While the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affected families, it also accelerated the availability and use of video conferencing technology in their homes. Families will continue to experience challenges, even when children safely return to in-person instruction. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how practitioners can use behavioral…

Children have a natural inclination to play and imagine themselves as characters. Research has supported theories that connect this pretend play and related theatrical play to the development of children's social and emotional skills, but the author contends we need further, more rigorous research on whether such play directly relates to such…

This document is a guide for implementing widespread use of evidence-based practices for improving the outcomes for young children with or at-risk for delays or disabilities and their families. The evidence-based practices are selected practices from the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices (RPs). The guide is written for…

A PlayDay is a day designed to draw attention to a range of play activities, while providing an opportunity for children, families, members of the community, and teachers to share in physical and mental challenges without facing the pressure of winning or losing a game. PlayDays can range from massive park events for thousands of children and…

Camp Wanna-Read is the theme for the 1991 program for the Texas Reading Club, which centers around the experiences and types of things that happen at summer camp. Each chapter is a type of camp a child might attend such as cooking camp, art camp, music camp, science camp, Indian camp, nature camp, and regular summer camp. The chapters are divided…

The guide is intended to aid the integration of normally developing children and children with handicaps into one early childhood program. An introductory chapter describes the Northwest Center Infant and Toddler Development Program in Washington and chronicles initial philosophical, educational, and programatic considerations. Each subsequent…

This manual provides suggestions for materials and projects to carry out a summer reading program for children based on a monster theme. The planning process outlined may be used as a "how-to" guide for developing summer reading programs on other themes as well. In addition to general guidelines, the manual provides information on the following…

The theme of the 1990 Texas Reading Club, "The Secret Code is READ," allows librarians to use a wide variety of topics dealing with mystery, intrigue, and the unexplained in programming, displays, and reading suggestions. Through the Texas Reading Club, students in grades 2-9 meet real-life and fictional detectives, spies, cops, and…

The Wisconsin Summer Library Program was developed to promote use of the library by children during the summer, to familiarize them with the resources of the public library, and to help them retain their reading skills over the summer. Different ways of interpreting the theme of the summer program for 1985 were suggested by librarians throughout…

Libraries are faced with changing demographics, emerging technologies, and economic shifts. Families once attended library programs as a unit, children began kindergarten at age five, and libraries offered few programs for children under four. Intact and extended families are a thing of the past. Many children today are raised in single parent…

This guide offers suggestions for in-library, community, and school program promotion and activities, including specific ideas for the 1984 theme, "Hats Off to Children." It is intended for libraries participating in the Wisconsin Summer Library Program, which promotes summer use of the library by children, familiarizes them with public…

Intended to help librarians plan a summer program of activities for children, this planning manual provides deadline schedules, activity suggestions, book lists and other items necessary in starting such a program. The introduction to the manual explains the goals of a library summer program, and notes that the theme offered, "The Greatest…

Intended as a companion volume for librarians planning a children's summer reading program, this activity manual provides ideas for games, puzzles, puppet shows, story reading, and more, all based on the theme of "Circus Summer." The manual suggests ways to promote the program, such as visits to schools, and provides directions for…

The goal of the Texas Reading Club is to encourage the children of Texas to become library users and lifelong readers. This manual was created for the 2002 Texas Reading Club, a program of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The theme, "Read Across Texas!" invites children to explore the history, geography, and culture of…

This manual for the 1993 New York State summer reading program, "Book Banquet," ties books and reading together with the theme of eating. The manual offers program ideas, activities, and materials. The following chapters are included: (1) "Appetizers" (planning, publicity, and promotion); (2) "Setting the Table"…