RIVETING RESEARCH BLOG SERIES. Early childhood researchers are using advancements in technology to support families with young children. A new study examined if e-books could effectively show parents ideas to make time reading with their child more meaningful.

The Riveting Research blog series is a succinct summary of a new study with compelling design and implications. This month’s blog examines a meta analysis study to examine the effects of screen time on young kids.

Kids in Columbus Study (KICS) investigates how families with young children, specifically those living in low-income households, access and use community resources that are funded each year by the city of Columbus.

New research examined whether the quantity of toddlers’ exposure to media was related to language skills in accordance with the American Association of Pediatrics one hour per day recommendations.

New research employed machine learning to develop, validate, and test an automatized system in order to identify child-directed speech occurring in a preschool classroom environment. Read on to learn more about the findings and possible action steps.

Considerable efforts are underway across the United States to expand access to early childhood education for young children. Corresponding to increased access to early childhood education across the country is a need to improve children’s transition from early education settings into the primary grades. When children start kindergarten, they are transitioning into a context that is distinct from their earlier experiences.

The headlines around kids and screen time can be downright scary. One message that most experts will agree on is that moderation is key. If it seems daunting to set limits on something as pervasive as digital media, it’s helpful to remember three basic times when it’s important to do so: mealtime, playtime, and bedtime.

On average, children under 8 spend over 2 hours a day with screen media. Many parents are concerned about their children’s screen time. Research can provide guidance for using media in positive ways, one important takeaways is that children learn more from media when adults are involved and help them understand the material they are encountering.

A number of studies have found that fictional stories can reduce prejudice and make us more empathetic towards people who are different from us.

This white paper provides practical recommendations on how to employ effective data-informed decision-making (DIDM), particularly in early childhood programs. This paper addresses the steps to using DIDM effectively as well as the school- and state-level efforts necessary to support this process using examples to illustrate how DIDM works in the real world.

The purpose of this study was to identify which new mothers may be especially prone to use Facebook more often and more intensely, and to further examine the potential consequences of Facebook activity for new mothers’ emotional well-being.

This study asks: 1) Do children that spend more time reading with their parents watch less TV? and 2) Does the association between parent-child book reading and TV-viewing vary depending on family structure (e.g. single-parent v. two-parent home), mother’s level of education, household size, and whether the child attends daycare?