Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Brain Development And Learning In The Primary Years .G2198, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In the primary years, children are beginning to think in complex ways about themselves, their environment, and others. Teachers can play a role in honing children’s brain development and learning.

Materials And Environments That Promote Learning In The Primary Years .G2199, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Leanne Manning

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Teachers can use multiple strategies to create a stimulating and responsive environment for children in the primary years. These strategies can lead to children’s overall social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development.

To promote optimal development of the whole child, children need a variety of materials available to them daily that provide both challenge and success. They also need daily exposure to music, art, and movement activities.

Play And Learning In The Primary Years .G2200, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

During the school day, there should be opportunities for children ages 3-8 to gain a deeper understanding of academic concepts through play. Children’s play needs to be encouraged as an essential part of their healthy development. A wide variety of play experiences is necessary to develop a complex and integrated brain.

Research collected as part of the report Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School (2009) shows that children are spending fewer than 30 minutes a day in purposeful play or choice time in the kindergarten classroom, even less in grades 1-3. In contrast, young children …

The Role Of Relationships In The Primary Years .G2201, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Lisa M. Poppe

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Supporting a child’s healthy social and emotional growth takes commitment from all primary caregivers in the child’s life. This includes mothers, fathers, grandparents, teachers, and other key adults.

For many years, researchers have discussed the importance of attachment in early childhood. It is widely accepted that relationships are an important part of healthy developmental processes.

A wealth of research supports the need for strong, safe, and secure teacher-child relationships. We know that relationships are essential to learning, and that developmental achievements are the result of interactions with other people and with objects. Forgoing attention to the quality of the teacher-child …

The Importance Of Outdoor Experiences In The Primary Years .G2202, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia Renee Durden, Leanne Manning, Julia C. Torquati

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Daily experiences in natural environments can have immediate and long-lasting benefits for children. Increased physical activity is associated with decreases in depression and anxiety and increases in levels of concentration. It also is a key strategy in addressing childhood obesity.

Research overwhelmingly supports the need for children to experience natural environments often and in a variety of ways. For many reasons, children are spending increasing amounts of time inside the house watching television and playing video games. Also, many schools are cutting recess times or eliminating recess all together in favor of spending more time during the day focusing on …

Critical Reflectivity And The Development Of New Culturally Relevant Teachers ., Tonia Renee Durden, Diane M. Truscott

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Three case studies present how preservice teachers use reflections while learning to teach. Interviews and document analysis reveal that critical reflections evidence greater understanding of culturally relevant pedagogy and offer a platform for critical consciousness. Using critical reflectivity to develop teachers’ understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy is discussed.

Parent Beliefs And Children’S Social-Behavioral Functioning: The Mediating Role Of Parent-Teacher Relationships, Elizabeth Moorman Kim, Susan M. Sheridan Dr., Kyongboon Kwon, Natalie A. Koziol

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This research investigated whether parent-teacher relationship quality mediated the relation between parents’ motivational beliefs and children’s adaptive functioning and externalizing behaviors. The sample consisted of kindergarten through third-grade children with behavioral concerns (N = 206). Parents reported on their motivational beliefs (i.e., role construction and efficacy), and teachers reported on the quality of their relationships with parents and children’s adaptive functioning (i.e., social and adaptive skills) and externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that parents’ motivational beliefs were related significantly and positively to children’s adaptive functioning and negatively to children’s externalizing behaviors. Parents’ motivational beliefs were also significantly associated with enhanced …

The Efficacy Of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation On Parents And Children In The Home Setting: Results Of A Randomized Controlled Trial, Susan M. Sheridan, Ji Hoon Ryoo, Andrew Garbacz, Gina M. Kunz, Frances L. Chumney

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the effects of a family-school partnership model (i.e., Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, CBC) for promoting behavioral competence and decreasing problem behaviors of children identified by their teachers as disruptive. CBC is a structured approach to problem solving that involves consultants, parents, and teachers. The effects of CBC on family variables that are commonly associated with important outcomes among school-aged children (i.e., family involvement and parent competence in problem solving), as well as child outcomes at home, were evaluated. Participants were 207 children with disruptive behaviors from 91 classrooms in 21 schools in …

Relations Of Parenting Quality, Interparental Conflict, And Overnights With Mental Health Problems Of Children In Divorcing Families With High Legal Conflict, Irwin N. Sandler, Lorey A. Wheeler, Sanford L. Braver

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The current study examined the associations between child mental health problems and the quality of maternal and paternal parenting, and how these associations were moderated by three contextual factors, quality of parenting by the other parent, interparental conflict, and the number of overnights parents had with the child. Data for the current study come from a sample of divorcing families who are in high legal conflict over developing or maintaining a parenting plan following divorce. Analyses revealed that the associations between child mental health problems and positive maternal and paternal parenting were moderated by the quality of parenting provided by …

Mexican-Origin Youths’ Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms: The Role Of Familism Values, Katharine H. Zeiders, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Adriana J. Umana-Taylor, Lorey A. Wheeler, Norma J. Perez-Brena, Sue A. Rodriguez

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Purpose—To describe Mexican-origin youths’ trajectories of depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence and examine the role of three aspects of familism values: supportive, obligation, and referent familism. Methods—Mexican-origin adolescents (N = 492) participated in home interviews and provided self-reports of depressive symptoms and cultural values at four assessments across an 8-year span. Using a cohort sequential design and accounting for the nesting within the 246 families (2 youth per family), we examined depressive symptoms from ages 12 to 22 years and the within-person, between-sibling, and between-family effects of familism values. Results—Mexican-origin males’ depressive symptoms decreased across …

Extension's Capacity To Deliver Quality Early Childhood Professional Development, Tonia Durden, Claudia C. Mincemoyer, Jennifer Gerdes, Kathleen Lodl

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

In recent years much attention has focused on the role of enhancing a teacher's professional knowledge and skills in helping to improve the quality of early care experiences for young children birth–5. In the study reported here, an environmental scan of the early childhood professional development programs offered within the Extension system was conducted to identify the programs' content, delivery, scope, evaluation, and partners. Results indicate that Extension has been a player in providing professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals and with a focused effort in streamlining the current resources has the capacity to become a leader in this …

Preparing Adults To Work With Youth: An Environmental Scan Of Professional Development, Jennifer Gerdes, Tonia R. Durden, Claudia C. Mincemoyer, Kathleen Lodl

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This feature article shares the results of a national environmental scan conducted to identify professional development programs offered for school age providers across the nation through the Cooperative Extension System. A purposeful sample comprised of representatives from state extension offices throughout the country included 135 respondents from 48 states. Results showed 139 professional development programs for school age providers were offered through the Cooperative Extension System. The majority of programs offered professional development in the areas of health, nutrition, safety, youth development, and quality afterschool environments. This article summarizes the findings of the environmental scan, including number of contact hours, …

Keeping Children Moving, Active, And Healthy. Hef609, Participant Guide, Tonia Durden, Jennifer K. Gerdes, Ruth E. Vonderohe, Kayla Colgrove, Ladonna Werth, Lorene Bartos, Leslie Crandall, Carrie Miller

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This program introduces parents, caregivers, and other adults to fun, interactive, and simple ways to encourage at-home movement activities with children birth to age 8.

Lesson Objectives: After completing this lesson, you will (1) have an increased understanding of the health benefits to children and adults of at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, (2) understand how movement activities support children’s academic success, and social and emotional development, and (3) learn new strategies for helping children stay active and healthy.