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The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between Chinese preschool children’s home numeracy experiences and their mathematical abilities. The parents of 515 4- to 5-year-old preschool children reported their frequency of participation in home numeracy activities, and the children were assessed on their math ability. The results revealed that the parents engaged in both formal and informal math activities at home. Family socioeconomic status showed significant positive correlations with number game and number application activities. Parental involvement in number skills activities positively predicted young children’s formal and informal math ability, while number application activities positively predicted young children’s informal math ability. These results suggest that parents should pay attention to both formal and informal activities in support of their children’s math learning at home.

The present research examined the effects of family-related factors on how parents perceive and choose physical activities that stimulate their children’s physical fitness and motor development. Using the random sampling approach, a total of 284 4- to 5-year-old children (n = 147 boys; n = 137 girls) were included in the sample. These children’s physical fitness [measured by the Manual of National Physical Fitness Evaluation Standard (China’s Department of General Administration Buren of Sport, 国民体质测定标准手册 (幼儿部分) [The manual of national physical fitness evaluation standard-child version], People’s Sports Press, 2003)], large and fine motor development [measured by the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (Henderson et al., Movement assessment battery for children-2: Movement ABC-2: Examiner’s manual, Pearson, 2007)], and their parents’ attitudes toward physical activities [measured using the items of Parental Attitude toward Physical Activities scale (Wen, T. (2011). 幼儿园体育活动现状与改革的研究 [An investigation research on current situation and reform of physical education in kindergarten]. Master dissertation. Inner Mongolia Normal University)] were assessed. The results showed that parental attitudes positively predicted the performance of two-feet jumping in the physical fitness measurement and negatively predicted the performance of post coins by non-dominant hand in the motor ability test. Children who participated in both competitive and leisure physical activity showed significantly higher scores on the motor ability test than children who only participated in leisure physical activity. The child who participated in both types of physical activity scored significantly higher in tennis ball throwing, catching bean bag, and jumping on mats test. Children who participated in competitive physical activity showed significantly higher scores in tennis ball throwing and jumping on mats. This study provided evidence that family-related factors (e.g., parental attitude towards physical activities and children’s participation in activities) stimulate their children’s physical fitness and motor development among Chinese preschool children. Discussions and implications of the findings about how to provide support for children’s physical fitness and motor development, such as providing children more time for physical activities and more kinds of activities, were included.

Τhis study used a cross-lagged design to examine the longitudinal relations between teacher–child conflict and children’s problem behavior during the preschool years based on a stratified sample of...

Using a longitudinal sample of 508 Chinese preschool children, this study examined how family socioeconomic status (SES) was related to preschool children's social skills development through family processes using multilevel latent growth curve modeling. After controlling for the effects of personal characteristics, a significant indirect effect of family SES on initial levels of children's social skills and growth was observed and mediated through maternal depressive symptoms, marital relationships, and parenting practices. Maternal depressive symptoms from family SES was linked to poorer marital relationships and parenting practices, which were linked to children's social skills. Authoritative parenting was related to increased growth in children's social skills. In addition, authoritative parenting mediated the effects of marital relationship quality on both initial levels and growth in social skills. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Research Findings: This longitudinal study examined how teacher-child interaction quality related to growth in children’s approaches to learning (ATL), measured by Competence Motivation Learning St...

Research on the screen time of young children and its relationship to their cognitive and social development is controversial. Based on a stratified, random sample of 579 five-year-old children in ...

Development in higher organisms requires proper gene silencing, partially achieved through trimethylation of lysine 27 on histone H3 (H3K27me3). However, how the normal distribution of this modification is established and maintained and how it affects gene expression remains unclear, especially in fungi. Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) catalyses H3K27me3 to assemble transcriptionally repressed facultative heterochromatin and is crucial in animals, plants, and fungi. Here, we report on the critical role of an additional PRC2 subunit in the normal distribution of H3K27me3 occupancy and the stable maintenance of gene repression in the rice fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. P55, identified as an additional PRC2 subunit, is physically associated with core subunits of PRC2 and is required for a complete level of H3K27me3 modification. Loss of P55 caused severe global defects in the normal distribution of H3K27me3 and transcriptional reprogramming on the H3K27me3-occupied genes. Furthermore, we found that the Sin3 histone deacetylase complex was required to sustain H3K27me3 occupancy and stably maintain gene repression by directly interacting with P55. Our results revealed a novel mechanism by which P55 and Sin3 participate in the normal distribution of facultative heterochromatic modifications and the stable maintenance of gene repression in eukaryotes.

This study aimed to identify distinct early literacy profiles among Chinese preschoolers based on receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and Chinese character recognition using latent profile analyses. We further explored family-related predictors of children's profile classifications and the relations between children's profile classifications and their mathematical and science skills. This study involved 656 Chinese preschoolers (Mean age = 5.04 years; 49.1% girls). Four profiles emerged: (1) Lowest Overall (24.1%), (2) Low Average (43.9%), (3) High Vocabulary, Average Chinese Character Recognition (23.5%), and (4) Highest Overall (8.5%). Family SES and home literacy activities were related to children's profile classifications. Profile classifications predicted children's mathematical and science skills. Effect sizes for significant findings ranged from medium to very large. The emerged profiles highlighted the considerable heterogeneity of early literacy skills. The findings indicated the need of providing differential home literacy activities and classroom instruction to children with distinct profiles.

This study explores how classroom teaching quality and preschoolers' attitudes toward reading contribute to their literacy achievement in the Chinese context. A moderated mediation model is hypothesized where teacher-child interaction quality predicts children's literacy outcomes via their reading attitudes, but the strength of this whole mediation process is moderated by the level of teacher-child interaction quality. A sample of 567 Chinese kindergarteners from 29 classrooms was recruited to test the hypothesized model using a longitudinal design. The results support our assumptions: teacher's emotional support had a positive effect on children's reading attitudes, which in turn had a positive effect on their reading and vocabulary learning outcomes. Three domains of teacher-child interaction quality at the baseline together were associated with children's Chinese reading through later classroom organization. Moreover, children with better reading attitudes benefited more from higher instructional support and then gained more vocabulary learning achievement. Implication for preschool teaching training and professional development are included.

Organized extracurricular activities (EAs) constitute an important part of many young children's lives. However, the role of EAs in children's development during early childhood is poorly understood. The current study examined the associations between EA participation and a range of school readiness outcomes in a sample of 345 urban Chinese preschoolers. Using three waves of data collected on EA participation and applying growth mixture modeling, we discovered two distinct trajectory classes with respect to the breadth of EA participation as well as two classes for EA attendance intensity. With a series of covariates controlled for, children's greater initial levels of or rates of increase in EA breadth were related to better early math skills. Greater probabilities of belonging to the higher-intensity class were also associated with better early math skills in children. However, EA participation did not predict other aspects of children's school readiness, including Chinese reading, receptive vocabulary, expressive language, social skills, and problem behaviors. This study extends existing EA literature, which has primarily focused on school-aged populations in Western contexts, by demonstrating substantial individual variations in Chinese preschoolers' trajectories of EA participation. Our findings suggest that EAs seem to have little unique contribution to children's school readiness except for early math skills.

The current study explored the possible reciprocal associations between Chinese preschool children's social skills and teacher-child relationships by testing three cross-lagged models in 656 children: the child-driven model, the relationship-driven model, and the reciprocal model. These children were assessed at three time points during the 2nd and 3rd preschool years. Parents rated preschooler's social skills and teachers reported teacher-child relationships. The results showed that the child-driven effect was generally significant in the associations between teacher-child relationships and preschoolers' social skills. These findings contributed to the understanding of dynamic associations between teacher-child relationships and children's social skills during preschool years. Implications for educational practices were discussed followed by the limitations of the study.

New polyoxamides, poly(m-xylylene oxamide) (PMXD2) and its copolymer with 2-methyl-1,5- pentanediamine (P(MXD2/M52)) with relative viscosity up to 4.6 were synthesized via spray/solid state...

Quality early childhood education (ECE) is central to children's development and, thus, has become a focus of the current Chinese education agenda. Using a sample of 589 Chinese children in 59 preschool classrooms, this study examined how a key aspect of ECE quality, teacher-child interactions, was related to children's skills. Findings indicated that teacher-child interactions were related to children's cognitive skills, but not to social skills. These results contribute to the growing international research literature on the critical role teacher-child interactions play with children's learning and development. Implications for policy and professional development are discussed.

Using a large and representative sample of 1882 children from 60 preschools in China, this study examined how classroom quality was associated with preschool children's approaches to learning. Certified observers rated classroom quality using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) according to three domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Furthermore, the Preschool Learning Behavior Scale (PLBS; McDermott, Rikoon, Waterman, & Fantuzzo, 2012) was used to measure the children's approaches to learning through three dimensions: competence motivation (CM), learning strategy (LS), and attention/persistence (AP). Hierarchical linear modeling results showed that after controlling for the children's gender, sibling status, and family socioeconomic status, emotional support had positive relationship with their LS and AP. Classroom organization had negative relationship with children's LS and AP. No relationship was found between classroom quality and CM. Our findings highlight the importance of enhancing classroom quality to foster children's positive learning behavior in preschool classrooms.

This study investigated the cross-cultural validity of the Preschool Learning Behavior Scale (PLBS) in the Chinese cultural context. Multiple approaches were used for this purpose, including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, criterion-related validity evidence, and internal consistency reliability estimates. The findings generally supported the PLBS’ three-factor structure (Competence Motivation, Learning Strategy, and Attention/Persistence) as used in the Chinese cultural context, and with minor adaptations, PLBS could be a psychometrically sound measure for assessing the learning behaviors of Chinese children.