Examining Educators’ Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices About Using Technology With Young Children

Background. Parents’ beliefs about and engagement in reading aloud to young children and other positive parenting practices have been associated with early childhood development (ECD) and later achievement. Aim. This exploratory study sought to assess parental attitudes and self-reported practices regarding ECD in a rural, low-income community in the Dominican Republic with many risk factors for ECD delays, including high rates of poverty, iron-deficiency anemia, and malnutrition. Methods. We used the Parent Reading Belief Inventory and open-ended questions to evaluate parental beliefs regarding reading, self-efficacy in promoting child development, current positive parenting practices, and parents’ concerns about the development of their 0- to 5-year-old children in Consuelo, Dominican Republic. We explored associations between demographic factors and strength of positive parenting beliefs and practices. Results. Overall participants had positive attitudes toward reading and their own importance in promoting their children’s development. Participants with at least some high school education had significantly higher Parent Reading Belief Inventory scores ( P = .03) than those with less formal education. Participants reported frequently singing, talking, and playing with their children, but less frequently reading with them. Few participants had access to reading materials for young children. Parental interest in programs to support ECD was high. Parents raised concerns about their children’s behavior, personal and educational attainment, and early literacy. Conclusion. Children whose parents have less formal education may benefit most from interventions to promote beliefs and practices likely to improve ECD. In this community, there is high interest in learning more about ECD.

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Instructional Policy From Pre-K to Third Grade: The Challenges of Fostering Alignment and Continuity in Two School Districts

Educational Policy ◽

10.1177/08959048211058441 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089590482110584

Author(s):

Abigail Stein ◽

Cynthia E. Coburn

Keyword(s):

School Districts ◽

Young Children ◽

Institutional Theory ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Cognitive Mechanisms ◽

Connected Learning ◽

Beliefs And Practices ◽

Implementation Challenges ◽

Learning Pathways ◽

Practical Implications

In an effort to improve learning for young children and respond to preschool fade out, some districts are working on “PreK-3” initiatives to create better connected learning pathways for children. In these pathways, primary grades continue to build on what children learn in preschool; they also present potential implementation challenges that are not accounted for in the literature. Using conceptual tools from institutional theory and empirical evidence from a study of two school districts, we show how challenges arise as districts try to bridge the divergent and entrenched institutional systems of preschool and elementary. Our findings suggest that these systems are each held in place by their own set of regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive mechanisms that reinforce one another thereby providing an explanation for why beliefs and practices are so resistant to change. This analysis also points to practical implications that may lead to better connections and learning experiences for young children.

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‘They Are Kids, Let Them Eat’: A Qualitative Investigation into the Parental Beliefs and Practices of Providing a Healthy Diet for Young Children among a Culturally Diverse and Deprived Population in the UK

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182413087 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (24) ◽

pp. 13087

Author(s):

Erica Jane Cook ◽

Faye Caroline Powell ◽

Nasreen Ali ◽

Catrin Pedder Penn-Jones ◽

Bertha Ochieng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Parental Beliefs ◽

Healthy Diet ◽

Sociocultural Factors ◽

Black African ◽

Beliefs And Practices ◽

Wide Range ◽

Phenomenological Perspective ◽

Ethnic Minority Children ◽

The Uk

In the UK, ethnic minority children are at greater risk of obesity and weight-related ill health compared to the wider national population. The factors that influence the provision of a healthy diet among these populations remain less understood. An interpretive qualitative study with a phenomenological perspective comprised of 24 single sex semi-structured focus groups was conducted with 110 parents (63 mothers and 47 fathers) of young children (aged 0–5 years). The participants were recruited from deprived and ethnically diverse wards in Luton, UK and self-identified as being white British, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, black African–Caribbean or Polish. The findings highlighted a wide range of inter-relating psychological and sociocultural factors that underpin parental beliefs and practices in providing children with a healthy diet. Parents, whilst aware of the importance of providing children with a healthy diet, faced challenges such as lack of time and balancing competing responsibilities, which were clear barriers to providing children with a healthy diet. Access to and affordability of healthy food and the overexposure of cheap, convenient, and unhealthy processed foods made it increasingly difficult for parents to provide a healthy diet for their growing families. Household food practices were also found to be situated within the wider context of sociocultural and religious norms around cooking and eating, along with cultural identity and upbringing.

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The Modification of Hypernasality in Young Children

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.1501.37 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 37-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Moya L. Andrews ◽

Sarah J. Tardy ◽

Lisa G. Pasternak

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Voice Therapy

This paper presents an approach to voice therapy programming for young children who are hypernasal. Some general principles underlying the approach are presented and discussed.

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