Child Care Classrooms Research Articles

Writing as a Path to the Alphabetic Principle: How Preschoolers Learn that their Own Writing Represents Speech

ABSTRACTThis study explores how preschoolers develop understandings of the symbolic nature of print in the context of their own writing. Using qualitative methods and a cross‐sectional design, this study documents the learning trajectory that begins with children's earliest experiences linking speech and print in writing events and continues as they learn that English print is glottographic and alphabetic. Children's changing approaches to speech‐print linking provide evidence of their developing understanding of how print functions as a representational system. Participants were 134 English‐speaking 2‐ to 5‐year‐olds attending childcare classrooms where preschoolers' writing was frequent and valued. Children completed an open‐ended writing task where they wrote a photo caption and read it to an adult. Open and axial coding identified six core approaches to speech‐print linking during writing: marks not read, conversational speech without pointing, conversational speech with pointing to the graphic array, segmented speech with pointing to the graphic array, segmented speech matched to specific marks, and phoneme‐grapheme matching. A growth curve model provided statistical support for this ordering of the core approaches. Findings show that early writing experiences can be an important context for building foundational literacy skills such as the alphabetic principle. Adult practices that physically materialize speech‐print relations in writing may be especially supportive of this learning. We conclude that young children should be offered frequent opportunities to compose their own texts, and to interact with adults around their writing.

The effects of snack foods of different energy density on self-served portions and consumption in preschool children

It is recommended that preschoolers serve themselves their own food portions; however, it is unclear what factors influence the amount they select for consumption, and particularly how their selected portions are influenced by food properties such as energy density, volume, and weight. We offered preschool children snacks differing in energy density (ED) and investigated the effects on the amounts they served and then consumed. In a crossover design, 52 children aged 4–6 y (46% girls; 21% overweight) ate an afternoon snack on 2 days in their childcare classrooms. Before each snack time, children served the amount they would like to eat of 4 snacks presented in equal volumes but differing in ED (higher-ED: pretzels, cookies; lower-ED: strawberries, carrots). Across the 2 sessions, children were given their self-served amount of either pretzels (3.9 kcal/g) or strawberries (0.3 kcal/g) and intake was measured. Later, children tasted all 4 snacks and rated liking. Results showed that the portions children served themselves were influenced by their liking ratings (p = 0.0006), but after accounting for liking, the volumes they served were similar for all 4 foods (p = 0.27). At snack time, children ate a greater proportion of self-served strawberries (92 ± 4%) than pretzels (73 ± 4%; p = 0.0003), but because of the ED difference they consumed 55 ± 4 kcal more from pretzels than strawberries (p < 0.0001). The difference in snack intake by volume was not attributable to liking ratings (p = 0.87). That children served a consistent volume of similarly-liked snacks suggests that their portions were affected more by visual cues than by weight or energy content. Despite eating a greater volume of lower-ED strawberries, children consumed more energy from the higher-ED pretzels, highlighting the contribution of energy density to children's energy intake.

Infant sleep behaviors relate to their later cognitive and language abilities and morning cortisol stress hormone levels

This longitudinal study examined parents’ perceptions of infant sleep behaviors in relation to cognitive and language development, and infants’ stress hormone (cortisol) levels. Infants were recruited and assessed at 8 months and then again 6 months later at 14 months. At both times, parents reported on infants’ home sleep environment and sleep behaviors; the infants’ childcare classroom teachers completed standardized questionnaires on the children’s cognitive and language development skills; and researchers collected numerous saliva samples from infants at both times to assay cortisol stress hormone levels. Pearson correlation analyses indicated that 8-month-old infants’ optimal sleep in their home environment positively and modestly related to their cognitive skills and language development when they were 14-month-old toddlers. These results suggest that cognitive development and language learning in the first year of life are linked to sleep behaviors. Additionally, optimal home sleep in toddlerhood was positively and moderately correlated with higher morning stress hormone levels. The development of the HPA axis in infancy and toddlerhood is discussed as is the development and regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and diurnal cycles.

Examining the Factor Structure of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Toddler (CLASS-T) in Early Head Start and Subsidized Child Care Classrooms

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The Classroom Assessment Scoring System Toddler (CLASS-T) is one of the most commonly used measures to assess the quality of teacher-child interactions in toddler classrooms. Despite widespread use of the CLASS-T, few studies have examined the factor structure of the CLASS-T for use in Early Head Start (EHS) and subsidized child care programs serving children from low-income, ethnically and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The purpose of the present study was (a) to examine the factor structure of the CLASS-T in a sample of 106 classrooms comprised of ethnically and linguistically diverse toddlers attending EHS and subsidized child care programs; and (b) to examine the invariance of the factor structure across classrooms in which teachers spoke predominantly English or Spanish in the classroom. Findings supported the two-factor structure of the CLASS-T, which included the Emotional and Behavioral Support and Engaged Support for Learning domains. Additionally, findings provide preliminary support for the use of the two-factor structure of the CLASS-T in linguistically diverse classrooms. Practice or Policy: Overall, research findings provide evidence for the use of the CLASS-T to measure quality within toddler classrooms that serve ethnically and linguistically diverse toddlers. Future directions and implications for both policy and practice are discussed.

Infants' and Toddlers' Language, Math and Socio-Emotional Development: Evidence for Reciprocal Relations and Differential Gender and Age Effects.

Toddlerhood is characterized by rapid development in several domains, such as language, socio-emotional behavior and emerging math skills all of which are important precursors of school readiness. However, little is known about how these skills develop over time and how they may be interrelated. The current study investigates young children’s development at two time points, with about 7 months in between, assessing their language, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills with teacher ratings. The sample includes 577 children from 18 until 36 months of age of 86 childcare classrooms. The results of the autoregressive path analyses showed moderate to strong stability of language, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills, although the magnitude of associations was smaller for the latter. The cross-lagged path analyses highlighted the importance of language and socio-emotional skills for development in the other domains. Differential relations were found for the autoregressive and cross-lagged paths depending on gender and age. Language skills appeared a stronger predictor of boys’ socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skill development compared to girls. Girls’ socio-emotional skills predicted growth in math. For boys, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills appeared to be unrelated. Language skills showed stronger relations with the development of math language and numeracy skills for younger children as compared to older children. Also, for older children math language and numeracy skills negatively predicted growth in their socio-emotional skills. The findings provide more insights in how language, math language and numeracy skills and socio-emotional skills co-develop in the early years and as such have important implications for interventions aimed to support children’s development.

The impact of classroom quality on young children's emotion understanding

ABSTRACT Many studies have been conducted to identify the factors explaining individual differences in children’s emotion understanding (capacity to comprehend the nature, causes and consequences of emotions in the self and others). These studies represent a significant advance in our comprehension of the origins of the child’s capacity to understand emotions. However, almost nothing is known about the impact of classroom quality on children’s emotion understanding even though Western children spend about six to eight hours per day in school. In this study, we used the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale – Revised edition [ECERS-R] to evaluate global childcare classroom quality in 31 classrooms located in Moscow (middle SES areas) and the Test of Emotion Comprehension [TEC] to assess their emotion understanding (N = 592) while controlling for the effects of age, gender and non-verbal fluid intelligence. We hypothesized that children from high-quality classrooms would outperform their peers from low-quality classrooms in terms of their understanding of emotions. The results showed, albeit controlling for gender, age, non-verbal fluid intelligence, that children from low-quality classrooms had a significantly higher level of emotion understanding than children from high-quality classrooms. Results are discussed both in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

FICTION, EMPATHY, AND GENDER DIVERSITY

To better understand how using a novel in a child and youth care classroom impacts empathy in relation to gender diversity, a qualitative study was constructed. Data were gathered using an online questionnaire administered to child and youth care practitioner students. These students had engaged with the novel Scarborough (Hernandez, C. [2017]. Scarborough: A novel. Arsenal Pulp) in a course about foundational therapeutic knowledge. The study sought to identify: (a) what perceptions and emotions were evoked by engaging with the narrative of a young person exploring gender; (b) what, if any, aspects of empathetic connection emerged in relation to this exploration; and (c) what, if any, connections were made to the theoretical material taught in the course. The study incorporated child-and-youth-care-specific and critical social theory frameworks, and theorized about evocative objects and the concept of empathetic distress. The findings suggest that novel-based teaching can elicit from students, or help them express, higher-order empathy in relation to gender diversity, and that a narrative about the struggle to live as one’s genuine self is one possible pathway towards achieving this empathetic connection. Additional research is needed to investigate these preliminary findings and to address bias in the existing literature on adult education and the use of fiction.

Early Interventionists' Appraisals of Intervention Strategies for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Peers in Inclusive Childcare Classrooms.

Mounting evidence supports several naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) for toddlers and preschoolers within inclusive childcare centers and preschools. However, these interventions pose many barriers to community implementation. As part of a larger project to create an adapted NDBI for early educators in childcare centers, we surveyed 101 early interventionists who had worked with a toddler with autism within the last 12months. Early interventionists rated 22-of-31 NDBI strategies to be significantly more effective for All Toddlers versus Toddlers with Autism. However, when comparing the top 10 rated strategies between groups, there was a large degree of overlap. Moreover, many of these highly rated NDBI strategies are consistent with best practice accreditation and early education standards within the United States.

Exploring multisensory experiences in infants’ learning and development in the child care classrooms

ABSTRACT Infants come to know about the world and develop an understanding about themselves through multisenses. This qualitative case study aimed to explore how three infant head teachers engaged in and facilitated various multisensory play activities in their classrooms. Natural, in-class, non-participatory observations were conducted at a child care centre in the U.S. The findings of this study illustrated how the infant teachers in this study provided, promoted, and scaffolded multisensory experiences in their daily practices. The findings also highlighted that the infant teachers adapted sensory experiences to meet individual preferences, needs, interests, and changing developmental status of their infants.

Educators’ Perception on the Use of Robots in the Early Childhood Environment

Understanding teachers in the early childhood education is crucial as it can not only affect the quality of children’s education but also cause many critical problems such as child abuse. A significant amount of research work has been made on the use of robots in childcare classrooms. The finding from the research has shown many advantages such as the improvement of learning performance, social/emotional skills, creativity, concentration period, physical and cognitive development. However, most of the study has been implemented at the K-12 classrooms but not much has been focused on the education at the early childhood classrooms. Importantly, it is very crucial to understand teachers’ perception, demands and technical competence about the new teaching tool, in order to maximize its educational effect. This paper investigates some critical issues existing in both teaching and managing in the early childhood education. It will also explore teachers’ perceptions and expectations on the use of robots to identify some dilemmas that exist in their working and teaching environment. A survey study was conducted with 119 early childhood educators in South Korea. It analyzed the educators’ perception of using robots to improve their teaching performance and to make better outcomes for children, investigated job satisfaction and difficulties that they have in the current work environment. This paper concludes with several guidelines for integrating and setting robotics in the early childhood environment, in order to engender productive outcomes for the future early childhood education.

Behavior problems in child care classrooms: Insights from child care teachers

The present qualitative study examines the insights of child care teachers regarding behavior problems of young children in their classrooms. The number of children being suspended or expelled from child care programs has risen significantly over the last 10 years in the United States. Therefore, the purpose of the current investigation is to gain a clearer understanding of child care teachers’ views on behavior problems to discover what they believe are some of the most common factors that contribute to behavior problems in their classrooms. Interviews for the study were conducted with nine child care teachers from five different child care programs. The findings suggest there is much work to be done to support teachers who are caring for young children in child care settings.

What Guides Pre-K Programs?

Background/Context Early childhood education joined the standards movement in 2002 with the Good Start, Grow Smart initiative, with advocates arguing that standards were a tool for creating more continuity and coherence in Pre-K systems. Critics posed concerns about a perceived poor fit between standards-based and developmentally appropriate practices, pointing to standardization and pressure from the K–12 system. With growth in public Pre-K programs guided by state early learning standards, we set out to understand what guides Pre-K programs. Setting We sampled two states with mature Pre-K programs: New Jersey (NJ), a targeted, highly regulated full-day program for 3- and 4-year-olds and Wisconsin (WI), a universal, local control half-day program for 4-year-olds. Both programs implement Pre-K programs in schools, Head Start, and child care classrooms. Purpose/Focus of Study The purpose of the project was to compare the role of standards in Pre-K programs in NJ and WI, analyzing standards conceptualization and enactment by district administrators and teachers. Research Design We designed a multi-state, comparative case study including interviews with state actors who identified rural, midsize, and urban districts for fieldwork, weekly observations of Pre-K classrooms in elementary schools, Head Start, and childcare centers and interviews with the teachers in these sites. Conclusions Policy and standards alone were not very good predictors of the Pre-K programs’ enacted practices. The logic of practice embedded in standards evolved through policy enactment in the local context, through the work of actors, like local child care advocates, the administrative designs of district leaders, and the policies of the adjacent K–12 system. The nonlinear implementation of early learning standards in this study shows the importance of looking beyond policy inputs and child outcomes and the need to include the administrative and instructional practices between if we are to understand how to best support young learners and their teachers.

The Use of Infant Confinement Equipment in Community-Based Child Care Centers: An Analysis of Centers Participating in a Statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System.

Objectives Although infants increasingly spend time in community-based child care centers, little attention has been paid to their physical activity experiences while in group care. In particular, the use of devices to restrict infant mobility, such as bouncy seats, high chairs, cribs, and stationary activity centers, has received little attention in the physical activity literature. The current study examines the presence and use of these confinement devices in infant classrooms. Methods A secondary analysis of observational data in child care centers participating in Delaware's Quality Rating and Improvement System was conducted. Quality assessment observations were coded for the use of confinement devices and the actual amount of time the confinement device was employed per child. The sample consisted of 38 infant classrooms serving a total of 162 infants in the statewide system. Results Findings suggest a high level of utilization of confinement devices in infant child care classrooms with each classroom averaging three pieces of equipment used during the observations and 22% of observed children being confined 30min or longer during the observation period. Conclusions for Practice The reliance on confinement devices in group child care is a potential concern in the quest to prevent childhood obesity by ensuring adequate physical activity and mobility for infants in group care settings. More research is needed to understand the implications of the use of confinement devices on physical activity in group care settings.

Emotion Regulation, Harsh Parenting, and Teacher Sensitivity Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Toddlers in Child Care

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: This study examined the transactional nature of harsh parenting and emotion regulation across toddlerhood, including the moderating role of teacher sensitivity in child care. Secondary data analyses were conducted with a subsample of families from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project who participated in center-based child care. Autoregressive cross-lagged path models were used to examine stability and transactional associations between observations of mothers’ harsh parenting behaviors and observers’ ratings of toddler emotion regulation at 14, 24, and 36 months. Teacher sensitivity was observed in children’s child care classrooms and was hypothesized to attenuate the negative impact of harsh parenting on subsequent emotion regulation. Results suggested that poorer emotion regulation and increased harsh parenting at 14 months were particularly salient in setting the stage for worse parent and toddler outcomes at 36 months. Teacher sensitivity was not a significant protective factor. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in terms of the importance of early parent–toddler interactions that match the developing regulatory needs of young toddlers as well as considering how teacher sensitivity is conceptualized and measured so programs such as Early Head Start can best meet the needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents and toddlers.

Childcare Providers' Use of Practices to Promote Young Children's Social–Emotional Competence

Findings are presented regarding childcare providers' use of evidence-based strategies to promote preschoolers' social–emotional competence in 38 urban childcare classrooms. Descriptive results from classroom observations and childcare teachers' interviews indicated that in the absence of training, childcare teaching staff implemented few of these strategies. Teachers also reported a lack of infrastructure elements such as professional development, a leadership team, data-based tools for decision making, and monetary resources that are associated with the adoption and sustained use of strategies. Findings are described and recommendations are presented to support implementation of practices associated with young children's social–emotional competence in childcare settings.

Books and Toddlers in Child Care: Under What Conditions are Children Most Engaged?

Although shared book reading is seen as an effective way to support children’s early literacy and language development, less is known about the factors associated with toddlers’ engagement with books. The goal of the current study was to examine younger and older toddlers’ engagement with books during one-on-one reading with a teacher in an interactive versus non-interactive manner and during independent exploration. Using single-case design, the study examined how engagement among toddlers (N = 6) in a childcare classroom varied under different book reading/exploration conditions. Results indicated that overall engagement was greater when teachers read interactively compared to when children explored books on their own, with this effect differing for younger versus older toddlers. Understanding how teachers reading to younger and older toddlers is associated with children’s engagement with books compared to children’s engagement when exploring books on their own can inform early care and education reading practices with toddlers. Implications for book reading with toddlers in group childcare are discussed.

Exploring the Relationship Between Global Quality and Group Engagement in Toddler Child Care Classrooms

ABSTRACTToddlers’ engagement with their social and physical environment is an important aspect of their experience in early care and education programs. The purpose of this research study was to examine how global quality relates to children’s engagement in toddler child care classrooms. Additionally, this study explored how toddlers’ group engagement levels vary across classroom contexts, including free play, group activities, meals, transitions, and personal care routines. Thirty toddler child care classrooms participating in a statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) were observed using two observational measures. Results indicate that a strong positive relationship exists between engagement and global quality. Group engagement varied significantly by classroom context, with the highest levels of engagement documented during mealtime and free play and the lowest levels of engagement documented during transitions. The findings point to the importance of using multiple measures to understand toddler experiences in group care settings. Further, the variation of children’s engagement across classroom contexts suggests that more attention is needed in understanding and supporting teachers in increasing child engagement, especially during classroom transitions.

Stability and change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time

Given that an increasing number of infants spend part of the day in center-based childcare in many countries, understanding infants’ education and care experiences in these settings is essential. The aims of this study are to examine change in teacher-infant interaction quality over time, and to determine the extent to which teacher and classroom structural characteristics are associated with change in teacher-infant interaction quality. Ninety infant childcare classrooms from the greater metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal, participated in this study. Each classroom was observed twice (6-month interval between Time 1 and Time 2) by trained and reliable observers using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ITERS-R; Harms et al., 2006), the Classroom Assessment Scoring System – Infant (CLASS-Infant; Hamre et al., 2014), and the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS; Arnett, 1989). Additionally, teachers provided demographic information about themselves and structural characteristics of the classroom. Overall results indicated that the quality of teacher-infant interactions changed over time, with a general trend toward lower quality at Time 2. The increase in infant:adult ratio from Time 1 to Time 2 was an important predictor of process quality levels at Time 2, after controlling for prior quality and other structural characteristics. These findings can be informative for policymaking as group size and number of adults per classroom are regulated features of childcare in many countries, including Portugal.

OBSERVING TODDLERS' INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES IN CLASSROOMS: INITIAL USE OF THE PARENTING INTERACTIONS WITH CHILDREN: CHECKLIST OF OBSERVATIONS LINKED TO OUTCOMES.

This study investigated using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO; Roggman, Cook, Innocenti, Norman, & Christiansen, 2013a) measure to assess teacher-child interactions experienced by individual toddlers within their childcare classrooms. Forty toddlers were observed, each during three 10-min cycles, and all their interactions with adults in the classroom were coded using the PICCOLO. Results, in terms of psychometric properties, indicate promise for using this measure to observe toddlers' individual experiences of teacher-child interactions in group settings. Furthermore, certain individual teacher-toddler interactions were associated with toddlers' problem behavior. Implications for use of the PICCOLO in early childhood classroom research and particular findings related to toddlers' behavior are discussed.

Does milk matter: Is children’s intake affected by the type or amount of milk served at a meal?

Increasing the energy density (ED) and portion size of foods promotes additional energy intake, but the effect of similar changes in milk is unknown. Using a crossover design, we tested the effect of varying the ED and portion size of milk served with lunch on preschool children’s intake. Lunch was served in childcare classrooms on 4 days to 125 children aged 3–5 y (67 boys; 58 girls). Across the meals, milk was varied in ED (lower-ED [1% fat]; higher-ED [3.25% fat]) and portion size (100% [183 g]; 150% [275 g]). Foods in the meal were not varied; children ate as much of the meal as they wanted. Serving higher-ED milk did not affect milk intake by weight, but increased energy intake from milk by 31 ± 2 kcal compared to serving lower-ED milk (P < 0.0001). Serving the 150% portion of milk increased milk intake by 20 ± 3 kcal compared to serving the 100% portion (P < 0.0001). Increases in both ED and portion size combined to increase milk intake by 49 ± 4 kcal (63%; P < 0.0001). Across all children, food intake decreased when higher-ED rather than lower-ED milk was served, but meal energy intake (food + milk) did not change significantly. This response varied by sex: for boys, serving higher-ED milk decreased food intake by 43 ± 8 kcal (P < 0.0001) but did not affect meal energy intake, while for girls, higher-ED milk did not reduce food intake so that meal energy intake increased by 24 ± 10 kcal (P = 0.03). Thus, boys adjusted food intake in response to changes in ED of milk consumed with lunch, but girls did not. Serving milk in larger portions promotes intake of this nutrient-dense beverage, but the effects of milk ED on meal intake vary between children.