Do home numeracy and literacy practices of Greek and Canadian parents predict the numeracy skills of kindergarten children?

Children’s experiences with early numeracy and literacy activities are a likely source of individual differences in their preparation for academic learning in school. What factors predict differences in children’s experiences? We hypothesised that relations between parents’ practices and children’s numeracy skills would mediate the relations between numeracy skills and parents’ education, attitudes and expectations. Parents of Greek (N = 100) and Canadian (N = 104) five‐year‐old children completed a survey about parents’ home practices, academic expectations and attitudes; their children were tested on two numeracy measures (i.e., KeyMath‐Revised Numeration and next number generation). Greek parents reported numeracy and literacy activities less frequently than Canadian parents; however, the frequency of home numeracy activities that involved direct experiences with numbers or mathematical content (e.g., learning simple sums, mental math) was related to children’s numeracy skills in both countries. For Greek children, home literacy experiences (i.e., storybook exposure) also predicted numeracy outcomes. The mediation model was supported for Greek children, but for Canadian children, the parent factors had both direct and mediated relations with home practices.     

The role of children's lay theories about the malleability of human attributes in beliefs about and volunteering for disadvantaged groups

Two studies with 9- to 12-year-old children supported the hypothesis that lay theories about the malleability of human traits impact judgments of and behavior toward groups in need of volunteer help. The more children endorsed an incremental view (attributes can change), the more they reported liking, desiring social contact with, and perceiving similarity between themselves and a disadvantaged outgroup (homeless, UNICEF-funded children). Moreover, children endorsing more of a malleable view reported greater past volunteering, active participation in collecting money for a UNICEF event, and intentions to volunteer again. These findings held when controlling for the effects of participants' gender, self-esteem, and perceived social pressure to help others. How a malleable view and intergroup volunteerism may be mutually sustaining is discussed.     

A mediation meta-analysis of the role of maternal responsivity in the association between socioeconomic risk and children’s language

This meta-analysis tested maternal responsivity as a mediator of the association between socioeconomic risk and children's preschool language abilities. The search included studies up to 2017 and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, allowed us to examine the magnitude of the indirect effect across 17 studies (k = 19). The meta-analysis included 6433 predominantly White, English speaking children (M_age = 36 months; 50% female) from Western, industrialized countries. All paths in the model were statistically significant, notably, the indirect effect was significant (b = −.052), showing that maternal responsivity may be a proximal intervening variable between socioeconomic risk and children's language development. Moderator analyses found that the indirect effect was stronger for sensitive parenting than warmth and when parenting was assessed in the family home.     

Measures of risk for challenging behaviors： A comparison between the CBC and BDI

A growing body of evidence indicates that for some children, early incidences of challenging behaviors are predictors of later difficulties. These incidences of challenging behaviors may predict mental health issues, social adjustment issues and/or increased challenging behaviors that will impede school success and impact transition to adult life （Lipsey ＆ Derzon, 1998; Wagner, Cometo ＆ Newman, 2003; Walker, Ramsey ＆ Gresham, 2005）. This study seeks to explore the relationship between two commonly used assessments in early childhood settings, the Battelle Developmental Inventory （BDI） （given by caregivers/teachers） （Newborg, 2005） and the Child Behavior Checklist （CBC） （given by both parents and caregivers/teachers） （Achenbach, 2000）. Two significant correlations that linked the use of the BDI and the CBC were found. Further research is needed with larger sample sizes.