This paper reports Turkish and Chinese parents’ experiences with their 3–6 year-old children during the COVID-19 quarantine process. Thirteen Turkish and 11 Chinese parents participated in a study that employed semi-structured interviews to examine participant self-perceived experiences. Findings show that the study revealed many commonalities in the experiences of Turkish and Chinese parents with their children during the COVID-19 quarantine process. Cultural differences between parents did not appear to significantly reflect the responses of parents during this extraordinary period. Parents mostly described difficulties with home quarantine. Most parents stated that their daily schedule and routines had changed as a result of home quarantine. Parents also said that they were unaware of their children’s developmental progress and the extent to which their children had grown up before the quarantine. Parents shared both positive and negative experiences during the process. Since the quarantine process is an extraordinary experience for all family members, parents should be encouraged to put those positive experiences and acquisitions into their future life.

In this study we sought to show the difference between the child acceptance-rejection behaviors of lower and upper socioeconomic status mothers, and establish whether or not their acceptance-rejection behaviors were affected by their age, and the number and sex of their children. A total of 246 mothers living in Diyarbakır, 123 with lower and 123 with upper socioeconomic status, was enrolled in the study. Data were gathered by using a personal information form and the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-Mother Form (Rohner, Saavedra, & Granum, 1980). The results revealed a significant difference between lower and upper socioeconomic status mothers' child acceptance-rejection behaviors (t = 7.709; p < 0.05). While the mothers' age (r = .202; p < 0.05) and number of children (r = .238; p < 0.01) were positively correlated to their acceptance-rejection behaviors, their children's sex did not make a significant difference to the mothers' acceptance-rejection behaviors.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects all areas of life, has also affected children in need of education and care. It is of great importance to develop policies that take into account the best interests of children in this process. In this review article, the policies developed for early childhood education and care during the pandemic period in five countries (Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey), how they are implemented, the problems that arose, and the solutions produced are discussed. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that we need to focus on eliminating the educational inequalities, set policies for the welfare of children on foundations that are more realistic, rebuild teacher training, and improve the welfare of families. Priorizating the best interests of the child in the policies to be developed and building the social ecology on justice will ease overcoming the crises that will be faced.

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