Paul P. M. Leseman

This study examined the situation of Ukrainian refugee mothers and non-mother caregivers of preschool-aged children (643) who fled to Poland after the Russian invasion in 2022 and who applied for early childhood education and care (ECEC) under the SPYNKA program. Using short versions of screening tools, the study assessed maternal depression and parental stress. Additionally, childrearing beliefs, child adjustment, satisfaction with being in Poland, quality of housing situation and financial-well being were explored. Participants in the study reported significantly elevated levels of depressive symptoms and parental stress compared to international benchmarks, although less severe than observed in clinical populations. In general, the child’s adjustment was evaluated positively, although it varied depending on the mother’s well-being. Key predictors of maternal depression included parental stress, financial insecurity, and lower satisfaction with life in Poland. Child adjustment was positively related to progressive and traditional childrearing beliefs. Factors such as financial wellbeing and quality of housing were strong predictors of maternal and child outcomes at both individual and municipal levels. Findings highlight the importance of comprehensive support for refugee families, underscoring the roles of economic stability, housing quality, and consistent parenting beliefs in promoting psychological resilience and well-being.

De Nederlandse kinderopvang is een belangrijk opvoedmilieu voor vele kinderen in de voorschoolse periode en de schoolse periode. Recent wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de Nederlandse en buitenlandse kinderopvang heeft ons meer geleerd over de pedagogische kwaliteit van de kinderopvang, de effecten van kinderopvang op de ontwikkeling van kinderen en de professionalisering van de sector. In dit boek vatten verschillende auteurs van de Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universiteit Leiden, Universiteit Utrecht en de Hogeschool van Amsterdam de laatste inzichten samen in dit groeiende onderzoeksterrein. Centrale thema’s zijn: hoe meten we pedagogische kwaliteit; wat is de kwaliteit van kinderopvang voor baby’s, peuters en kinderen in de basisschool; wat zijn de effecten van opvang op de sociaal-emotionele en cognitieve ontwikkeling; en hoe kunnen we de kwaliteit van de kinderopvang verbeteren? De Nederlandse kinderopvang staat centraal in deze publicatie, maar wordt gepositioneerd ten opzichte van de kinderopvang in het buitenland. De bundel laat zo zien waar de Nederlandse kinderopvang nu staat en ook waar nog hiaten zijn in onze kennis. Het boek is bestemd voor studenten aan pedagogisch-educatieve beroepsopleidingen, studenten pedagogiek en ontwikkelingspsychologie aan universiteiten en diverse professionals in de kinderopvang, brede scholen en integrale kindcentra. Daarnaast is het interessant voor geïnteresseerde ouders en beleidsmakers.

This study examined the unfolding in real time of original ideas during divergent thinking (DT) in five- to six-year-olds and related individual differences in DT to executive functions (EFs). The Alternative Uses Task was administered with verbal prompts that encouraged children to report on their thinking processes while generating uses for daily objects. In addition to coding the originality of each use, the domain-specific DT processes memory retrieval and mental operations were coded from children’s explanations. Six EF tasks were administered and combined into composites to measure working memory, shifting, inhibition, and selective attention. The results replicated findings of a previous study with the same children but at age four years: (1) there was a serial order effect of the originality of uses; and (2) the process mental operations predicted the originality of uses. Next, the results revealed that both domain-general EFs and domain-specific executive processes played a role in the real-time unfolding of original ideas during DT. Particularly, the DT process mental operations was positively related to the early generation of original ideas, while selective attention was negatively related to the later generation of original ideas. These findings deepen our understanding of how controlled executive processes operate during DT.

The present study examined how in the context of the hybrid, privatized and marketized Dutch early education and care system (ECEC), childcare organizations respond to the public task of supporting inclusion and equity in an increasingly diverse society. Applying cluster analysis on the organizational characteristics of a nationally representative sample of 117 centers providing education and care for 0- to 4-year-old children, three types of organizations were identified that differed strongly on cultural inclusion and observed quality in the classroom. Socially engaged (for-profit and not-for-profit) professional organizations served proportionally more children from low-SES and immigrant families, provided higher quality to these children, and were culturally more inclusive than both market-orientated and traditional professional-bureaucratic organizations. The findings are discussed with regard to the question how hybrid ECEC systems can be governed to optimally serve the public goals of inclusion and equity.

The development of (early) numerical cognition builds on children’s ability to understand and manipulate quantities and numbers. However, previous research did not find conclusive evidence on the role of symbolic and non-symbolic skills in the development of (early) numerical cognition. The aim of the current study was to clarify the relation between different types of non-symbolic quantity skills, symbolic numerical skills and early numerical cognition. A sample of 43 children was tested at the age of 3.5 years and at the age of 5 years. At 3.5 years, non-symbolic number line estimation, non-symbolic quantity comparison and symbolic enumerating skills were measured. At 5 years, early numerical cognition, defined as symbolic number line estimation and counting, were measured It was found that non-symbolic number line estimation at 3.5 years could predict both symbolic number line estimation and counting at 5 years. Enumerating at 3.5 years could only predict counting at 5 years. This suggests that both non-symbolic and symbolic skills play a role in the development of early numerical cognition, although enumerating skills do not transfer to all types of early numerical cognition. Furthermore, not all non-symbolic skills seem to play an important role in the development of early numerical cognition. The results suggest that non-symbolic quantity comparison does not contribute much to the development of early numerical cognition. Associations between non-symbolic quantities and space, operationalized here as non-symbolic number line estimation, seem central to the development of early math from preschool to kindergarten age.

Providing first language (L1) translations in L2 vocabulary interventions may be beneficial for L2 vocabulary learning. However, in linguistically diverse L2 classrooms, teachers cannot provide L1 translations to all children. Social robots do offer such opportunities, as they can be programmed to speak any combination of languages. This study investigates whether providing L1 translations in a robot‐assisted L2 vocabulary training facilitates children's learning. Participants were Turkish‐Dutch kindergartners (n = 67) who were taught six Dutch (L2) words for which they knew the L1 (Turkish), but not the L2 Dutch form. Half of these words were taught by a Turkish‐Dutch bilingual robot, alongside their Turkish translations; the other half by a monolingual Dutch robot. Children also completed Dutch and Turkish receptive vocabulary tests. Results of generalized linear regression models indicated better performance in the Dutch‐only condition than in the Turkish‐Dutch condition. Children with well‐developed Turkish and Dutch vocabulary knowledge outperformed children with less well‐developed vocabulary knowledge. The majority of children preferred working with the bilingual robot, but children's preference did not affect word learning. Thus, contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence for a facilitating effect of providing L1 translations through a robot on bilingual children's L2 word learning.

Bilingualism as it occurs in current societies is a complex, multidimensional and dynamic phenomenon, calling for new approaches to capture this concept. This study shows the feasibility of a person-centred approach by combining measures of the use of and proficiency in the first and second language from 110 young Turkish–Dutch children at two measurement waves, using two existing datasets. Latent Profile Analysis revealed four profiles, equivalent at age four and six: 1) Dominant L1 use, relatively low L1 and L2 proficiency, 2) Dual L1 and L2 use, around average L1 and L2 proficiency, 3) Dominant L1 use, relatively high L1 and L2 proficiency and 4) Dominant L2 use, relatively high L2 proficiency. Latent Transition Analysis indicated that children changed in profiles over time. Regression analyses showed that profiles were differently related to the family's socioeconomic status and children's nonverbal intelligence at age four. No relations were found at age six.