Objetivos: Avaliar a efetividade entre diferentes intervalos de retorno na incidência de cárie em pré-escolares que apresentaram risco baixo de cárie dentária, e também, avaliar o nível de ansiedade e qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal (QVRSB) das crianças de acordo com cada intervalo empregado. Métodos: A amostra foi composta por 224 crianças de escolas públicas, com idade entre 3 a 5 anos, de ambos os sexos, com baixo risco de cárie. As crianças foram alocadas aleatoriamente em dois grupos de estudo, de acordo com dois intervalos de retorno, sendo: Grupo 1 (G1) - exame clínico bucal + escovação dental profissional + orientação de higiene bucal e dieta no intervalo de retorno de 12 meses e Grupo 2 (G2) - exame clínico bucal + escovação dental profissional + orientação de higiene bucal e dieta no retorno de 18 meses. O exame clínico bucal foi realizado por um examinador previamente calibrado e cego aos grupos de estudo e aos desfechos secundários. O exame clínico bucal incluiu o índice de sangramento gengival de Löe, índice de biofilme dentário de Greene e Vermillion simplificado, detecção de lesões de cárie e da sua atividade de acordo com o ICDAS (International Caries Detection and Asessment System). O nível de ansiedade e a QVRSB foram avaliados pela Escala de Imagem Facial e pelo B-ECOHIS, respectivamente, por um dentista externo. O dentista externo também realizou as orientações sobre higiene bucal e dieta, e a avaliação das condições socioeconômicas. Os testes qui-quadrado e o de Mann-Whitney foram utilizados para avaliar a diferença na proporção de crianças e na média de dentes com novas lesões de cárie entre G1 e G2, respectivamente. Análises de Regressão de Poisson com variância robusta foram realizadas para avaliar o desfecho primário de incidência de cárie dentária considerando dois pontos de corte durante os retornos: 1) incidência de lesões de cárie não cavitadas ativas; 2) incidência de lesões cavitadas em dentina. Resultados: Foi observado uma diferença estatisticamente significativa unicamente para a incidência de lesões iniciais de cárie ativas entre os grupos (p=0,012). Na consulta de retorno crianças que pertenciam ao G2 tiveram maior risco de desenvolver lesões iniciais ativas em comparação ao G1 (RR= 2,37; p=0,047) e também aquelas com um maior índice de placa bacteriana (RR=3,14; p<0,001). Crianças que moram em família não nuclear (RR=2,56; p=0,007), com mais de um irmão (RR=2,53; p=0,037), e que utilizavam dentifrício sem flúor ou em baixa concentração no baseline (RR=3,91; p=0,012), tiveram maior risco de desenvolver lesões de cárie iniciais ativas. Crianças com maior número de dentes com lesões iniciais ativas nos retornos tiveram maior risco de desenvolver lesões de cárie cavitadas em dentina (RR=1,62; p=0,001). Conclusões: O intervalo de retorno de 12 meses é mais efetivo na incidência de cárie não cavitada ativa em pré-escolares de baixo risco de cárie, sendo que estas lesões são um fator preditivo para a progressão de lesões de cárie cavitadas em dentina. Porém não há diferenças na escolha do intervalo de retorno para lesões cavitadas em dentina, níveis de ansiedade e QVRSB. / Objectives: To assess the effectiveness between different recall intervals on dental caries incidence in preschool children with low risk of caries, as well as, the level of anxiety and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children according to each interval applied. Methods: The sample consisted of 224 children from public schools, aged between 3 to 5 years, of both genders, with low risk of caries. The children were randomly allocated into two study groups according to two recall intervals being: Group 1 (G1) - oral clinical examination + professional dental brushing + orientation for oral health and diet on the recall of 12 months and, Group 2 (G2) - oral clinical examination + professional dental brushing + orientation for oral health and diet on the recall of 18 months. A previously calibrated and blinded examiner for study groups and secondary outcomes performed the oral clinical examinations. The examinations consisted of the Löe gingival bleeding index, Greene and Vermillion simplified dental biofilm index, detection of caries lesions and their activity according to the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS). An external dentist assessed the anxiety levels and OHRQoL scores by the Facial Imaging Scale and B-ECOHIS, respectively. The external dentist also performed dental hygiene and diet orientations, and the assessment of socioeconomic conditions. The chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used to assess the difference in the proportion of children and mean of teeth with new caries lesions between G1 and G2, respectively. Poisson Regression analyses with robust variance were performed to evaluate dental caries incidence considering two cutoff points during the returns: 1) incidence of active non-cavitated caries lesions; 2) incidence of cavitated lesions in dentin. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed only for the incidence of initial active caries lesions between the groups (p=0.012). In the recall interval children who remain in the G2 group and who had a higher plaque index, had a higher risk of developing active lesions (RR=2.37; p=0.047 and RR=3.14; p<0.001, respectively) compared to the G1 group. Children living in non-nuclear families (RR=2.56; p=0.007), with more than one sibling (RR=2.53; p=0.037), and who used fluoride-free or with low concentration in the baseline (RR=3.91; p=0.012) had a higher risk of developing active initial caries lesions. Children with higher number of initial active lesions in the recalls had a higher risk of developing caries lesions cavitated in dentin (RR=1.62; p=0.001). Conclusions: The 12-months recall interval is more effective on the incidence of active non-cavitated caries in preschoolers with low risk caries, which is a predictive factor for the progression of cavitated carious lesions in dentin. There are no differences in the choice of the recall interval for cavitated lesions in dentin, anxiety levels and OHRQoL.

The quality of children's daily experiences in preschool classrooms is predictive of their school readiness and later achievement (Duncan et al., 2007; La Paro & Pianta, 2000). One particularly important aspect of these experiences is the quality of emotional support provided by teachers and peers in the classroom (Hamre & Pianta, 2005; Howes et al., 2008; Mashburn, 2008; National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning, 2012). Traditionally, emotional support quality has been calculated as the average of ratings taken across the school year and is meant to represent children's average daily experience, without regard to any variability which exists within the ratings over time. The bioecological model of development (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998; 2006) points out the necessity of considering in what ways learning experiences occur over time when drawing links between children's daily lives and later outcomes. In addition, attachment theory (Bowlby, 1973; Ainsworth, 1979) highlights the foundational nature of caregivers' consistency of emotional responses over time in helping young children develop skills and competencies. This study continues a line of research focused on investigating the stability of high-quality interactions as a possible mechanism through which children's optimal cognitive and social-emotional development occurs in preschool classrooms (Curby, Brock, & Hamre, 2013; Curby et al., 2011; Zinsser, Bailey, Curby, Denham, & Bassett, 2013). The current study examined the role of children's socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors, teachers' mean emotional support, and teachers' emotional support consistency in predicting children's cognitive and social-emotional development in preschool. Children's socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors (socioeconomic status, gender, age, race, ethnicity, English Language Learner status, and self-regulation) negatively predicted both baseline scores and development over the course of the year on the cognitive measures (early math and language and literacy). Low levels of teacher-rated student self-regulation at the beginning of the year significantly negatively predicted baseline scores and development on all academic and social-emotional measures. Contrary to most previous research, teachers' mean emotional support was not found to be a significant contributor to children's development when considered with child risk factors, except in the case of receptive vocabulary. The consistency of teachers' emotional support, however, was predictive of several measures of children's development of academic skills when controlling for child risk factors. A significant interaction between English Language Learner status and emotional support consistency was found in predicting development of expressive vocabulary skills. Multilevel models combining child characteristics, mean emotional support, and emotional support consistency suggest that child risk factors and emotional support consistency predict language and literacy development, above and beyond mean emotional support. Follow-up analyses also suggest that, under conditions of relatively high emotional support, consistency is especially important in predicting children's development of cognitive and social-emotional skills.

<p>Pre-school as a Meeting Place – Children’s Access-strategies and Exclusions in Play and Conversation</p><p>Abstract</p><p>The research reported in this thesis attempts to understand what happens when children interact with each other in the context of activities in a pre-school setting (here called Daggkåpan) when adults are not involved. By using ethnographically inspired methodology, in combination with conversation-analysis, this project has been analysing everyday interaction between children who are three to five years old. The aim of the project was to understand how children at Daggkåpan create relationships and how they defend and protect their interactional spaces. I have studied how children shape, maintain and interrupt relationships and interactions with one another. I have studied and analysed what kinds of access-strategies the children utilize and create and also how these children exclude one another in play activities and everyday conversations. Sociocultural and interactionistic perspectives have been used. Findings suggest that it is very important for these children to maintain interactions with peers and gain access to play groups. The children of Daggkåpan create and use several different strategies for gaining access. The results also indicate that gaining access to play groups is particularly difficult in preschool settings since young children tend to protect shared spaces and ongoing play activities from children outside the realms of these spaces and activities. Children also co-construct a number of strategies for excluding peers from their interactional spaces. Steering clear from the dominating perspective that categorizes children and focuses on the individual child, I have in contrast focused children during their interaction with one another in peer group activities. In other words I have discussed peer-relations, peer-socialization and peer-perspectives from an interactional view. Studying peer-interactions through microanalysis allows for understanding what is meaningful for children in their peer-culture in preschool.</p><p>Britt Tellgren</p>

Executive functions (including attentional shifting/flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of children's early school success (Blair & Razza, 2007; Espy et al., 2004). The current study explored questions related to measurement of executive functions in preschool-aged children. Convergent and predictive validity were assessed for two traditional executive function tasks (the Dimensional Change Card Sort and the Day-Night Stroop), a behavioral executive function task (the Head-Toes-Knees- Shoulders, HTKS), and teacher ratings of child classroom behavior (the Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS). All measures were low-to-moderately correlated for the full sample of preschoolers. The CBRS and the HTKS tasks were the most consistent predictors of emergent mathematics, vocabulary, and literacy, controlling for child age and Head Start status; however, all tasks were significantly related to each achievement outcome. Additionally, the convergent and predictive validity of the executive function tasks and teacher ratings were examined by Head Start status. Results show that the tasks were more closely related in non Head Start children. For predictive validity, the most notable difference was for the Day-Night Stroop, which was a strong consistent predictor of academic outcomes for non Head Start children but not for Head Start children. Together, these findings provide insight to the convergent and predictive validity of executive function tasks during early childhood and differences in executive function associated with Head Start status. / Graduation date: 2012

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-30).

Ett av förskolans vanligaste material är byggklossar i trä. I denna studie undersökte vi hur barnen i den fria byggleken gick tillväga då de löste uppkomna problem, samt vilka matematiska aspekter de erfor i leken med klossarna. Barnens lek observerades med hjälp av videokamera, och det resultat som erhölls härur kopplas i studien till teorier kring matematik och barns lärande. De slutsatser som drogs då observationsmaterialet analyserades är att förskolebarn i byggleken får rika tillfällen att erfara olika matematiska områden. Dessutom möter barnen för dem relevanta problem, vilka de behandlar, och i vissa fall löser, på skilda sätt. Ibland praktiserar barn kända strategier, och ibland utmanas de till att lösa ett problem genom att pröva sig fram. Tydligt är även att barn kan befinna sig i olika, i studien funna, faser då de löser ett problem, och att dessa är beroende av hur de i ett specifikt fall väljer att hantera en uppkommen utmaning. I studien dras även slutsatsen att barnen då de möter de olika matematiska aspekterna, och/eller antar en utmaning som leder till en problemlösningssituation, också har goda möjligheter till lärande. / Wooden building bricks are among the most common toys in Swedish preschools. In this study, preschool children’s course of action was examined as they solved problems that arose during their free play with bricks. The children’s play has been observed and recorded with a video camera, and the result received is then related to theories of mathematics and of children’s learning. The conclusions drawn from the result are that preschool children, in their free play with building bricks, get plenty of opportunities to experience various aspects of mathematics. Furthermore, children come across problems that are relevant to them, which they deal with in different ways and sometimes solve. At times children practise strategies already known to them, and every now and then they are challenged to solve a problem through trial and error. It is clear that children may be in different phases, found in the study, as they solve a problem. These phases are dependent on how they choose to handle the arisen challenge in a particular case. Another conclusion drawn in the study is that children, as they face the variety of mathematical aspects and/or accept a challenge which leads to a problem solving situation, have considerable opportunities of learning.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between preschool children&rsquo / s reading attitudes and their home literacy environment. In addition, children&rsquo / s perceptions of reading in terms of their reading attitudes were examined as a part of this study. The sample of this study consisted of 261 parents and their 5 year-old children who were enrolled preschool in Ankara, Turkey. The data of this study were collected through child interviews, demographic information forms, and the following questionnaires: the Home Literacy Environment Questionnaire (Umek et al., 2005) and the Preschool Children Reading Attitudes (Saracho, 1986) questionnaire. These questionnaires were both translated into Turkish, and statistical analyses were conducted to control for validity and reliability issues through a pilot study. The results of the study showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between preschool children&rsquo / s reading attitudes and their home literacy environment. In addition, the study revealed there were some differences in children&rsquo / s reading attitudes and their home literacy environment in regards to demographic variables. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that children who have more positive reading attitudes tended to give clearer and more detailed responses to questions and were more aware that writing contains messages. In addition, those children mentioned letters and the role of letters in the learning to read process.

In recent decades a growing number of individuals in preschool, middle childhood and adolescence have been diagnosed with ADHD. Accompanying increasing rates of diagnoses is an increase in the use of stimulant medication in preschool populations, a practice not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This paper reviews the current literature pertaining the social and developmental consequences of ADHD, its effect on the child and family, treatment strategies with and without the use of stimulants, and cultural and diagnostic trends which may be contributing to the rising number of diagnoses. A review of the literature suggests that there is a dire need for further empirical research into the use of stimulant medications in preschoolers, and a number of cultural factors unique to the United States have contributed to increasing rates of ADHD diagnosis.

I denna studie har två förskollärares syn på musik i förskolan undersökts. Kvalitativa intervjuer har ägt rum på två olika förskolor – en utan specifik inriktning och en avdelning med musikinriktning belägen i en annan förskola. Intervjufrågorna formulerades så att förskollärarnas syn på musikens roll och användningsområden i förskolan framkom. Svaren som gavs var i stora delar liknande, bland annat när det kommer till hur förskollärarna uppfattar musikens påverkan på barns språkliga utveckling. De stora skillnader som framkom var att musik i den musikinriktade verksamheten ses som ett medel att nå alla läroplanens mål, och mycket tid och planering läggs ned på musikaktiviteterna i deras strävan att uppnå detta. Organiserade och väl planerade musiksamlingar ägde dagligen rum på den musikinriktade avdelningen, och vikten av att alla pedagoger är engagerade poängterades. I förskolan utan speciell inriktning såg man i stort musik som ett roligt inslag och som komplement till den övriga verksamheten, även om man samtidigt var medveten om dess goda effekter på barns utveckling. Musik sågs kunna ge barnen ytterligare en dimension i teman och liknande. / In this study, two preschool teachers' views on music in preschool has been investigated. Qualitative interviews have taken place in two preschools - one without specific focus and a music-oriented section located in a different preschool. The questions in the interviews were formulated so that the preschool teachers' views on the role of music and use in pre-emerged. The answers given were largely similar, particularly when it comes to how preschool teachers perceive the music's impact on children's linguistic development. The major differences that emerged was that the music in the music-oriented section is seen as a means to achieve all goals of the curriculum, and a lot of time and planning is spent on music activities in their efforts to achieve this. Organized and well-planned music-themed assemblies took place daily on the music-oriented section, and the importance of engaged educators was emphasized. In the preschool without special emphasis music was in large seen as a fun element and an addition to other activities, while they still were aware of its good effects on child development. Music was seen as being able to give children an added dimension in themes and such.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts