Thesis (M.Med.(Paediatrics), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / Background In settings with a high burden of tuberculosis, children with unrecognised culture-confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) may be discharged from hospital before mycobacterial culture results are available; in these cases clinical improvement may have been due to successful treatment of an intercurrent viral or bacterial co-infection. Aim To estimate the burden of tuberculosis in children who were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) trial, and to probe for the presence of pneumococcal co-infection in trial participants who had a hospital-based diagnosis of PTB. Methods A retrospective case-finding strategy was adopted in order to define the tuberculosis case load amongst 39 836 children that had been enrolled in a PCV efficacy trial in Soweto, Gauteng Province. The trial follow-up period was 5.3 years. Children with a hospital-based diagnosis of tuberculosis were categorised by strength of evidence for the disease, HIV status and PCV vaccination status. Incidence rates and risk ratio assessments were conducted using standard statistical methods. Results Four-hundred and ninety-two episodes of tuberculosis arose amongst 425 of the 39 836 PCV Study participants. Tuberculosis incidence was 1067 per 100 000 children (95% Confidence Interval [CI], 968 – 1173), with the greatest burden observed amongst HIV-infected children (10 633 per 100 000 children [95% CI, 9411 – 11 969]; Risk Ratio [RR] 27.5 [95% CI, 22.6 – 33.5], P<0.001). The burden of PTB in the cohort was 982 cases per 100 000 children (95% CI, 887 – 1084): 9895 per 100 000 (95% CI, 8718 – 11 187) in the HIV-infected children and 352 per 100 000 (95% CI 294 – 417) in the HIV-uninfected children (RR 28.1; 95% CI, 22.9 – 34.6), P<0.001. PCV recipients exhibited a 44 percent (95% CI, 11 – 65), P=0.010, reduction in incident culture-confirmed PTB compared to placebo recipients; this apparent reduction was demonstrated chiefly in PCV-vaccinated HIV-infected children (RR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.31 – 0.90) compared to HIV-infected placebo recipients, P=0.017. Conclusions A high burden of tuberculosis is carried by children under 5.3 years in the study setting, with HIV-infected children bearing the brunt of the morbidity. Pneumococcal co-infections are common in the context of hospitalised PTB in the study setting.

Learning to read is essential, yet many children do not receive a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia (DD) until second or third grade. The aim of this dissertation is to identify brain and behavioral predictors of DD so that diagnosis and intervention can begin sooner. Experiment 1 examines infants with familial risk of DD longitudinally. Infants completed non-sedated diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) between 4- and 18-months of age and cognitive-linguistic assessment at four years. Infants at- risk of DD displayed reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased radial diffusivity (RD) in the left arcuate fasciculus (AF) and reduced FA and axial diffusivity (AD) of the splenium of the corpus callosum (CC) compared to peers without a familial risk. Both the left AF and CC are implicated in reading and reading-related tasks, and atypicalities have been observed in children and adults with DD. RD may reflect myelination and AD is thought to indicate pathway complexity suggesting infants at-risk of DD exhibit reduced myelination of the left AF and reduced pathway complexity of the CC at or shortly after birth. The left AF assessed in infancy predicted four-year-old vocabulary skills while the CC predicted four-year-old print knowledge. Experiment 2 explores the association between white matter microstructure of the left AF and CC and neural activity during phonological processing assessed via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Preschoolers with and without a familial risk of DD completed DWI and an fMRI alliteration task where children indicated via button-press whether two words started with the same initial sound. Positive correlations were observed between FA of the left AF and CC and neural activity in the left medial temporal gyrus and the left lingual gyrus, two regions implicated in phonological processing. Experiment 3 examines whether white matter microstructure of the CC assessed in preschool is associated with school-age reading fluency in children with and without a familial risk of DD. Similar to children and adults with DD, preschoolers with a familial risk of DD displayed greater FA and AD of the CC compared to controls. Furthermore, AD of the CC predicted school-age reading fluency. / 2018-12-03T00:00:00Z

As a result of the Good Start, Grow Smart Initiative (GSGS) in 2002, states began developing Early Learning Guidelines (ELGs), which are utilized by state funded programs for children ages 3 to 5. Although GSGS recommended that states include literacy, language, and pre-reading skills in ELGs, many states developed more comprehensive documents that included broader ranges of skills and activities consistent with each state's conceptualization of what constitutes quality learning environments for this age group. Consequently, music content, if included in ELGs, may vary from state to state. Three national standards documents may have informed music standards included in ELGs, such as The National Music Standards for Prekindergarten, Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework, and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) All-Criteria Document. I conducted a content analysis of state ELGs: 1) to determine what musical behaviors and activities states have codified as official knowledge within quality learning environments for young children, and 2) to ascertain the extent to which the musical content reflects music standards included in national prekindergarten standards documents. Findings indicated that the broadly-framed Head Start and NAEYC music indicators were well-represented in state ELGs. The majority of ELGs have addressed two of the Content Standards of The National Music Standards for Prekindergarten, "Singing and Playing Instruments" (88%) and "Responding to Music" (74%). The Content Standards "Creating Music" and "Understanding Music" were addressed in far fewer ELGs (27% and 33%, respectively). The more prescriptive Achievement Standards were less frequently included in ELGs. Additionally, 14.33% of all music-related indictors included in state ELGs did not reflect the music content of any of the national standards and guidelines; rather, the indicators represented additional music content (for example, audience skills), music activities that promote social and emotional development, and facilitating learning in other curriculum areas. When ELGs were examined through a conceptual framework of policy and Developmentally Appropriate Practice, a co-mingling of standards and guidelines constructs was found, suggesting that state ELG committees attempted to balance the opposing segments, resulting in re-contextualization of the content selected for inclusion in the ELGs.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This study concerns a group of foreign parents' experiences with Swedish preschool. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the foreign guardians' experiences of the phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with six informants, and the results of the interviews are compiled and linked to theoretical concepts in the analysis. The concepts that I have chosen to define are culture, Swedishness (svenskhet) and life-world. In the discussion section, I link the results to previous research on the preschool's work on diversity. The results show that the custodians experience a lack of collaboration between preschool and home and a lack of communication. Cultural differences lead to prejudice, and negative attitudes and language deficiencies give custodians a sense of exclusion.

Forest School promotes a child-led approach to education, through frequent learning in an outdoor woodland area. It was developed in the United Kingdom based on the early years practices employed in Denmark. The existing research has begun to generate some evidence of the positive outcomes of Forest School. There appears to be growing confidence in Forest School that is primarily based on non- experimental qualitative research. Therefore, the current research aimed to evaluate the impact of Forest School for nursery aged children, using experimental, outcome-focussed evaluation methods. The study utilised a pragmatic approach, employing a sequential mixed methods study design; the primary focus being the quasi-experimental element of the design, that included 11 children in both the experimental and control groups. The specific research outcomes were developed in collaboration with nursery staff using focus groups, thus, questionnaires were developed to measure social and emotional well-being and communication, pre- and post-intervention. This data is complemented by three case studies of children that participated in Forest School; analysed and presented using activity theory. The quantitative results indicate that both the control group and experimental group made significant gains in social and emotional well-being and communication, suggesting that Forest School did not have a significant effect. The qualitative data, however, highlighted a range of outcomes and provided interesting information regarding the mediating factors which influence the children's Forest School experiences. The possible reasons for the quantitative outcomes are discussed, including the unique ethos and general outdoor practices used at the nursery setting in which the research took place. The data has also been considered in relation to the methodological weaknesses, such as diffusion of treatment, which may account for the disparity between the data and previous research. Although it cannot be concluded that the Forest School had a significant impact on the children that engaged in the sessions, the current research suggests that the use of general outdoor learning practices and teaching by Forest School trained staff had a positive impact on the social and emotional well-being and communication for all children.

Empathy is an important human trait that we need to communicate with other individuals. According to the research found in this paper, the lack of empathy in children leads often to developing of aggressive behavior that causes communication difficulties with the children. Research has also shown that children attending preschool has more empathic development.The purpose of this paper is to provide knowledge about how teachers in preschool work with empathy in the pedagogical practice and in preschool education.  By interviewing six different preschool teachers at two different preschools around the Växjö area in Småland, Sweden. The analysis showed that different factors such as size of the child group and the age of the children influence how the preschoolers choose to shape their pedagogy.  The result shows that the preschool teachers have worked with different conversation technique, they have tried to act as good role models for the children and they teach the children that different feelings can be felt and displayed in different ways. In the discussion it shows that the paper could be done differently if there was more time and more preschools to interview. Finally, the effect of empathy on preschool teachers is taken into account and the consequences of empathically charged situations.

In a demonstration study, Experiment I compared the naming cusp and capability for auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli with 6 preschool-aged children who demonstrated the naming capability for visual stimuli. Probes for listener and speaker responses were conducted following separate stimulus-stimulus pairings during which the experimenter presented a stimulus from one of the four modalities (i.e., visual, auditory, tactile, or olfactory) for the participant to observe, and named the stimulus. The names of the stimuli were counterbalanced, such that the names of each of the stimuli within each modality (e.g., visual modality) had different assigned names than the stimuli in the other modalities (e.g., auditory, tactile, and olfactory modalities). Four of the participants in Experiment I were typically developing and two participants were diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Five of the participants demonstrated full naming (i.e. the emission of untaught listener and speaker responses) for visual stimuli and at least 1other stimulus modality after 2 sessions of stimulus-stimulus pairings of stimuli and their names (i.e., naming experiences). One participant only demonstrated the listener half of naming for visual stimuli and did not demonstrate naming for any of the other stimulus modalities tested. Naming accrued for one or more stimulus modalities for five of the six participants after the second naming experience. Previous research investigating naming for a stimulus modality other than visual have demonstrated the acquisition of naming for auditory stimuli following stimulus-stimulus parings of visual stimuli with auditory stimuli presented with the same name. In Experiment II, I used a delayed repeated probe design across three dyads (five participants from Experiment I) to test the effects of repeated stimulus-stimulus pairings across visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli, presented simultaneously, with 1 name assigned for each modality set, on demonstrations of naming. In Experiment II the naming experiences consisted of the simultaneous presentation of four stimuli (i.e., visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory) while the experimenter labeled each stimulus while the participant observed. Five of the participants demonstrated overall increases in correct untaught speaker responses following the repeated stimulus-stimulus pairings. Some participants demonstrated decreases in correct responses across sessions, indicating certain stimuli elicited avoidance responses after repeated exposures. Five participants also demonstrated transfer of stimulus control from visual stimuli to one or more of the other stimulus modalities, indicating higher-order conditioning occurred. The findings provide further evidence for the differential development of naming across stimulus modalities for children with visual naming through stimulus-stimulus pairings.

The work in preschool is based on the curriculum for preschool. When revised in 2010, the goals of mathematics were strengthened so that preschools will offer more educational incentives for the children to develop mathematically and prepare for school. The study is based on curriculum theory. Previous research that is included in the study shows that preschool teachers often work with mathematics in everyday situations. It happens through communication and interaction. Mathematics is cultural and can be divided into six different universal activities. Different ways of working with math are visualized. The importance of good didactic and mathematical knowledge to support the children in their mathematical development is noted. The aim of this study is to find out how preschool teachers interpret the mathematical curriculum goals and how they work with mathematics in preschool. The survey consists of interviews with four preschool teachers, telling how they work with mathematics together with children 3-5 years old, based on mathematical goals in preschool´s curriculum. The result of the study shows that mathematics in preschool is rarely planned. The preschool teachers mostly work with mathematics by paying attention to and naming the mathematics that occur in the day-to-day activities at the preschool. Through communication and interaction, the children in preschool get many opportunities to develop mathematically. The study shows that preschool teachers work according to the curriculum, which states that care and learning should go into each other. The results of this study points in the same direction as previous research. As further research, it is proposed to investigate how preschool teachers work with mathematics together with the youngest children in order to make a comparison and also to investigate the work with mathematics together with digitalization.

The present study applies early field experience theory and developmental stages theory as the basis of teacher training i n a junior college program in Taiwan. Two hundred sixty-six junior college students from two junior colleges were surveyed in order to ascertain what factors had an effect on the concept of teaching concerns. Comparisons were made among the following : with/ without preschool education background in senior high school, grade, school, age, fathers' educational levels, mothers' educational levels, and fathers' yearly income. The results indicate that early field experiences had a direct effect on teaching concerns. The students' year of study (freshmen vs sophomore) in junior college made a difference depending on whether they had been exposed to an early field experience. The groups that had a preschool education background had higher mean developmental-teaching-stage scores, in first (freshmen) study year, but lower mean scores in the second (sophomore) study year. The mean developmentalteaching- stage scores for both study years of junior college students with preschool education background were very close to each other. Junior college students without a preschool education background in senior high had a higher mean developmental-teaching-stage score in the second year than in the first year.