• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.357-379
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to have a more perfect understanding of forest kindergartens, to examine educational values important for the actualization of forest kindergarten education and to suggest some of the right directions for forest kindergartens. To serve the purpose, it was necessary to conduct qualitative research to closely observe the experiences of preschoolers in a forest kindergarten and grasp the meaning of their experiences. As a result, it has been found that the world of experiences among the preschoolers in the forest kindergarten consisted of the following three fields: The first was the field of real nature. The preschoolers found their own nature in the forest kindergarten. The second was the field of aesthetics. The preschoolers acquired aesthetic experiences in the forest kindergarten. And the last was the field of genuine play. The findings of the study had the following implications for education: First, it's important to provide enough time to preschoolers. Second, it's important to reconsider the meaning of preschooler's activity spaces. Third, it's important to see the meaning of genuine play and things to play with in a new light. The findings of the study show that a forest kindergarten could serve as a meaningful space to provide happiness for preschoolers.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.77-97
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine 1) the relations among parent-reported, teacher-reported, and task-observed effortful control, and 2) the differences of preschoolers' effortful control based on preschoolers' gender and parenting behaviors (affectionate, controlled). In this study, the subjects were 221 preschoolers (104 boys, 117 girls) and their parents. The preschoolers' effortful controls was measured by Effortful Control Battery (Snack Delay, Turtle and Rabbit, and Red-Green Sign) and the Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Short Form. Parenting behavior was measured by the Parenting Style scale. The major results of this study were as follows. First, there were positive correlations between parent-reported effortful control and both teacher-reported and task-observed effortful control. Second, there were significant differences in preschoolers' effortful control by gender and level of affectionate parenting behavior. And there was an interaction effect between gender and level of affectionate parenting behavior on preschoolers' effortful control. The implications of this study were as follows. It is needed to evaluate effortful control in various circumstances and by multiple raters, and affectionate parenting behavior had an important role upon boys' effortful control rather than that of girls.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.43-56
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences of preschoolers' utterance features by their gender and play situation type. For this purpose, a total of 40 5-year-old children participated in this study. Dyad were participated in each play session during 10 minutes. The play session was videotaped and the videotaped data were transcribed by CBS(2014). The collected data were analyzed by using a independent t-test and paired t-test. The main results are as follows. First, girls' MLU-e, MLU-w, MLU-m were longer than that of boys in a familiar play situation. Second, preschoolers' MLU-w was longer in an unfamiliar play situation than in familiar ones and preschoolers' type-token ratio were higher in an unfamiliar play situation than in familiar ones. Implications for the importance of preschoolers' spontaneous speech are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.636-646
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the difference of perception about nutritional problems and food intakes and nutrition knowledge score and realities of nutrition education between parents and preschool teachers. This research can be summarized as follows: there was the statistical difference of perception (${\chi}^2$= 52.451, p = 0.000) about nutritional problem of preschoolers between parents and preschool teachers. Parents (56.4%) and teachers (58.5%) identified eating only what they want as the most common nutritional problem of children, but they had different perception about the other problems. To parents, "No nutritional problem" (16.3%) is the second and "Overindulgence of processed food" (11.1%) is the third problem of preschoolers. To teachers, "Overindulgence of processed food" (23.8%) is the second and "Obesity" (14.3%) is the third problem. The perception on food intakes of preschoolers was statistically different in meats (${\chi}^2$= 8.892, p = 0.030), fish (${\chi}^2$= 32.241, p = 0.000), beans (${\chi}^2$= 14.770, p = 0.005), vegetables (${\chi}^2$= 12.706, p = 0.013), fruits (${\chi}^2$= 14.438, p = 0.006) and milk & dairy products (${\chi}^2$= 28.591, p = 0.000) between parents and preschool teachers. However, nutritional knowledge was not different between parents and preschool teachers. While 96.6% of preschool teachers felt that it was necessary to educate preschoolers, only 41.5% of them said that they fulfilled nutrition education, showing that nutrition education was not adequately carried out on the spot. Therefore providing basic materials through which nutritional management guidance and proper nutrition education for preschoolers can be carried out by investigating and analyzing knowledge on their nutrition and meal guidance activities for preschooler teachers and parents.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.109-123
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• 2017

Due to the positive effect of forest space for child development, the creation and operation of forest activity space of various organizations is increasing in quantity; however, the research on practical space design and management program is insufficient. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the space and management programs of the forest experience centers through the post-occupancy evaluation of teachers and preschoolers participating in forest activities. To do this, we analyzed the selected twelve sites through field survey, class observation, and interviews with forest education specialists, and then surveyed 115 forest education experts and childcare teachers for importance, performance, overall satisfaction, and space preference. In addition, we accessed overall satisfaction and space preference of twenty-nine preschoolers through interviews, photo-simulation, and questionnaires. As a result, the importance and performance of management program area was rated higher than the spatial characteristics area. In terms of group comparison, the group with active structured program rated two areas higher than the groups with free play. Preschoolers with structured programs preferred facility space, but preschoolers with free play preferred nature. Two preschooler groups rated forest activity as satisfactory. Based on the analysis results: 1) The composition of the forest activity space should ensure accessibility, safety, diversity of diversity, water space, connect to the forest road, and secure various terrains, trees, and natural materials; 2) The management program should ensure that forest activity programs have the proportional balance of structural programs and free play; also. management programs should plan for sufficient free playtime and a high share of play in the forest; and 3) Ensure the role and expertise of forestry specialists and run a program to increase the autonomy of preschoolers.

• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.227-252
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• 2015

This study was intended to examine child abuse experience, response to child abuse, perception of the cause of child abuse, and need for counseling to prevent and eliminate child abuse among 514 day care center teachers across the country. First, 17.9% (92) of the teachers had experience of witnessing child abuse at day care centers. After such witness, the teachers mostly "paid attention to abused children and provided them with warm treatment" when they were abused by other teachers and "took no actions" when they were abused by directors of the day care centers. The biggest reason of not taking any actions was: they "had no authority to intervene in child care of other teachers" in case of child abuse by other teachers and "were afraid of responsibilities or roles that could be placed on them after reporting" in case of child abuse by day care center directors. Second, the biggest reason of child abuse by teachers was job stress followed by excessive work and mental health of teachers. Third, necessary actions when child abuse cases were found and confirmed were suspension of involved teachers and psychological evaluation for involved children and parents. Fourth, 88.9% (457) of the teachers responded that they would use an organization specialized in child abuse if such organization was built and that the organization would help them to decide on whether to report child abuse and prevention of and intervention in child abuse. They also said that such organization should be installed in the Counseling Center in the Comprehensive Child Care Support Center. Fifth, 95.3% (490) of the teachers answered professional counselors specialized in development and counseling of infants and toddlers were needed to address child abuse at day care centers. They demanded that such counselors should be able to administer psychological evaluation for young children and assess child abuse cases. Qualification of the counselors was at least college graduates who majored in psychology and child care, three to five years of experience in the field, and appropriate certificates or licenses. Finally, the teachers said that training and professional counseling about child abuse were required to prevent and eliminate child abuse at day care centers. Implications and follow-up studies were provided and suggested based on these findings.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.25-42
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• 2014

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the variables as related to self-determination in preschoolers. In order to meet the purpose of this study preschoolers' self-determination, their playfulness, self-regulation, and self-esteem as well as goodness of fit between mother and child were taken into account as study variables of interest. Furthermore, the mediating effect of preschoolers' self-esteem in the effects of study variables on their self-esteem was examined. Three hundred thirty seven preschooler(aged 6-7 years old)-mother pairs who attended public subsidized child care facilities, located in Seoul and Gyeongi province were sampled. The data were obtained from mother-filled surveys, and on-site observations from both head teachers of the children as well as trained researchers. The obtained data were analyzed by using SPSS 21.0, and structural equation model (SEM) was tested with AMOS 21.0. The main results of this study were in the following. First, it was proven that self-determination of the preschoolers' influenced directly or indirectly on their self-esteem, their playfulness, and self-regulation, as well as goodness of mother-child fit. Also, the result pertaining to the mediational effects of child's self-esteem in the effects of study variables of interest on the child's self-determination were revealed. Along with results of this study, there is a strong need to empower the preschoolers' self-determination through improvement of their self-esteem in early childhood education and care as well as in family settings.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.447-458
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was conducted among 235 children aged 3 up to 11 yrs to examine the relationship between subjects' eating behaviors and obesity. Methods: The subjects were divided into three age groups: preschoolers aged 3 to 5 yrs, early elementary school students aged 6 to 8 yrs, and late elementary school students aged 9 to 11 yrs. As a tool for eating behaviors, the recently developed nutrition quotient (NQ) questionnaire was utilized. By age group, scores were gathered and calculated in the five factors, "Balance", "Diversity", "Moderation", "Regularity", and "Practice", which make up the NQ scores. Results: The NQ scores among those aged 3 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 11 yrs did not exhibit any significant differences. Among the scores for the five factors of the NQ, the Diversity scores of those aged 9 to 11 yrs were significantly higher than the scores of those aged 3 to 5 and those aged 6 to 8 yrs. The scores of those aged 3 to 5 and those aged 6 to 8 yrs were higher than the scores of those aged 9 to 11 yrs in Moderation and Regularity. When the subjects were divided into loww-eight/normal and overweight/obese groups, among those aged 6 to 8 yrs, the NQ scores, Moderation, Regularity, and Practice scores were higher in the overweight/obese group than those in the low-weight/normal group. Among those aged 9 to 11 yrs, the overweight/obese group scored higher than the low-weight/normal group only in the Moderation component. Conclusion: From the results, to prevent obesity in elementary school students, it is practical to focus on training related to eating behavior items included in the Moderation component. Furthermore, personalized instructions on eating behaviors and nutritional education based on age are necessary to prevent obesity in children.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of preschoolers' giftedness by their parents' perception. Total 3 groups of 148 subjects from age 30 months to 6 years 10 months old young gifted children's parents participated. The major findings were as follows : (1) There were critical characteristics of preschoolers' giftedness by parents' perception, which were 'good memory', 'high curiosity', 'read and understand of math', 'enjoy of learning and high motivation', 'high concentration', reading books', 'verbal ability', 'creativity', 'questions', and 'independency', (2) These characteristics of preschoolers' giftedness showed more strong and intense as they got older, and (3) Some characteristics revealed more, but the other characteristics revealed less as they got older. These findings suggested the consideration of child's age as the reliable identification process of young gifted children.