Motivation is seen as the fuel that drives people to fulfil their goals, wants and needs. Little is known about how motivation works in young children, but it is widely accepted that motivation is an important factor in learning. To assess motivation in young children a questionnaire was developed for a Finnish study about the relation between motivation and emergent literacy. The questionnaire was used to investigate the relationship between quality of learning environment and motivation and pre-reading skills of children in nursery classes in the Netherlands. Quality of learning environment was assessed during a one-off observation by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS). Statistical test results demonstrated a relationship between the quality of the educational environment and two factors of motivation, specifically social dependence and self-regulation. Moreover, statistical comparison of the Dutch and a Finnish sample on the Child Behaviour Motivation Questionnaire showed that the results of four out of five factors of motivation were alike. The findings are discussed with regard to the national and international relevance for early childhood education.

In November 2014 we had a wonderful possibility to organize a seminar International Seminar on Mathematical Learning Difficulties with our international colleagues in the field of mathematical learning difficulties. One of the main aims was to provide open lectures for the staff members and students in University of Helsinki. The meeting was supported by the Teachers’ Academy in University of Helsinki. We have collected extensive summaries of the presentations to form this special issue. The summaries are found in both English and Finnish. To sum up the main ideas from the presentations. Firstly, although mathematical learning difficulties are common, we do need more research to be able to understand the possible cognitive precursors or environmental issues affecting learning and causing problems. Secondly, we need more studies about intervention programmes designed to support the mathematical skills development in children having problems in learning mathematics. Thirdly, we also need more studies validating the positive findings in individual studies, using the same assessment and intervention tools.