The early elementary school years are widely understood to be critical to a child developing a strong foundation for future academic success. Children arrive at kindergarten from diverse settings and experiences, and not all of them are "kindergarten ready." Kindergarten readiness refers to the skills and abilities needed to succeed in…

This article proposes the existence of an "Isadora Effect": the propositions that motor development plays a primal role in brain development, and the first understanding of symbolic meaning among young children occurs from an understanding of movement and gesture. Anecdotal evidence for the past few decades has demonstrated that dance…

Background: Early child nutritional deficiencies are prevalent in low- and middle-countries with consequences linked not only to poor survival and growth, but also to poor development outcomes. Children in disadvantaged communities face multiple risks for nutritional deficiencies, yet some children may be less susceptible or may recover more…

Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation and one of the most frequently occurring neurodevelopmental genetic disorders in children. Children with Down syndrome typically experience a constellation of symptomology that includes developmental motor and language delay, specific deficits in verbal memory, and broad…

In order to investigate the teachers and parents' perceptions of school readiness, 218 parents and 370 teachers were surveyed. Based on the areas of "physical well-being and motor development", "social and emotional development", "approaches to learning", "language use", "cognition and general…

This article describes the author's experience when visiting her grandson's kindergarten classroom. The author is a parent, and at one time was a kindergarten teacher, program director, supervisor of student teachers, and consultant, so she's been involved for well over 40 years with a vast number of children as they have had their very special…

Case studies of eight children with speech and language impairments are presented in a review of the intervention efforts at the Demonstration Center for Preschool Special Education (DCPSE) in Puerto Rico. Five components of the intervention model are examined: social medical history, intelligence, motor development, socio-emotional development,…

The Child Care Program was evaluated in terms of developmental activities, parent involvement, staff development, and supportive services. Results from the Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC) indicated that the Child Care Program's performance was better than the average of the other programs in language, for all age groups. Also indicated was…

This report describes and evaluates the Chapter 1 Early Childhood Education Program used in three classrooms in the 1988-89 school year at Kenton School in North Portland (Oregon). Chapter 1 is the "Introduction." Chapter 2, "Description of the Program," includes the following topics: (1) organization of the program; (2)…

This is the final evaluation report for Boston's Title I Early Childhood Jackson-Mann Developmental Program (1980-81). The Early Childhood component serves about 1000 4-year-olds (kindergarten I) and 5-year-olds (kindergarten II) in an effort to raise the level of educational achievement among children identified as needing special assistance. The…

Boston's Title I Early Childhood/Jackson Mann Developmental Program is discussed in this interim evaluation report (1980-81). The purpose of the Early Childhood component, which serves about 1000 4-year-olds (kindergarten I) and 5-year-olds (kindergarten II) is to raise the level of educational achievement among children identified as needing…

The National Research Council formed a Committee on Educational Interventions for Children with Autism and charged the committee with integrating the scientific, theoretical, and policy literature and creating a framework for evaluating the scientific evidence concerning the effects and features of educational interventions for young children with…