• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.250-256
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of maternal socioeconomic status, maternal oral health behaviors, and oral health behaviors of children, on the prevalence of early childhood caries in children aged 5 years. The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data collected between 2007 and 2014 were applied to this study, and the study sample included 824 children who received oral examinations and participated in the health behavior survey. The factor that affected the prevalence of early childhood caries were confirmed by maternal and child factors. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The mothers' age, income level, and job status affected the prevalence of early childhood caries. There was a significant difference in the analysis considering the factors of motherhood and children in the prevalence of early childhood caries according to mother's age, education level, income level, and the child's oral examination. The prevalence of early childhood caries was higher in children who received oral examinations than in those who did not. When the mother's educational level was higher than college education, it was found that the index of child, i.e., there was a difference in the prevalence of early childhood caries according to the mother's educational and income levels. These results indicate that maternal socioeconomic characteristics are correlated with the oral health of children. Therefore, oral health education programs that include mothers for the prevention of early dental caries in children may improve the dental health of children. In addition, specific oral health policies are necessary to address the differences in the oral health between the income groups.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.121-142
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• 2011

This study explores the structural relationships between personal factors (young children's self-esteem and language ability) and environmental factors (mother's acculturation, parenting, and teacher's multi-cultural education attitude) on young children's adjustment to early childhood educational institution in multi-cultural families. 150 young children in multi-cultural families of aged 3, 4, and 5, their mothers, and 108 classroom teachers participated in this study. The results of this investigation reveal the following : (1) Mother's integrative acculturation significantly affected mother's parenting. (2) The relationship between mother's acculturation and young children's adjustment to early childhood educational institution in multi-cultural families are significantly mediated by mother's parenting and the young children's self-esteem. (3) Young children's language ability in multi-cultural families significantly affected their degree of adjustment to early childhood educational institution.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.35-51
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of early childhood teacher-led child-centered group play therapy on young children's sociability. The changes of sociability in the therapeutic process were also examined. Methods: The subjects of this study were 12 young children who were five years old and attended a child care center in Gangwon-do. Subjects were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received 15 early childhood teacher-led child-centered group play therapy sessions twice a week. The sociability scale was used for pre-post tests and the data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Every session was video-taped and recorded verbatim. Qualitative data were analyzed to examine changes in sociability. Results: Children who participated in the early childhood teacher-led child-centered group play therapy demonstrated significant improvement in sociability. During the therapy sessions, children's expressions and behaviors associated with sociability gradually increased. Conclusion/Implications: This study supports the use of early childhood teacher-led child-centered group play therapy as an effective intervention strategy for young children to improve their sociability.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.217-228
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• 1992

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of early full-time nonparental care during infancy/toddlerhood on children's socioemotional behaviors during the preschool period. Subjects for this study were 105 three- to five-year-olds from middle-class families in the U. S. A. Children were assigned to one of three groups according to their early care history. Children's social interactions with peers and caregivers during indoor free-play sessions in day care centers were observed for 20 minutes. The head teachers rated the children's social and emotional behaviors on two questionnaires. Mothers completed the Attachment Q-sort for attachment assessment for the preschoolers. In addition, mothers were asked to fill out a questionnaire on their parenting practices. Children who had received full-time nonparental care during infancy and/or toddlerhood were rated by their teachers as being more intellectually competent than children who did not receive full-time nonparental care during first three years of life. They were, however, rated by teachers and were observed by the researcher as being more aggressive than children with no full-time nonparental care. These children were observed to engage in less wandering/onlooking behaviors than children who had not had any full-time nonparental care. Children's attachment security scores and dependency scores did not differ as a function of early nonparental care histories. When the effects of early care patterns, sex of child, and current attachment security to mothers on aggressive behaviors of the preschoolers were examined by a hierarchical regression model, then any "pure" effects of nonparental care and of attachment security on child aggression were minimal after controlling for family background, child care center quality, and maternal childrearing practices. Strong buffering factors for the preschool children (family characteristics, parenting styles, and high quality nonparental care) mediated a possible risk factor of early nonparental care and promoted optimal outcomes for the children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.41-58
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a social competence enrichment program for institutionalized children in early childhood. The program was developed to enhance institutionalized children's social competence. The program consists of sixteen 30-minute sessions. 19 institutionalized children (11 boys and 8 girls) participated in this program. The effect of this program was evaluated by institutionalized preschool children's emotional knowledge and interpersonal problem solving strategy. Assessment of emotional knowledge consists of identification and situation task. Interpersonal problem solving strategy includes forceful, prosocial, and manipulative strategy. Results showed that there was a significant experimental effect for emotional knowledge. Experimental children showed higher scores of emotional knowledge than control children. Also, there was a significant experimental effect for prosocial and forceful strategy. Experimental children showed higher ratio of prosocial strategy and lower ratio of forceful strategy than control children. The results of program evaluation revealed that this program was helpful for promoting institutionalized children's social competence.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.353-362
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• 2009

The study aims to investigate the children's adaptability to early school circumstances and their relationships to teachers and to peers. The examination was done on 110 children aged 4 or 5 at a kindergarten and two child care centers in Seoul. Their 'adaptability to early school' and their 'relationships to teachers and to peers' were rated by their teachers. On the whole, the children subjects are on good terms with their teachers and peers, and they adapt well to early schools. But according to age groups, there were significant differences in the teacher-to-child relationships. Compared to boys, girls show more' adaptability to the early schools', more 'closeness to teachers' and more 'prosociality in peer group'. The 'closeness to teachers' has a positive relation to the 'sociability', 'prosocial behaviors' and 'leadership of peer group', but the 'conflict with teachers' has a negative relation to the peer group relationships. And the' children's relationships with teachers and with peers' were significantly related to their early school adaptability. The 'prosociality', the 'closeness' and the' dependency' were significantly related to the' adaptability to early school' in order.

• Journal of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Education
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.400-409
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of irrational beliefs on parenting stress of mothers with early children. For achieving this purpose, Irrational Belief Test and Parenting Stress Index were administered to 300 mothers with early children in Busan and data from 234 mothers were used for statistical analysis. Collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The results of correlational analysis showed that irrational beliefs were positively related to parenting stress. Anxious over-concern factor was related to all parenting stress variables. The results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that 2~4 irrational beliefs significantly influenced parenting stress; sub-factors of parenting stress variable that irrational beliefs had the most effect on was competence factor. Based upon these results, it can be concluded that irrational belief is an important variable which predicts parenting stress of mothers with early children.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2008

The purpose of this research was to identify the importance of social competence in early childhood, age 3 to 5, by examining the relationship between the children's variables such as gender, age, and temperament, with that of their mothers' emotionality, and the social competence. 72 children in the early childhood age bracket were surveyed. Three major findings were established. Firstly, there were no gender differences in relation to social competence. Children's adaptability and social activity were related to their pro-social behavior and the ability to internalize/externalize problems. Secondly, children exhibited pro-social behavior only when their mother's emotional reactivity was positive. hirdly, children's social competence was influenced by individual variables and their mothers' emotionality. Prosocial behavior, a lower ranking domain, was influenced by children's adaptability and mothers' emotional reactivity. The children's ability to internalize problem was influenced by adaptability. In contrast, The ability to externalize problem was influenced by the range of activities they were involved in. Overall, children's social competence was influenced by their age.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.70-78
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• 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate how young children recognize the image of robots, and how they understand the relationship between themselves and robots based on school experience. 20 children from kindergarten A had no direct experience with educational robots, whereas 20 children from kindergarten B had experience in using educational robots in their classroom. Total 40 children from age group 5 class participated in this study. We collected data using interview and drawing test. The findings of the study are as follows: First, participating children recognized robots as having both the character of a machine and a human. But children with previous robot experience provided description of robots as a machine-tool. Both groups were not able to explain the structure of robots in details. Second, participating children understood that they can develop a range of social relationships with robots, including simple help to family replacement. There were mixed views on robots among the children with previous experience, but children with no experience described robots as taking the role of peers or family members. These findings could contribute to the development of robots and related programs in the field of early childhood education.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.209-221
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• 2009

The early childhood education in Korea has made a great progress during the last thirty years. However, understanding the early childhood education is a challenging task because of the diversity of the fields. Currently 38% of 3-5 year old children are enrolled in kindergarten. And several efforts to develop and distribute the standard curricula on a national level were underwent successfully. Researches are rapidly expanding in volume and the topics are becoming diverse. Focuses of researches moved from the area of cognitive development, science and mathematics in 80s, social and emotional aspects in 90s to language, curriculum and teacher education in 2000s. One of the emerging issues is the inclusion of kindergarten to public education system and free kindergarten education for young children. The second issues is more interdisciplinary policies are in need related to the low-birth rate in nation. The third one is about teacher training policy. The fourth one is related to the health, nutrition and safety of young children. And the fifth issue is moving educational system and policies that provide better future of young children while focusing on the children in low income families and children with absolute poverty.