"The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education" aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale up and improve the quality of early childhood education by bringing together relevant insights from emerging research to provide guidance for this critical, fledgling field. It reflects the growing recognition that early childhood…

With his knack for making science intelligible for the layman, and his ability to illuminate scientific concepts through analogy and reference to personal experience, James Zull offers the reader an engrossing and coherent introduction to what neuroscience can tell us about cognitive development through experience, and its implications for…

This eye-opening set looks at young children with special needs, their families, and the laws, policies, programs, and services designed to help them. It is scientifically known that early childhood is a time of significant brain development. That makes it especially crucial that children with special needs be recognized early so that appropriate…

The period from adolescence through young adulthood is one of great promise and vulnerability. As teenagers approach maturity, they must develop and apply the skills and habits necessary to navigate adulthood and compete in an ever more technological and globalized world. But as parents and researchers have long known, there is a crucial dichotomy…

Despite the fact that work is a fundamental part of life for nearly half of all undergraduate students--with a substantial number of "traditional" dependent undergraduates in employment, and working independent undergraduates averaging 34.5 hours per week--little attention has been given to how working influences the integration and engagement…

This book presents the results and implications of a major new national study exploring the effects of institutional racial composition on African American students' development and their educational outcomes, taking into account individuals' background characteristics, their perceptions of the institutional environment, and their experiences in…

An account by a mother--who was also a children's librarian--of how she explored her young daughter's responses to books, this book describes the effect of books upon the development of children in their early years. Beginning shortly after the child's second birthday, the book relates the mother's and daughter's views about the picture books they…

This book explores how learning is the lifetime quest to understand personal identity, purpose, and meaning while conforming and adapting to the perceived and real confines of a paradoxical society. It examines the complex social experience of learning, revealing how culture, gender, race, and other societal factors shape and mold an individual's…

Containing over 200 quality time activities for preschool-age children and their parents, "Smart Times" is designed to promote the development of children's physical, social, and cognitive skills and to help parents and children enjoy each other's company more. Recipes for fun and learning are provided to stimulate imagination, promote…

This collection of articles invites parents, teachers and other helping professionals to take a new look at the familiar human experiences of time and space. Chapters I, II and III provide systematic analyses of these fundamental phenomena. Chapter I focuses on cultural differences in the experience of time and space. Chapter II describes…

This book presents the extensive results of a study of how students are affected by their college experiences. Chapter 1 discusses the question of how to assess the impact of the college experience and outlines the overall design of the study. Chapter 2 describes each of the 135 college environmental measures and 57 "student involvement" measures…

In this paper, Piaget's theory is analyzed using Locke's philosophy. The first part, "Mental Experiences," describes the author's view (with a tentative interpretation of Piaget's position) of reflection, abstraction, re-presentation, and the use of symbols. The second part, "Piaget's Theory of Abstraction," has four sections:…

This book describes a theoretical framework, "experienced cognition," for understanding cognition at the level of conscious mental states that make up a person's stream of awareness. The central idea is a cospecification hypothesis that an experienced self and experienced objects are simultaneously specified in the information available…

This review of child development research (primarily British and American) is organized around three major themes: the parental role and women's liberation; the role of educators in enhancing or hindering the life chances of pupils; and the problems of disadvantagement and the feasibility of intervention to prevent, minimize or eliminate its long…

In this book, the author tells the recent history of the natural and creative growth of a vital community of learners, of an experiment in collaborative education and social celebration of diverse experiences and skills that works to benefit young children, parents and practitioners in education and social services. After a background section,…