The creative research method "draw and write" has been used in health, social care and education research for several decades. A literature search of studies utilising this method was conducted during the planning stages of a study exploring primary school children's perceptions of infant feeding. A review of this literature noted a…

The desire to understand the "home advantage" has spurred a large body of research describing the contribution of differences in family background and parenting styles to school readiness and the achievement gap. Using the National Household Education Survey at two time points provides a fuller picture of the trends in parenting and…

Garden-based lessons are gaining popularity as a means of increasing fruit and vegetable intake among children. The study objective was to pilot test a garden-based preschool curriculum for feasibility and acceptability in Harris County Department of Education Head Start using qualitative and quantitative methods. A total of 103, 3- to 5-year-old…

This article examines the socio-cultural significance of birthday cakes with the purpose of reflecting upon birthday cake practices enacted in four early childhood settings in England. I argue that birthday cakes occupy an ambiguous place in early childhood practice: seen to be both "risky"--a term I problematise--"and"…

This research adopted a qualitative methodology to investigate the reported beliefs and pedagogical practices relating to infant peer relationships held by three early childhood infant educators. Thematic analysis was used to derive commonalties and differences that reflected these educators' views and practices about children's early…

In this study, we investigated how early numeracy skills develop in kindergarten-age children. The participants were 235 Finnish children (111 girls and 124 boys). At the time of the first measurement, the average age of the children was 6 years. The measurements were conducted three times during 1 year of kindergarten. We used a between-group…

This article discusses a small-scale study that explores how members of one family based in Australia and the United Kingdom use remote technology to develop and maintain family relationships across generations and distance. Of particular interest was the manner in which Skype computer software was mediated to develop intersubjectivity between a…

This article considers the impact of the increasing use of the visual mode in texts found in urban landscapes on two 3-year-olds' understanding of communication practices. The data discussed are taken from a study into a group of 3- to 6-year-olds' interaction with and emerging comprehension of the visual mode and its connection to…

Early childhood teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand negotiate their personal professional identities within the context of a nationally organised and regulated education sector. Early childhood teaching has become increasingly professionalised. Emphasis on qualifications and professional standards has constrained possible ways of being early…

While the parental involvement field has progressed from asking what the impact of parental involvement is to how we can better involve parents, research has lagged in finding out how sociocultural and class differentials between homes and schools affect immigrant families' interactions with schools. This case study uses ethnographic tools to…

As part of a longitudinal study, infant/toddler pretend play development and maternal play modelling were investigated in dyadic context. A total of 21 children were videotaped in monthly play sessions with their mothers, from age 8 to 17 months. Child and mother pretend play frequencies and levels were measured using Brown's Pretend Play…

This article reports on a deep investigation of five Australian Chinese families regarding their preschool-aged children's bilingual experiences and development. Each family was visited 3 to 5 times by the first author. The mothers were interviewed about their attitudes toward their child's bilingualism and their practices to promote it.…

In an effort to bring rigorous research into the education and social sciences field, the past decade had seen an increase in the advocacy of randomized controlled trials. The argument in favor of using randomized controlled trial is that one can evaluate the impact of an intervention in comparison to a control group with confidence during a…

This article presents findings of a pilot project for a study investigating the language of preschool-aged peers, with particular attention to differences in genre that were evident in the dyadic play of children who self-identified as being "very best friends" as opposed to "just a little bit" friends. Participants were three…

This article is concerned with parents' experiences and perceptions of being involved in a family literacy programme. The research, which was conducted from November 2007 to July 2009, involved interviewing 101 parents from 74 family literacy programmes in England around 12 weeks after they had completed their courses. The aim of these…