Peer-reviewed article

A Systemtic Review of Tendencies in Early Childhood Education

Mariana Dogaru · 1 Dec 2025

Abstract

Abstract Background Early childhood education (ECE) involves motivational, behavioral, theoretical, curriculum, parental, development, mathematical, professional, social, and health tendencies. Critical milestones of development occur physically, cognitively, language, social, and emotionally, with a special focus on cognitive milestones and the role of play in child cognitive development. This systematic review takes into consideration evidence from the literature to look for patterns in ECE. Objectives Re-organizing, synthesizing various literature on ECE trends, milestones, cognitive milestones, and the role of play in cognitive development. Methods ScienceDirect was used to search for the data using questions such as “What are the tendencies in early education?”, “What are the important milestones for development in early childhood education?”, “What are the cognitive milestones of development for children in early childhood?”, and “How does play contribute to cognitive development in young children?” Inclusion criteria were articles reviewed by peers that were between 1985-2025, targeting children from 0-6 years. Exclusion criteria included any study that is non-empirical or non-related to Early Childhood Education. Data abstraction was for themes, findings, or citations. A basic criteria for the data selected was study type or number of study samples. Results More than 50 studies were retrieved to inform the review. Some of the major themes that were covered include stable profiles of motivation, socio-cultural transformations in theory, over schooling in the curriculum, parental factors, milestones in various areas, spontaneous mathematical focusing tendencies (SFON) in math, obstacles to professionalization, using music for promoting sociability, as well as play and executive functioning or academic skills. Conclusion ECE trends establish the significance of intervention and play-based learning for children. Stages of development reveal the need for monitoring, whereas play contributes significantly to cognitive development.