Obesity rates among preschool-aged children have doubled in the past 10 years, and 60% of these children spend the majority of their day in childcare facilities. Few studies have examined the quality of nutrition and physical activity practices in childcare centers as compared to family childcare homes. The purpose of this study is to determine if…

Family child care providers contend with a number of work stressors related to the dual roles of operating a small business and providing child care in their home. Research has documented many sources of work related stress for family child care providers; however, research examining family child care providers' experiences outside of the…

This article presents a "child-centered" model of the teaching-learning process--the challenge kindergarten model. The model is an attempt to deal with the limitations of the "child-centered" approach without giving up its benefits. In this model, the teachers enable the children to direct their activities and improve their…

The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the idea that every child has at least, "one hundred languages" available for expressing perspectives of the world, and one of those languages is music. While all of the arts (visual, music, dance, drama) are considered equally important in Reggio schools, the visual arts have been particularly…

This study investigates how and to what extent preservice and inservice early childhood educators are being prepared to develop mathematics skills and processes in young children, age birth to five, in one southeastern state in the United States. Utilizing a multi-phase mixed methods study and a follow-up survey central to the research question,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a federally funded early literacy project that aimed to promote the school readiness skills of preschool-age children from low income families. Through daily, explicit, and systematic instruction, the project targeted to improve preschoolers' oral language skills, phonological awareness,…

Bullying behaviors among young children are taking place in preschool classrooms and child-development centers. The author makes a case, based on bullying themes in children's literature and both qualitative and quantitative data collection with young children, for the use of children's picture books to teach character as bullying…

The focus on standardized testing in the areas of reading and mathematics in early elementary education often minimalizes science and the arts in the curriculum. The science topics of health and nutrition were integrated into the reading curriculum through read aloud books. Inclusion of creativity skills through figural transformation drawings…

Presently, there are a growing number of ethnic minority students in the primary schools in northwest England. Through sociocultural theory, this paper examines student and parent perspectives of their experiences in the schools. Using a qualitative methodology, including observation, in-depth interviews, and field notes this case study focused on…

With the rising incidence of television consumption in children, the aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of such habits on vocabulary skills in young children. Very little research has targeted a key cognitive skill--vocabulary--during the toddler years, which represent a critical developmental period. We recruited toddlers,…

Expectations for academic writing and publication have intensified in Academia. Doctoral students in colleges of education are advised to publish even before they graduate and evidence of successful publication is influential in hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions. The purpose of this research was to study the process of writing for…

Committed to being a charter school with a professional learning community that empowers teachers, New Mexico's South Valley Academy (SVA) staff transformed its state evaluation process into a practitioner action research process (Anderson, Herr, & Nihlen, 2007). While teachers self-diagnose growth needs and play active roles in improving…

The purpose of this study was to explore the educational and sociocultural experiences of Kenyan women pursing higher education in the United States and how they negotiated their multiple identities. Using a sociocultural theoretical framework and narrative inquiry methodology, seven Kenyan immigrant women pursuing or who recently pursued advanced…

This qualitative study examined the impact of a six-step framework for work-specific vocabulary instruction in adult English language learners (ELLs). Guided by research in English as a second language (ESL) methodology and the transactional theory, the researchers sought to unveil how these processes supported the acquisition and application of…

This study employed data collected over an 8-year period in which graduate students' perspectives on effective teaching were collected during a class exercise. The data were organized into three categories: (a) "teaching competence" (knowledge of content and teaching), (b) "relationships with students" (having the best…