Play, and especially free play, offers a unique opportunity for children to act with agency. Yet the regulated and routinized structure of early childhood education and care settings, impedes children's agentic action which is limited by adult-imposed rules. The present cross-cultural study aims to explore the extent to which Early Childhood…

The current study presents a rhythmic music program to acquire some motor skills for children with Down syndrome. The research sample was taken from one of the specialized Down syndrome learning centers for children, and the sample was taken in a random manner. The sample of children consisted of 20 boys and girls and divided into experimental and…

This study examines the quantity and quality of child-directed speech across household activities in a socioeconomically diverse sample of Argentinian Spanish-speaking children, an understudied population. Thirty children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families were audio-recorded for four hours. The middle two hours were transcribed and analysed…

This study investigated play perceptions and practices reported by 298 Hong Kong mothers of children aged two to six. Content analysis was conducted to categorize the views of participating mothers from thirteen kindergartens, with a focus on exploring differences in mothers' socioeconomic status and their child's gender. The results showed that…

Fundamental movement skills (FMS)-oriented school-based intervention allows children to be more competent and interested to participate in a wider range of physical activities. This study aimed to determine the physical activity and fundamental motor skills outcome from a school-based intervention programme among rural pre-schoolers in Kuching. It…

Performance-based tools to assess school readiness domains such as Approaches to Learning are lacking in Low and Middle-Income Countries such as Kenya. This study aims to develop the Kenyan version of the FOCUS app (Finding Out Children's Unique Strengths), a game-like computer tablet assessment of two Approaches to Learning domains: mastery…

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the immediate and long-term effects of an intervention program that aims to improve preschoolers' (N = 36, M = 4.49 years, SD = 0.35) early numeracy skills by combining the learning of numerical relational skills via story reading with fundamental motor skill practice. The intervention program was piloted…

Numerous studies have evidenced the relationship between musical rhythm and language performances, derived from temporal acoustic signal processing. This relationship might be affected by different language experiences. Receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge, phonological awareness, and musical rhythm perception and production were examined…

Cross-national comparisons represent an avenue for investigating milestones achieved by one region that can help improve standards in another country. This study compares the development of executive functioning in Hungarian and Kenyan preschoolers as they prepare for school readiness. The study's cross-sectional design entailed sampling…

Knowing how children become oriented to imaginary play can help educators in centres better support development. But how this begins in the first years of life is not well understood. How toddlers transform through their imagination concrete objects (such as play accessories, figurines, and books) to become props in play (placeholders and pivots)…

Across the globe the prevalence of men who work in the early education and care field is scant. This phenomenon is evidenced in the Canadian childcare milieu where male early childhood professionals constitute a modest fraction of the sector. At the nucleus of this are gender-situated scrutinization, role model binaries, and adverse occupational…

Perspective taking refers to the ability to understand others' thoughts, feelings and perspectives. From previous studies, it emerges that children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder show many difficulties in understanding the other's point of view, especially in terms of thoughts and emotions. The aims of the present study were: (1) to…

While many factors can influence children's sense of security, little research has examined the role of empathy ability in the association between parenting style and sense of security. The present study aims to examine whether empathy ability mediates the relationship between parenting style and sense of security among 3-6-year-old Chinese…

Access to early child education services has been proven to be an efficient tool in fighting educational inequalities. However, while wealthier families are likely to use childcare services, disadvantaged children tend to be left out. Research has explained this effect, known as Mathew Effect, and has studied both the constraints in the…

The current study aims to examine the way in which teachers' and children's perceptions about their relationships influence children's emergent literacy skills. Participants were 913 children and 114 kindergarten teachers within 72 preschool centers from Greece. The measures used were the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS), the Child…