Over the past three decades, our understanding of science learning in early childhood has improved exponentially and today we have a strong empirically based understanding of science experiences for children aged three to six years. However, our understanding of science learning as it occurs for children from birth to three years, is limited. We…

Science education is crucial to young children's discovery and understanding of the world around them. This third edition of Science in Early Childhood has been substantially updated to include the most current research, bringing together an author team of respected science education researchers from across Australia. New chapters address changing…

It is widely recognised that science explorations is vital in children's lives as they make sense of the world. Now in its fourth edition, Science in Early Childhood provides a comprehensive and engaging introduction to science in the early years. Each chapter has been updated to include current research and to address changing priorities in early…

School readiness is often defined as being at an expected developmental level across domains such as social and emotional, language and literacy, math, and science (Office of Head Start, 2015; Washington State Department of Early Learning, 2012; Teaching Strategies, 2001). Suppose children start without the foundation and identity in early science…

In the last 30 years, 4 distinct theoretical approaches have been described for early childhood science education. The approaches are, empiricist, Piagetian, socio-cognitive and socio-cultural. Drawing on the differences among these approaches regarding the theoretical framework adopted in teaching, the role that is assigned to the teacher during…

Young children, ages 5-6 years, develop first beliefs about science and themselves as science learners, and these beliefs are considered important precursors of children's future motivation to pursue science. Yet, due to a lack of adequate measures, little is known about young children's motivational beliefs about learning science. The present…

Research Findings: Quality early science education is important for addressing the low science achievement, compared to international peers, of elementary students in the United States. Teachers' beliefs about their skills in a content area, that is, their content self-efficacy is important because it has implications for teaching practice and…

Attitudes towards science and scientific perspectives in the future depend on early childhood science experiences. Preservice teachers who are provided with the opportunity to develop positive attitudes and self-efficacy towards science teaching before they enter professional life are more likely to help preschoolers develop positive attitudes…

Current research has shown the importance and benefits of early science education for children's learning and development, particularly informal science learning. In informal learning spaces such as museums, parents can play an important role in facilitating and supporting children's science learning. However, existing studies often fail to…

Pre-service teachers encounter many different mentor teachers during the teaching practicum process. While some teachers give sufficient coverage to early childhood science education, some do not. This research aimed to explain effective mentoring attributes and practices of the mentors which preferred by pre-service preschool teachers during…

Effective early science learning opportunities are critical for young children to build a solid foundation for subsequent development of concepts, as well as positive attitudes towards science (Eshach & Fried, 2005). However, these opportunities are often lacking in typical preschool classrooms (Connor, Morrison, & Slominski, 2006; Early…

Aesthetic education can be integrated into students' everyday lives and into different learning areas. Its integration into science education is also valued in schools. Using mixed methods, this study investigated young children's science and aesthetic learning in a science aesthetic thematic curriculum in a preschool classroom in Taiwan. The…

This research is a comparative study of Finnish and Australian science curricula in early childhood education (EC). The study aims to figure out the constructivist components of the science curriculum in two countries as well as locate the similarities and differences in the rationale and aims, contents, learning outcomes, learning activities,…

Parents' beliefs, values and associated everyday practices can play an influential role in their children's educational environment. This paper reports on a subsection of data from a larger qualitative study on how immigrant parents' cultural beliefs, values and everyday practices contributed to shaping their young children's early engagement in…

The paper is set in socio-material farming to offer a way of conceptualising actions and interactions of children in preschool involved in the understanding of scientific concepts. A model of early science education about the physical phenomena of shadow formation is implemented in group work in a French context. The research involved 44 children…