The Aura of the Trace in One Child’s Projects in the World: Collecting as Rescue, Repetition, Rupture and Refrain

Using one child’s archival collection, found in the Prospect Archive of Children’s Work at the University of Vermont, we consider the methodological complications involved in attempting to analyze material traces of childhood, created by the child. The experimental school where these artworks were originally completed practiced methods of deep observation and descriptive review of materials collected, rather than sending children’s work home. We ponder these pedagogic methods alongside concepts delivered by the German cultural critic Walter Benjamin in order to suggest how the purpose of collecting and presenting traces of childhood can be an act of rescue.

An experimental investigation into children's misconceptions concerning the symbols for mathematical equality

One of the commonest faults in children's statement of an argument in arithmetic is the misuse of the sign of equality. The following examples of statements, selected from children's work by the writer during his marking of Form I arithmetic, are typical of the errors committed by children between ten and twelve years of age.

An experimental investigation into children's misconceptions concerning the symbols for mathematical equality

One of the commonest faults in children's statement of an argument in arithmetic is the misuse of the sign of equality. The following examples of statements, selected from children's work by the writer during his marking of Form I arithmetic, are typical of the errors committed by children between ten and twelve years of age.

Efforts to Increase Creativity in Early Children Through Picture Story Media

The condition of creativity in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten, Mangunreja District is still low, children cannot concentrate through illustrated stories, children are not interested in listening to illustrated stories, plus teachers do not use learning media in order to attract the attention of students. High creativity encourages children to learn and work more so that one day they can create new things beyond our expectations. Storytelling has a positive impact on the development of creativity. Children are accustomed to concentrating on a topic, dare to develop their creations, organize themselves/self-confidence, stimulate children to think imaginatively, and increase their new vocabulary. To realize this desire, the authors carried out Classroom Action Research (CAR) which consisted of two cycles and in the process was assisted by the principal as well as a companion class teacher. The results of this study indicate that there is an increase in children's creativity through picture stories, namely pre-cycle creativity by 20%, increasing creativity in cycle I by 45% and increasing creativity in cycle II reaching 85%. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that illustrated stories can increase the creativity of children's work in PGRI Margajaya Kindergarten, Mangunreja District.

The Role of Stomach Infrastructures on Children’s Work and Child Labour in Africa: Systematic Review

Child labour remains a prevalent global concern, and progress toward eradicating harmful children’s work appears to have stalled in the African continent and henceforth, integrated social policy intervention is still required to address the problem. Among several forms of social policy interventions, stomach infrastructure (i.e., in-kind and/or cash transfers) have been a key policy approach to support vulnerable families to lighten households’ resources burden, which forces them to consider child labour as a coping strategy. There is growing evidence on the impacts of these programs in child labour. However, this evidence is often mixed regarding children’s work outcomes, and the existing studies hardly describe such heterogeneous outcomes from the child-sensitive approach. To this end, a systematic literature search was conducted for studies in African countries. From 743 references retrieved in this study, 27 studies were included for the review, and a narrative approach has been employed to analyse extracted evidence. Results from the current study also demonstrate a mixed effect of in-kind and cash transfers for poor households on child labour decisions. Hence, the finding from the current review also demonstrates a reduced participation of children in paid and unpaid work outside the household due to in-kind and cash transfers to poor households, but children’s time spent in economic and non-economic household labour and farm and non-farm labour, which are detrimental to child health and schooling, has been reported increasing due to the program interventions. The question remains how these programs can effectively consider child-specific and household-related key characteristics. To this end, a child-sensitive social protection perspective has been applied in this study to explain these mixed outcomes to inform policy design.

Adaptive Learning for Early Childhood Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aceh Jaya District: Online vs. Offline

The issues of teacher facilities and abilities are still a learning obstacle in the pandemic era. Moreover, these issues lead to the non-uniformity of the learning process implementation in early childhood education in Aceh Jaya District. This study analyzes in-depth the reality of the learning process in early childhood education in the pandemic era. This study was conducted using a descriptive qualitative method. The site for the study is in Ceudah Mulia Kindergarten, Teunom District, and Al-Hidayah Kindergarten, Pasie Raya District. Data collection methods were through observation, interviews, and documentation. Analysis of research data was using Miles and Huberman model. The validity tests for the data we are using triangulation of sources and techniques. The results showed that there was a difference between Ceudah Mulia Kindergarten and Al-Hidayah Kindergarten. Ceudah Mulia Kindergarten conducts online learning via WhatsApp by giving assignments and exciting games with parental guidance. Meanwhile, Al-Hidayah Kindergarten does not use social media platforms or other online learning methods due to various limitations, such as common understanding of technology, the availability of inadequate technology facilities owned by schools and parents of students. Al-Hidayah Kindergarten conducts learning by inviting parents and assigning assignments to students, and the children's work is returned to the school for assessment. However, the role of parents in synergizing with teachers during the learning process of early childhood students in the COVID-19 pandemic situation has become key. This study illustrates that not all regions have the same access to implementing early childhood education learning in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study have several important implications for future practice.

Pandemic of Childhood Myopia. Could New Indoor LED Lighting Be Part of the Solution?

The existence of a growing myopia pandemic is an unquestionable fact for health authorities around the world. Different possible causes have been put forward over the years, such as a possible genetic origin, the current excess of children’s close-up work compared to previous stages in history, insufficient natural light, or a multifactorial cause. Scientists are looking for different possible solutions to alleviate it, such as a reduction of time or a greater distance for children’s work, the use of drugs, optometric correction methods, surgical procedures, and spending more time outdoors. There is a growing number of articles suggesting insufficient natural light as a possible cause of the increasing levels of childhood myopia around the globe. Technological progress in the world of lighting is making it possible to have more monochromatic LED emission peaks, and because of this, it is possible to create spectral distributions of visible light that increasingly resemble natural light in the visible range. The possibility of creating indoor luminaires that emit throughout the visible spectrum from purple to infrared can now be a reality that could offer a new avenue of research to fight this pandemic.

Exploring the Ability of Early Childhood Teachers to Carry Out Assessment

This study aims to determine how the application of authentic assessment in kindergarten by assessing the adequacy of aspects of assessment and implementation of assessment instruments. Research respondents are kindergarten teachers in North Sumatra Province, totaling 65 people. The data was collected using a questionnaire and document analysis, which consisted of lesson plans, children's work that had been analyzed by the teacher and the assessment instruments that had been used by the teacher. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques and qualitative analysis by linking existing data to obtain meaning. The results of the analysis showed that: (1) there were 100% of kindergarten teachers who stated that they had carried out an assessment every time they carried out the teaching process but most had difficulty indicating the assessment instrument used, (2) 97% of kindergarten teachers only used a checklist to collect developmental assessment data and children's learning activities by putting a check mark on one of the scales consisting of "developing very well", "developing as expected", "starting to develop", and "not developing", (3) 98% of kindergarten teachers use the instruments in the book assessment guide issued by the government and have never used an assessment rubric developed by the teacher to determine child development achievements, and (4) 89% of kindergarten teachers do not collect assessment data in the context of competencies being developed, (5) kindergarten teachers have difficulty using descriptive notes or class notes to record the child's behavior during the teaching process due to difficulties in to write down the child's behavior as seen by the teacher, and (6) as many as 89% of kindergarten teachers have not used an assessment instrument developed based on the principles of authentic assessment. The results of this study have implications for the need to develop an assessment model that is useful to help teachers conduct a valid and reliable assessment of child development.