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In this study, 285 Chinese core journal papers involving early childhood sports in the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database from 1993 to 2022 were selected as samples. Text mining and data statistical analysis tools, such as BICOMB2.0, SPSS22.0, UCINET6.0, EXCEL2016, and other research methods in bibliometrics, such as word frequency analysis, co word clustering analysis, multidimensional scale analysis, and strategic coordinate map analysis, were used to explore the status and evolutionary trends of early childhood sports in China. The results are as follows: Since 2011, the annual number of documents has indicated a wave-like increasing trend every year, reaching its peak in 2020. In total, 237 institutions participated in this study. The journal distribution of papers in this field was close to the 1:4:16 ratio of Bradford's law. A relatively stable periodic group was formed. 12 cluster themes have been formed in the field of children's sports in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's fast-developing urbanization has promoted a great number of rural families migrating to urban areas. The objective of this study is to address the existing situation of urban migrant parents' parenting for infant and toddlers and the association between co-parental self-efficacy and child developmental outcomes. A sample of 387 parents of rural–urban migrant families in urban China was invited to complete the online questionnaires. Results showed that mothers have higher parenting self-efficacy (PSE) levels than fathers in all measured dimensions, and found an interdependence of their co-PSE predicting child development outcomes. This study revealed that rural–urban migrant families were still following Chinese traditional parenting and attributed mothers to the responsibility for early childcare, although the ensuing modernization and ingress of Western values have greatly influenced urban parents' understandings about parenting. Based on these results, this paper provides implications for intervention approaches to promote PSE among migrant parents with young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a study concerning the expectations for the transition from kindergarten to primary school amongst teachers, parents and children in Hong Kong. It probes the expectations that teachers and parents have about children’s competence in five specific areas of child development thought to be essential for a smooth such transition, as well as children’s competence in these different developmental areas and their performance upon the transition to primary school. The study’s data were obtained through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations, and its results will serve as a reference for evaluation of existing transitional practices and the design of effective transition programmes in the local context. Children’s voices and their observed performance during the transition period indicate that they have varied expectations of the transition. Parents, in contrast, have high expectations for their children’s academic ability and self-discipline. Both primary school teachers and the parents of kindergartners rank pre-academic skills as the most important developmental area, whereas kindergarten teachers rank them as the least important. Most of the adult respondents in this study agree that a stronger connection amongst kindergartens, primary schools and parents would facilitate a smoother transition to primary school. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The education and care of children during their first years has long been a topic of debate for policy-makers and researchers. In recent years, neurological and longitudinal research has highlighted the impact the education and care environment can have on the long-term cognitive, social and emotional development of young children. China's policy-makers have acknowledged the implications this research has for China's capacity to develop an innovative economy and harmonious society. This acknowledgement is now beginning to be reflected in policies and practices designed to shape the state's investment in early years human development. In this paper, we discuss the importance of care and education in the early years and the need for parents to be able to make informed childcare choices. Information from the research literature is supported by a survey conducted across a number of cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports data from a study of children's experiences of transition to school in Hong Kong. Hong Kong research into transition to school has been limited to investigation of curriculum issues and teaching practices by the Education Department (1993), a comparative study of skills preschool and primary school teachers believed children needed (Chow, 1993), and a recently released study on primary one students' transition problems in the Shatin area (Chan et al., 1999). In the present study, Hong Kong parents, primary school teachers and children expressed their views on difficulties in transition to school. Two types of primary schools were chosen for the sample: two with preschools attached and two which served neighbourhood preschools. Children and primary teachers were interviewed twice, once in mid October, in the initial "settling in" phase, and again in mid June the following year, at the end of the school year, while parents were surveyed in mid-October. In general, difficulties of "settling in" were overcome at the end of the first or second month. Nearly all children preferred studying in the primary schools during the first interview. However, the second interview revealed that some children wished to go back to the kindergartens where they claimed they had no pressure for examination and study. The results showed that pedagogical discontinuity is a major issue of difficulties in school transition in Hong Kong. The findings echoed those from the Chan et al. (1999) study on the adjustment of primary one pupils in Shatin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative provides meaning and belonging in human lives because every human experience is a lived story, and a storied experience. Rooted in Dewey's thoughts on the past-present-future continuum of experience, Connelly and Clandinin define narrative inquiry as "the study of how humans make meaning of experience by endlessly telling and retelling stories about themselves that both refigure the past and create purpose in the future" (1988, p. 21). In the present paper, I first explore the meanings of early childhood education and depict the general background of early childhood education in Hong Kong. Then, by adopting Schwab's (1973) four commonplaces of subject matter, learner, milieu and teacher as a curriculum framework, I examine curriculum issues in kindergarten with illustrations of my experienced stories about the teaching of an in-service kindergarten teacher in Hong Kong. Finally, based on Schwab's four curriculum commonplaces, I analyze the Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong as published in September 2000 by the Hong Kong Education Commission with special emphasis on early childhood education and pre-primary teacher education in Hong Kong for the new millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the module "Further Studies in Kindergarten Curriculum" in the Certificate in Kindergarten Teacher Education Course conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education, teacher-educators made use of semantic webbing to help kindergarten teachers/principals develop reflective and thinking skills regarding subject matter content and teaching curriculum. Semantic webbing/mapping or semantic networking or plot maps may be defined as a strategy in which information is categorically structured in graphic/visual form. However, its use in teacher education is more recent. Kindergarten teachers/principals were interviewed to discern how they developed critical thinking and evaluative skills concerning subject matter content and teaching curriculum through the use of semantic webbing. Interviews of a random sample of participants and analysis of their mind-maps revealed a change in perspectives and attitudes towards subject matter content and teaching curriculum. The present paper examines some of the affective outcomes for both teacher educators and student-teachers resulting from the use of semantic webbing/mapping as a strategy for facilitating reflective and critical thinking skills in four components of the module "Further Studies in Kindergarten Curriculum"; namely, Art, Language, Mathematics/Science, as well as Social Studies. Implications for teacher education are drawn from the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing demand from the public and the field to improve the quality of early childhood education in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Education Commission has recently released an "education blueprint for the 21st century", which presents a set of reform proposals for the education system in Hong Kong. In the document, early childhood education has been acknowledged as the foundation for life-long learning. A key reform proposal is to build a new culture for quality early childhood education through upgrading professional competence and enhancing quality assurance mechanisms. The present paper provides a general background of existing practices in the preschool years, highlights issues that require attention in order to improve quality, and outlines the reforms introduced by the Education Commission. The implications of these reforms and the associated challenges are then discussed in the areas of quality assurance, curriculum, professional development, parental involvement and financial assistance for the early childhood education sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes the results of a two-year project aimed at developing a motor performance test instrument for a motor performance award scheme for kindergarten children to be organized by the Hong Kong Childhealth Foundation. The subjects were 1404 K1 to K3 children, aged three years, three months to six years, ten months. A set of tests developed for Hong Kong kindergarten children was administered to measure their gross motor proficiency. Boys were superior to girls on agility and throwing. Girls performed better than boys on static balance. It was found that a marked improvement in agility was found at the age of 5.5 years. After four years of age, children's static balance also improved. As expected, young children's overall gross motor performance improved, and this was seen as being age-related. The modified set of tests for motor performance was found suitable for use in measuring gross motor performance of children participating in the award scheme for Hong Kong kindergarten children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]