Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Early childhood education
Much of the first two years of a child's life is spent in the creation of a child's first "sense of self"; most children are able to differentiate between themselves and others by their second year. This is a crucial part of the child's ability to determine how they should function in relation to other people. Early care must emphasize links to family, home culture, and home language by uniquely caring for each child.[according to whom?]
Infant education is the education of children before they would normally enter school. The term "Infant" is typically applied to children between the ages of 1 month and 12 months.
Early childhood education focuses on children's learning through play, based on the research and philosophy of Jean Piaget. This belief is centered on the "power of play." It has been thought that children learn more efficiently and gain more knowledge through play-based activities such as dramatic play, art, and social games. This theory plays stems children's natural curiosity and tendencies to "make believe," mixing in educational lessons.
Researchers and early childhood educators both view the parents as an integral part of the early childhood education process. Often educators refer to parents as the child's "first and best teacher."
Related Stories
1
2
Mind & Brain News
December 1, 2025
Dec. 1, 2025 A high-speed “zap-and-freeze” method is giving scientists their clearest view yet of how brain cells send messages. By freezing tissue at the instant a signal fires, researchers revealed how synaptic vesicles behave in both mouse and human ...
Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers found that repeated head impacts can disrupt a key system that helps the brain wash away waste. In professional fighters, this system initially seems to work harder after trauma, then declines over time. MRI scans revealed that these ...
Nov. 28, 2025 Princeton researchers found that the brain excels at learning because it reuses modular “cognitive blocks” across many tasks. Monkeys switching between visual categorization challenges revealed that the prefrontal cortex assembles these blocks ...
Nov. 28, 2025 Researchers identified a new, sticky form of mitochondrial DNA damage that builds up at dramatically higher levels than in nuclear DNA. These lesions disrupt energy production and activate stress-response pathways. Simulations show the damage makes ...
Nov. 27, 2025 Spermine, a small but powerful molecule in the body, helps neutralize harmful protein accumulations linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It encourages these misfolded proteins to gather into manageable clumps that cells can more efficiently ...
Nov. 27, 2025 Scientists studying young adults with obesity discovered early indicators of brain stress that resemble patterns seen in cognitive impairment. The group showed higher inflammation, signs of liver strain and elevated neurofilament light chain, a ...
Nov. 27, 2025 A massive veteran study found a strong connection between untreated sleep apnea and a higher chance of Parkinson’s. CPAP users had much lower odds of developing the condition. Researchers believe that repeated dips in oxygen during sleep may ...
Nov. 26, 2025 Scientists discovered that lowered brain energy signaling in the hippocampus can lead to both depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Stress reduced ATP, a molecule important for cell energy and communication. Altering a protein called ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Scientists discovered that more muscle and less hidden abdominal fat are linked to a younger biological brain age. Deep visceral fat appeared to accelerate brain aging, while muscle mass offered a protective ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Scientists have found that a mutation tied to Alzheimer’s disrupts the production and quality of exosomes—tiny cell-made communication packets. Cells with the defective SORLA protein generate fewer exosomes and ones far less able to support ...
Nov. 24, 2025 Hypertension begins harming the brain surprisingly early, even before measurable blood pressure increases. Key cells related to blood vessels, signaling, and myelin maintenance begin aging prematurely and malfunctioning. These disruptions resemble ...
Nov. 23, 2025 Researchers have uncovered a surprising way the brain switches pain on, revealing that neurons can release an enzyme outside the cell that activates pain signals without disrupting normal movement or sensation. This enzyme, called VLK, modifies ...
Latest Headlines
updated 12:56 pm ET
Dec. 1, 2025 A large study of brain scans shows that our neural wiring evolves through five major stages from birth to late old age. These phases are separated by sudden turning points that mark big shifts in how ...
Nov. 30, 2025 MIT scientists found that what we see is strongly influenced by how alert or active we are. Parts of the brain responsible for planning and control send specialized signals that either boost or quiet ...
Nov. 30, 2025 Scientists have uncovered a stepwise system that guides how the brain sorts and stabilizes lasting memories. By tracking brain activity during virtual reality learning tasks, researchers identified ...
Nov. 25, 2025 Personalized algorithms may quietly sabotage how people learn, nudging them into narrow tunnels of information even when they start with zero prior knowledge. In the study, participants using ...
Nov. 23, 2025 Researchers discovered that raising the protein Sox9 can help the brain’s astrocytes clear out toxic plaque buildup linked to Alzheimer’s. In mouse models that already showed memory problems, ...
Nov. 22, 2025 Scientists discovered that lowering a specific molecule helps microglia switch into a protective state that quiets brain inflammation in Alzheimer’s. A small group of these cells seems to have an ...
Nov. 22, 2025 A new nasal-delivered nanotherapy shows promise against aggressive glioblastoma tumors. By activating the STING immune pathway using gold-core spherical nucleic acids, researchers were able to reach ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Researchers uncovered how estrogen subtly reshapes learning by strengthening dopamine reward signals in the brain. Rats learned faster when estrogen levels were high and struggled when the ...
Nov. 21, 2025 Researchers discovered that the common amino acid arginine can block harmful Aβ aggregation and reduce its toxic effects in Alzheimer’s disease models. In flies and mice, oral arginine lowered ...
Nov. 19, 2025 Scientists have developed a new molecule that breaks down beta-amyloid plaques by binding to excess copper in the brain. The treatment restored memory and reduced inflammation in rats, while also ...