Little is known about slow-to-warm-up temperament in infancy. This study examined the trajectory of shyness in children who were slow-to-warm-up in infancy in comparison to children with other temperament profiles in infancy. Participants were 996 mothers and children in the NICHD SECC studied from 6 months to first grade. Latent growth curve…

This longitudinal study investigated the associations between the frequency of parents' reading-related activities at home and their children's reading-related skills during the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1. Longitudinal data were obtained for 1436 Finnish children (5- to 6-year-olds at baseline) and their mothers and fathers. 684 girls…

This article describes the phonological awareness and English writing skills among a sample of 297 Singaporean kindergarten children, stratified by ethnicity (Chinese, Malay, and Indian), and examines the relationship between oral language and writing skills in this multilingual population. Overall, Singaporean kindergartners, nearly all of whom…

The present study used an interpersonal theoretical perspective to examine the interactions between Dutch teachers and kindergartners. Interpersonal theory provides explanations for dyadic interaction behaviors by stating that complementary behaviors (dissimilar in terms of control, and similar in terms of affiliation) elicit and sustain each…

The transition from kindergarten to first grade has been described as a critical period for children's academic development. Furthermore, research indicates that peer status is connected with academic adjustment, yet the underlying processes remain unclear. By means of a two-year longitudinal study during kindergarten and first grade (N = 153), we…

The purposes of the present study were to examine the growth trajectories of children's social skills from kindergarten through sixth grade, and to investigate the roles of early behavior problems and teacher-child relationships in children's social skill development, using data from phases I, II, and III of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and…

The psychometric qualities of two instruments that measure children's perceptions of teacher-child relationships were evaluated in a sample of kindergartners (N = 150): The Young Children's Appraisals of Teacher Support (Y-CATS) and the Kindergartner-Teacher Interaction Computer (KLIC) test. On the Y-CATS, children judged propositions on a…

This study examined the development of language in low-SES rural Appalachian children from kindergarten through middle childhood. Findings showed that the children's language skills improved significantly between kindergarten and middle childhood, with all middle childhood language means within the average range. However, all areas of language…

A growing number of studies demonstrate associations among false-belief understanding (FBU), executive function (EF), and social competence. This study extends previous studies by exploring longitudinal associations among FBU and its correlates within a low-income sample of preschoolers attending Head Start. Sixty-eight children (time 1 mean age =…

The present study investigated the cross-lagged associations between parents' attributions of ability and effort concerning their children's success and failure, and children's academic performance in kindergarten and primary school. Two hundred seven children and their parents were followed over three years. The parents completed a questionnaire…

This study adopts an intergenerational approach to explore parental activities to facilitate children's transition to kindergarten. Structured interviews were conducted with 76 mothers from a diverse community sample whose children were about to start kindergarten. The emotional "valence," or general positivity or negativity, of the mothers'…

Two studies investigated the effects of a storytelling-context for teaching geometry skills to kindergarten girls and boys. In Study 1, the story+geometry intervention consisted of an adventure story teaching geometry through part-whole-relations puzzles. Learning was assessed through transfer of skills, using a pre-/post design comparing…

The impact of school-based Tae Kwon Do training on self-regulatory abilities was examined. A self-regulation framework including three domains (cognitive, affective, and physical) was presented. Children (N = 207) from kindergarten through Grade 5 were randomly assigned by homeroom class to either the intervention (martial arts) group or a…