering the profession? This article presents what six men at different points in their careers--a school principal, an education consultant, an English-as-a-second-language specialist, an infant/toddler teacher, a military child development…

Through "teacher research", teachers engage in the systematic study of their own practice to answer questions they have about teaching and learning, and their own effectiveness. This book explores what teacher research in the early childhood setting looks like, why it is important to the field of early childhood education, and how…

In 2004, the author had the pleasure of joining the staff of New Day Children's Center in Watertown, New York, and a huge group of community volunteers in building the center's playscape. This past summer, she was able to visit Watertown again so she went to check on the progress of the center's playscape. In this article, she shares several…

It started with a dream: to create a national best practices teaching and learning center that would not only provide the best available care and education to children ages 0 to 5 years old, but would also serve as a model for adult learners and like-minded entities and individuals in the early education arena. Committed to elevating the quality…

This paper explores how early childhood development practitioners running centre-based programmes with children aged 3-6 years address the needs of an increasing number of children from diverse cultural backgrounds in their care. This is important as early childhood is a critical moment in which to create a positive awareness about diversity. A…