Early school success seems to depend largely on children entering school ready to learn, and many policy initiatives have highlighted the importance of preparing children for school entry. A new study finds that children’s environment plays a major role in their readiness for school, suggesting that intervention could help boost readiness in at-risk youngsters.

An educational study unprecedented in scope finds that children who enter kindergarten with elementary mathematics and reading skills are the most likely to experience later academic success -- whether or not they have social or emotional problems.

Children entering kindergarten with elementary math and reading skills are the most likely to do well in school later, even if they have various social and emotional problems, say researchers who examined data from six studies of close to 36,000 preschoolers. Children’s attention-related skills also mattered, the researchers found.

Are math problems bugging your kids" Tell them to talk back – using their hands. Psychologists at the University of Chicago report that gesturing can help kids add new and correct problem-solving strategies to their mathematical repertoires. What’s more, when given later instruction, kids who are told to gesture are more likely to succeed on math problems.

Language is no barrier when British researchers from Nottingham Trent University conduct a science workshop for Norwegian children. Colour is the focus, and in the course of 45 minutes, the children experience both liquid rainbows and milk that explodes into a range of colours.

A large part of enjoying a good book is getting immersed in the life of a character, especially a character's thoughts and feelings. A new University of Waterloo psychology study shows that preschoolers can already perform this impressive perspective-taking feat and get into the minds of story characters.

A six year comparison of almost 35,000 children has shown that there has been no change in developmental levels of pupils entering primary school in this period, despite the introduction of several new early years’ initiatives over the past decade, new research from Durham University’s Curriculum, Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre reveals.

Underprivileged children in Africa can gain technical skills toward a better future, thanks to EDS and Digital Pipeline, a United Kingdom charity.

Students in “year-round” schools don't learn more than their peers in traditional nine-month schools, new research has found.

Despite marketing claims, parents who want to give their infants a boost in learning language probably should limit the amount of time they expose their children to DVDs and videos such as “Baby Einstein” and “Brainy Baby.”

Reading specialists have often pitted phonics against holistic word recognition and whole language approaches in the war over how to teach children to read. However, a new study by researchers at New York University shows that the three reading processes do not conflict, but, rather, work together to determine speed.

Summer camp usually involves making craft projects and singing around the campfire, but at the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, campers use their imaginations and knowledge to design a community on Mars.