Objective As the main gatekeepers of the home food environment, parents are key targets for healthy eating interventions for young children, but few programs aim to improve children’s diets by supporting parents as teachers of home cooking and food skills. Cooking HEalthy and Facilitating Early childhood Development (CHEF-ED) is a digital intervention promoting healthy home cooking, positive parent feeding practices, and child involvement in home food preparation. The objective of our ongoing study is to develop, test, and disseminate a 7-week intervention to help parents/caregivers promote positive food parenting practices and teach their 3–5-year-old children how to prepare healthy food. Description The study design includes 3 phases: (1) project design during Year 1, (2) randomized controlled trial during years 2–4, and (3) analysis and dissemination in Year 4. During phase 1, the leadership team worked with a media production team and an advisory committee to develop CHEF-ED content, including videos and infographics. The randomized controlled trial phase is currently underway, with participants randomized into 1 of 3 conditions: (1) CHEF-ED intervention program + food delivery; (2) food delivery only; and (3) no food delivery or culinary intervention program (control). Assessments are collected at baseline and postintervention. Participants with children aged 3–5 years are eligible for recruitment in the greater Houston area. Evaluation The primary outcome of this study is child diet quality and parent diet quality. Secondary outcomes include: cooking frequency/quality, and food practices; child eating behavior, involvement in home food preparation, and willingness to try new foods. We hypothesize that children of parents in the CHEF-ED + food delivery intervention will have higher diet quality, positive food parenting practices, and healthy cooking practices compared with children of parents in the control and food delivery only groups. Conclusions and Implications We hope to operationalize CHEF-ED, an intervention targeting parental feeding practices and childhood involvement in home food preparation, into a practical, scalable, and accessible digital education program for dissemination through Extension.

ObjectiveThis study explored the quality of generative artificial intelligence (AI) responses to common parenting questions across diverse sources of digitally available information.BackgroundThe recent rise of generative AI, such as ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs), which generate answers by synthesizing publicly available information, raises questions about the quality of digital responses and the effect on parenting and outcomes for children.MethodWe hypothesized that querying a professionally prepared parenting newsletter would have higher quality responses than an LLM. We explored this by running 11 tests with five common parenting and caregiving topics about young children across controlled and open data sources. We analyzed three Cs (correctness, clarity, and connection), reliability (artificiality, credibility, and citation quality), and readability to assess the quality of LLM responses.ResultsChatGPT largely provided correct and clear answers although citations were frequently absent and inaccurate. LLM responses often lacked emphasis on parent-child connection and developmental context, and reading level difficulty increased steeply.ConclusionGenerative AI offers reasonably good answers to general parenting questions. However, parents and caregivers need to contextualize the information.ImplicationsTopical experts may help meet nuanced parenting needs with cultural relevance and plain language, but AI can be useful for summarizing open-access content.

This study describes the transition of a preschool STEM school readiness program from in-person to virtual programming during the early pandemic phase, examines in-person and virtual program data to understand the effectiveness of these two program delivery modes, and presents lessons learned from this abrupt transition. Results suggest that in-person and virtual classes were effective and equivalent on parent ratings and program monitoring variables. Future study will be needed to fully determine the cost-benefit impacts of in-person, virtual, and hybrid program delivery models on STEM school readiness and other family engagement programs.

The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of group-based parenting education programs on protective factors that prevent child abuse and neglect. The group-based parenting education programs that were chosen in this study were a family literacy program, a parent-child interaction program, and a child safety and welfare education program. All participant families showed promising results in enhancing family functioning/resiliency, social support, concrete support, knowledge of parenting and child development, and nurturing and attachment and families attending different parenting education programs showed significantly different improvement in concrete support, social support, and knowledge of parenting and child development. In addition, families with different demographic characteristics showed significantly different improvement in all five protective factors. The presence of five protective factors can reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect and group-based parenting education can help provide safe environments for children by supporting families.

This study tested a preschool-home partnership intervention, in which early childhood teachers encouraged the parents/caregivers of preschoolers to engage in dialogic reading at home. This was an experimental test of Bronfenbrenner’s hypothesis that parental involvement in early care and education programs should promote child development, as well as a test of a train-the-trainer approach to the dialogic reading intervention. The current study focuses on testing the causality of parent involvement: (1) homework assigned to parents/caregivers will improve the early language and literacy skills of their 2 ~ 3-year-old children; (2) gains by children in the intervention group with low pre-test language and literacy score, low family literacy score, and high parents/caregivers’ extent of using dialogic reading strategies at home will show larger gains in literacy scores than their counterparts. A sample of 12 early care and education programs, 18 early childhood teachers, 87 two–to three-year-old children and their parents/caregivers were followed for 18 ~ 20 weeks after assignment to the intervention group or the control group. The impacts of the six-week parent involvement intervention continued to grow during the six-week follow-up phase, and represented substantial gains of the intervention group in four aspects of early language and literacy skills. This study provides evidence that a simple homework assignment intervention can be an effective tool to promote child development when parents/caregivers are engaged. The intervention also had ongoing influence on children’s early language and literacy skills, even after the intervention period had ended.

We implemented an Extension-led language and literacy training and coaching intervention targeting preschool teachers and children in low-income communities in Nevada. Participation in the intervention had a positive influence on the language and literacy instruction skills of preschool teachers and language and literacy skills of children. Analysis of 40 preschool classrooms and 199 preschoolers over 3 years of data collection identified improvements in general classroom environments and teachers' language and literacy practices. Preschoolers demonstrated improvements in alphabet knowledge, comprehension, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and oral language. Extension professionals elsewhere may use a similar approach to positively affect the achievement gap of at-risk children.

Early childhood professionals attending in-depth literacy training have been shown to gain knowledge and change classroom practices. These early childhood professionals play an important role in children’s literacy development. In this multi-state study, the effectiveness and usability of the Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom training curriculum was evaluated using a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Eleven early childhood trainers participated in a train-the-trainer program and taught the literacy series to 238 early childhood professionals in four states. Participants attending the training series demonstrated significant knowledge gains on concepts related to oral language, phonological awareness, reading and vocabulary, and emergent writing. Trainers provided insights on successes of the literacy training series and what could be changed to improve the implementation and delivery of the series. Strengths of the training series included ease of implementing the training and strong supporting materials such as videos and children’s books. Weaknesses of the series included program length and the need for concept clarity among some trainers. Opportunities included streamlining the training content and providing trainers with additional support prior to training implementation. Potential threats include the need to align the training curriculum to match different states’ standards and childcare training policies.

Loneliness is a significant problem that predicts immediate and long-term negative outcomes for young children. This study examines the mediating effect of children’s play disconnection on the relationship between their shyness and loneliness, as well as the moderating effect of children’s perceived child-teacher intimate relationship on the relationships between child shyness, play disconnection, and loneliness. Participants include 171 4 to 6 year old South Korean children and their teachers and mothers. Children’s teachers were asked to respond to the questions measuring child shyness and play disconnection, and the mothers assisted their children to answer the questions measuring child loneliness and child-teacher intimate relationship. The results of the study are as follows. First, child shyness affected loneliness via play disconnection. Second, child-teacher intimate relationship moderated the relationships between child shyness and loneliness and between child shyness and play disconnection. However, the association between play disconnection and loneliness was not moderated by child-teacher intimate relationship. The findings of the study suggest that teachers not only provide shy children with emotional support but also build affectionate and intimate relationships with them to support their peer play and to reduce their feelings of loneliness.

The current study investigated the influence of the community-based family literacy program on parent’s and children’s engagement in family reading practices and language/literacy activities at home. Parent’s and children’s engagement in family reading practices and language/literacy activities based on different family characteristics and the lengths of program attended were compared. Six-week and four-week Family Storyteller Program for Preschoolers series were taught between 2013 and 2015. Three hundred seventy-five parents completed both presurveys and postsurveys. Parents showed promising results in enhancing parents’ and child’s engagement in family reading practices and language/literacy activities at home after participating in the intervention. It was also found that durations of the program and family characteristics were correlated to different outcomes.

Background: It is prudent that health care professionals remain cognizant of breastfeeding-related issues to support nursing mothers. In 1995, Freed and colleagues noted deficits in breastfeeding knowledge among family medicine, pediatric, and obstetrics/gynecology residents and practitioners. Others reported similar findings despite calls to action and reports of successful breastfeeding interventions. Objective: This retrospective study compared baseline breastfeeding knowledge and attitude scores from Nevada health care professionals from 2004 through 2013. Methods: In-training and practicing professionals (pediatric/family practice/obstetric residents and attending physicians; hospital nursing staff; nursing and medical students) attended a 90-minute workshop at their sites. Following each session, attendees voluntarily completed a survey consisting of 2 knowledge and 2 attitudinal questions, using the post:pre-evaluation method, which diminishes overinflation of pretest scores as respondents can more accurately reflect their baseline levels. A Kruskal-Wallis test evaluated differences in baseline knowledge and attitude scores among 3 professional groups and for physicians over the 10-year period using Bonferroni post-hoc analyses. Results: A total of 889 professionals participated, with only physicians represented yearly. Except for knowledge of milk production, physician median baseline scores did not differ significantly over time. Overall, hospital nurses had significantly higher median baseline knowledge scores about initiation and frequent feeding than physicians and students. Nurses also had higher median attitude scores (likelihood of and confidence in talking with parents about breastfeeding) than physicians who had higher scores than students. Conclusion: Despite growing societal enthusiasm and support, the baseline knowledge of and attitudes toward breastfeeding showed minimal change over 10 years.

The main purpose of the study described in this article was to test the effectiveness of Little Books and Little Cooks, a 7-week integrated nutrition and parenting education intervention designed to improve eating habits of families, strengthen relationships between parents and their children, and improve preschoolers' cooking skills. Participant families showed promising change related to enhancing children's cooking skills, along with improved parent-child interactions, eating behaviors among children, and feeding practices of parents. These findings suggest that a multidisciplinary, integrated approach addressing both nutrition and parenting is an effective way to help parents guide their children toward healthful eating behaviors.

Young children gain emergent literacy skills during the preschool years. Oral language development is enhanced as students engage in dialogue with teachers and peers. The use of topical vocabulary is linked to greater gains in students’ vocabulary development. Students acquire emergent writing skills as they participate in spontaneous and guided writing activities. Teachers play an essential role in promoting literacy development through intentionally designing literacy-rich environments and learning experiences. Literacy-related play can be enhanced when teachers guide students’ use of content-specific props. The Entomologist Tool Kit is an example of a prop that jump-started preschoolers’ vocabulary, oral language, and emergent writing development in a preschool classroom. This article gives steps for replicating this prop.

Parenting education needs assessment surveys were collected from a large group of the parents or caregivers of 698 0–5-year-old children in southern Nevada. Survey questions addressed parenting education interests, family characteristics, and preferred delivery methods of parenting education. Cluster analysis was used to empirically determine if varying interest in parenting education topics would reflect distinct patterns of parents’ perception, and revealed a three-cluster solution that best fits the data. The three clusters differed on parents' or caregivers’ perception of interest in general child-centred topics, specific child-centred topics, and self-, family-, or environment-centred topics. Clusters also differentiated the parents or caregivers by family characteristics and preferred delivery methods of parenting education. The implications of these results for understanding various patterns of parents' perceived interests as well as their relation to family characteristics and preferred delivery methods of parenting education are discussed.

We conducted a process monitoring evaluation of the electronic delivery system of Just in Time Parenting (JITP), an age-paced newsletter for parents, to evaluate program implementation. A visitor-tracking website statistics program (Google Analytics) revealed the number of visitors, geographic location in which they accessed newsletters, and how visitors got to the site. A commercial email marking platform (Bronto) revealed the number of confirmed subscribers, the states in which they lived, and the number of subscribers who opened the emails and clicked on the link to read the newsletters. Implications center on areas for improvement for JITP and online program improvement.

Extension educators have used different methods to collect information for a needs assessment, including advisory committees, survey questionnaires, focus groups, interviews with key informants, or a combination of the former. This article describes the use of key informant interviews (agency personnel working with parents and young children) that investigated concerns about parents and needs of parents in their community, and summarizes issues uncovered related to family, agency, and community. Results identify important implications for the development of parenting programming with parents of young children and more in-depth future parenting education research.

Bronfenbrenner’s theory predictsthat children’s development will be enhanced if parents and early care andeducation programs interact in concert, working in mutually reinforcing ways inboth settings. A novel way ofpromoting this consistency was tested, homework given to preschool parents (toread to their children using the dialogical reading method). An earlier report foundsignificant impacts of the parent homework intervention on children’s languagedevelopment. The current study looked inside that intervention, to see if theparents in the experimental group actually increased their overall amount or changedtheir type of parent involvement with the program, as compared to control groupparents. Results show that the preschool parental homework led to a shift inthe content of parent-teacher communications, significantly increasing thepercentage of such communications that were about the specific child and waysof interacting with that child, as opposed to communications about the childcare program in general. The findings suggest that parents can respond well tohomework from their child care program, this homework can contribute to a shiftin the nature of teacher-parent communications, and can have significant impactson child development.

Anovel way of promoting parent involvement was tested:  homework given to preschool parents, to readto their children at home using the dialogical reading method. An earlier study showed that the homework ledto actual increases in children’s pre-literacy skills. The current study investigated whether theparents in the experimental group actually changed their overall amount or typeof parent involvement with the program, as compared to control group parents.Results show that the preschool parental homework led to a shift in the contentof parent-teacher communications, so they became much more focused on theindividual child’s development. The findingssuggest that parents can respond enthusiastically to homework from their childcare program, this homework can contribute to a shift in the nature ofteacher-parent communications, and can have significant impacts on childdevelopment.

To increase nutrition knowledge and improve healthy eating habits of families; to strengthen the relationship between parent and child; and to improve preschoolers’ cooking skills. Preschoolers and their parents. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model is used to address several factors impacting obesity among preschoolers. Whereas parental feeding practices influence young children’s eating behaviors, food preferences and dietary patterns (Ventura & Birch, 2008), a few studies show that reading children's books about healthy eating encourages children to try new foods and make healthy choices (Murphy & Hammerschmidt, 2008) and involving young children in cooking is the best way to teach healthy eating (Dodge & Colker, 1996). Learning healthy eating habits at a young age can reap benefits for a lifetime (Savage, Fisher & Birch, 2007). Cooking is one activity that can help improve children’s school readiness and parents’ knowledge of healthy eating (Spears, 2000). This program is a 7-week parenting education program designed to increase positive parent-child interaction skills by reading children’s books about healthy eating/nutrition followed by preparing a healthy recipe and eating together. A parent self-report survey instrument (parents’ feeding, child’s eating, family’s eating style) based on previously validated tools is administered pre and post program along with a pre and post observation checklist (child cooking skills, parent-child interaction during cooking and mealtime) which was created for this program. Participant families showed promising results in enhancing children’s cooking skills, along with reported improved parent-child interaction and parents’ feeding practices, increasing fruits and vegetable consumption for children and decreasing children’s picky eating.