The birth of a child can be a simultaneously joyous and challenging time for families. Virtually all parents will struggle with the enormous physical and emotional demands of parenting a very young child, but for too many California families those challenges are additionally compounded by poverty, housing instability, lack of social support, or…

This synthesis presents summary information on curricula and intervention packages designed to help young children ages birth to 5 years improve their social-emotional functioning. It includes evidence-based manualized curricula and programs for use with children, in classrooms or small groups, or with families/parents. It builds and expands on…

This two-book package + DVD presents a parent training approach that is accessible, evidence based, and highly practical. Grounded in developmental and behavioral research, the "Practitioner's" Guide provides step-by-step guidelines for conducting parent training individually or in groups. It takes proven techniques for promoting the…

This guide contains profiles of 16 activities for young children to participate in while attending camp. Each profile contains the theme of the activity, a list of materials needs, a description of the activity itself, and an explanation of the teacher's role in the activity. The activities focus on: (1) songs and dances; (2) dramatic play; (3)…

Designed for use by parents to further the emotional, social, and intellectual development of their 2- to 6-year old children, this book describes the Montessori method of early childhood education and provides sample activities and games to develop children's skills in the home, the neighborhood, and the world. Following introductory sections…

Designed for teachers and others involved in the development of early childhood education programs, the resource guide presents a model for teaching children, ages four through seven. Part 1 presents a brief overview of the growth and background of early childhood education in Maryland. Part 2 traces the origins and development of kindergarten…

The 2008 State Preschool Yearbook is the sixth in a series of annual reports profiling state-funded prekindergarten programs in the United States. This yearbook presents data on state-funded prekindergarten during the 2007-2008 school year. The 2008 Yearbook is organized into three major sections. The first section offers a summary of the data,…

Essential viewing for parents contemplating a Montessori education for their child, this videotape shows a day in the life of a Montessori school and explains the fundamental principles which underpin the Montessori approach to early childhood education. The first part of the videotape narrates a brief biography of Maria Montessori and the…

Noting that full-day kindergarten has become an increasingly popular scheduling option in U.S. schools during the past 30 years, this booklet provides a brief review of recent literature on full-day programs and highlights important considerations for educators, policymakers, and parents assessing their kindergarten options. The booklet also…

Written for a variety of audiences, this volume describes the University of Western Ontario Preschool Project in sufficient detail to permit its replication; findings of formative and summative program evaluations are reported along with research developing new criterion measures of social competence. Begun in 1973, the program was primarily…

The resource guide is designed to assist educators, park resource persons, and parents of disabled children in locating and identifying sources of information for developing, implementing, and evaluating outdoor education programs for all disabled children and youth. The guide has two main parts. The first part contains an annotated bibliography…

This parent guide provides an overview of the Gesell Developmental Program (pre-first grade) in the Eastern Lancaster County School District (Pennsylvania). The following topics are covered: (1) a history of the program; (2) a brief description of the Gesell preschool tests; (3) answers to questions parents are likely to ask about the program; (4)…

Guidelines for assessing the current language skills of a language-delayed child and increasing the child's level of communicative competence are provided, based on experience at the Environmental Language Intervention Project at Macquarie University's Special Education Centre in Australia. The program is organized around five sequentially ordered…

Designed for teachers, administrators, and others involved in early childhood education, the guide presents a model for implementing parenting programs as part of early childhood education programs. Separate sections discuss the planning and implementation of a parenting program, the role of a parent coordinating council, utilizing volunteers,…

Descriptions of several programs of the Shawnee Hills Community Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center, Inc. (Charleston, West Virginia) are presented. Included in this document are: (1) a description of the Shawnee Hills Day Training Center, a cooperative program of Shawnee Hills and several county school boards for severely/profoundly impaired…