Emotional development
For many in our industry, packing up and clearing away the myriad of things, which children may have used in a play session, functions as a time where children are learning responsibility, cooperation and self-regulation. However, there are more opportunities for learning and development in packing up and clearing away than just these social/emotional domain […]
Epigenetics and transgenerational inheritance – the next developmental psychology breakthrough, or is it bunkum? Recent research proposes that what we experience in our lifetime can modify our DNA, and that these changes can be passed on to future generations. Whilst a lot of attention is on the human genome, it is apparent, at least to […]
One of the two Melbourne dailies featured an article in its Sunday edition, which announced the launch of a new book, The Me, Me, Me, Epidemic, by US parenting expert Amy McCready. When the book was previously ‘launched’ in August, 2015, the author was quoted as saying “Overly involved parents helicopter over their kids’ every […]
A central concept within social and emotional learning is the idea of the development of a child’s sense of self. But what is a ‘self’? What does the ‘self’ do? Do we actually experience this thing in ourselves as a self, or, when we’re in different social contexts, do we feel ourselves to be different […]
ADHD is getting quite a run in NT&C’s blog posts. So far, we have looked at the role played by the mother’s diet during gestation and discussed the idea that the child with ADHD does not deliberately choose to behave as they do. This, the third on the topic of ADHD, looks at the seemingly […]
Karina Karenina and Andrey Giljov of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia, are interested in, when babies are held by adults, which side of the body the adult prefers, which happens to be, particularly in the case of women, on the left. Think about the last time you carried a […]
A new study, published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology concludes that pets, rather than siblings, are a child’s best friend. According to the study, which was undertaken by researchers at the University of Cambridge, children derive more satisfaction from their relationships with animals, than they do from their relationships with brothers and sisters. […]
I haven’t got a musical bone in my body … how can I possibly help children develop their own musical creativity? In order to ascertain how the kinder teachers integrated music with other elements of their programs, lecturer in music at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, Mignon van Vreden, has been exploring the teaching practices […]
1. A lot of brain architecture is shaped during the first three years after birth. However, despite a widespread belief to the contrary, the window of opportunity for brain development does not close on a child’s third birthday. While the regions of the brain dedicated to higher-order functions, which involve most social, emotional, and cognitive […]
A study, by scientists at West Chester University and the University of Delaware, which appeared in the journal Child Development and funded by the Research: Art Works program at the National Endowment for the Arts proposes that arts programs may help lower stress in economically disadvantaged pre-schoolers. Everyone should know, these days, that poverty can […]