https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Parents in bilingual and multilingual families can wrestle with when and how to expose infants and toddlers to words in different languages. However, a new paper from the Concordia Infant Research Lab shows that language mixing does not harm a child's ability to learn words. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-language-negative-effect-toddlers-vocabulary.html Education Tue, 02 Dec 2025 12:01:27 EST news683899261 It's a common scene on public transport. A parent holds a mobile phone showing noisy cartoons to their young child. The pair is looking at the screen together, laughing. Yet parent and child rarely exchange a gaze or look out across the landscape. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-technology-reshaping-children-good-bad.html Social Sciences Mon, 24 Nov 2025 12:30:05 EST news683209802 Richard Weissbourd and Kiran Bhai are part of the leadership team at Making Caring Common, a Harvard Ed School initiative focused on making moral and social development a priority in child-raising. In this article, they answer this question: https://phys.org/news/2025-11-children-good.html Social Sciences Thu, 20 Nov 2025 21:40:01 EST news682867968 In striking new statistics, experts warn of social media's growing grip on young people, with use among children and teens soaring by more than 200% since before COVID and showing no sign of decline. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-social-media-soars-kids-sports.html Social Sciences Tue, 18 Nov 2025 20:30:02 EST news682695059 The first three years of life are critical for healthy development, yet families in some states have more than twice the resources of those in others—a gap created by state policy choices. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-wide-disparities-investments-children-earliest.html Social Sciences Wed, 01 Oct 2025 12:04:04 EDT news678539042 For many parents of babies and toddlers, there is one YouTube channel that is a household name. Ms Rachel and her Songs for Littles has attracted nearly 17 million subscribers, offering a colorful, playful space where music, movement and early learning meet. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-songs-littles-youtube-sensation-ms.html Social Sciences Wed, 17 Sep 2025 13:39:04 EDT news677335142 Starting kindergarten is a big step for young children. It can also be a key time to spot which students might need some extra help with that life transition. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-free-screening-tool-kindergarten-teachers.html Education Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:50:02 EDT news676734911 Story time—at home, at nursery and at school—is where young children encounter the magic of books. Reading stories to young children is a pleasurable activity in itself, but it also lays the foundation for language and literacy development and has social and emotional benefits. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-stories-important-young-children.html Education Tue, 09 Sep 2025 14:03:15 EDT news676645390 Research shows that early childhood maltreatment is associated with significant delays in social and cognitive development. Unfortunately, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, children under age one face the highest risk of maltreatment, particularly neglect. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-qa-foster-affect-children-school.html Social Sciences Wed, 20 Aug 2025 03:00:01 EDT news674725763 Yuko Goto Butler, director of the Graduate School of Education's Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program, has long fielded requests from her students for a wide-ranging book of best practices that could help guide them in their English language teaching of children after graduation. But she never had anything to recommend because a comprehensive overview of young children's foreign language learning didn't exist. So, Butler wrote it herself. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-children-foreign-language.html Education Mon, 18 Aug 2025 10:34:12 EDT news674732049 "I love you so much I could eat you up," a mother might say to her child. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-children-literally.html Social Sciences Wed, 06 Aug 2025 11:13:17 EDT news673697592 Play is one of the most important parts of early childhood education in Australia. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-play-primary-school-teachers.html Education Mon, 21 Jul 2025 12:10:05 EDT news672316294 Children's play is essential for their cognitive, physical and social development. But in cities, spaces to play are usually separated, often literally fenced off, from the rest of urban life. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-playgrounds-city-spaces-nurture-children.html Environment Sun, 29 Jun 2025 15:40:01 EDT news670245183 For many families, summer camp is a rite of passage representing friendship, fun and freedom. But for families of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, it can be a season of rejection, stress and exclusion. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-neurodiverse-kids-children.html Social Sciences Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:37:05 EDT news670066622 Ever find yourself people-watching in a cafe, or tuning into reality TV just to see who's arguing with who? You're not alone—and it turns out, you might have more in common with chimpanzees than you think. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-nosy-nature-chimpanzees-children-strong.html Plants & Animals Mon, 23 Jun 2025 11:35:20 EDT news669897316 Birth rates are declining worldwide, while dog parenting practices are gaining popularity. What does this growing "furry children" trend reveal about our societies? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-modern-dog-ownership-redefined-family.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 May 2025 10:37:05 EDT news667129022 Have you ever wondered how your childhood relationship with your parents shaped the person you are today? Scientists have long known that early attachment to caregivers plays a crucial role in human development, but what about one of our closest relatives, the chimpanzee? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-evidence-mother-offspring-wild-chimpanzees.html Plants & Animals Mon, 12 May 2025 11:00:04 EDT news666257281 Many teachers and parents know neuroscience, the study of how the brain functions and develops, is important for children's education. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-students-left-brained-early-childhood.html Education Wed, 16 Apr 2025 12:40:02 EDT news664025417 Ensuring d/Deaf children become bilingual in sign language and English should be a key priority for policymakers and teachers because this plays an important role in their education, a new study says. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-language-plays-key-role-ddeaf.html Education Thu, 14 Nov 2024 03:38:23 EST news650777900 A major study, the first of its kind, has revealed key insights into the extent to which children under 3 years old have access to digital technology in the home, how they use it and how it supports their language development. https://phys.org/news/2024-11-toddlers-tech-explores-children-technology.html Social Sciences Mon, 04 Nov 2024 15:35:03 EST news649956901 "Birthrates are plummeting worldwide. Can governments turn the tide?" "The world is running out of children as global birth rates collapse!" "Could a declining birth rate impact Colorado's economy?" https://phys.org/news/2024-09-babies-demographer-isnt-convinced.html Social Sciences Tue, 10 Sep 2024 14:48:13 EDT news645198487 A new child-centered suite of resources, backed by the latest research, has been launched to support parents and teachers of neurodiverse children. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-based-toolkit-neurodiverse-children.html Education Thu, 29 Aug 2024 10:34:08 EDT news644146443 Experts have released robust research to show that phonics should be taught hand-in-hand with reading and writing to encourage true literacy and a love of reading, not through narrow synthetic phonics. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-rigid-approach-phonics-joyless-children.html Education Mon, 20 May 2024 12:10:09 EDT news635425801 Children develop an enormous amount during their early years—socially, physically, emotionally and cognitively. What happens between the ages of 0 and 8 years can predict important long-term outcomes: for example, how a child will fare at school; what their health will be like and their future earning potential. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-kids-developmentally-track-literacy-numeracy.html Social Sciences Wed, 10 Apr 2024 13:40:02 EDT news631971748 The key to boosting a child's cognitive and emotional development lies in promoting an active interest in topics or activities, Griffith University researchers have found. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-early-curiosity.html Education Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:21:02 EST news628867261 No matter how well children are prepared for kindergarten, their transition to the classroom during the first few months plays a key role in their success, a new study suggests. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-big-kindergarten.html Social Sciences Mon, 22 Jan 2024 15:17:04 EST news625159022 Social interactions in the first months of life are fundamental for babies to learn how to communicate and develop their language skills. Physical contact, touch, smiling and our first face-to-face "conversations" are the pillars on which we build our understanding of the social world. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-children-born-lockdown-language-skills.html Social Sciences Wed, 13 Dec 2023 10:46:46 EST news621686801 According to an essay published in Educational Researcher, a decade of colorblind school discipline policy reforms have not disproportionally benefited Black students who remain the most often disciplined in schools and miss valuable classroom learning time. Given that fact, the authors say interventions directly targeting antiblackness in school policies and practices are needed. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-essay-emphasizes-antiblackness-framework-inequality.html Social Sciences Tue, 05 Dec 2023 13:38:31 EST news621005909 A one-off experience of poverty is enough to impact on a child's development, according to a new study conducted by sociologists in Trinity College Dublin. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-poverty-children.html Social Sciences Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:59:58 EST news621003591 Despite the many challenges they face, slightly more than half of unmarried low-income couples with children have positive co-parenting relationships, a new study found. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unmarried-low-income-couples-positive-co-parenting.html Social Sciences Mon, 27 Nov 2023 13:14:12 EST news620313247