The purpose of this study was two-fold. It was first to find out what the educational materials needs were for children living in poverty, and second, to learn of the challenges, obstacles, and strengths by the programs already in place that were supplying educational materials to these children. This study used interviews and surveys as data…

Previous efforts at leveling the learning field for all students have not met with success. In 1955 Johnny allegedly could not read because of the "look-and-say method" of teaching reading; 26 years later he still could not read because most elementary schools continued to use the aforementioned unproductive system. Perhaps now is…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of university students serving as volunteers in an oncology ward at a local children's hospital. The implementation of this project was guided by the body of literature regarding service learning. Data were collected from the five students using a structured interview and was…

J. M. Barrie's popular story of Peter Pan depicts the never-neverland of an endless happy childhood. Analysis of the story and of J. M. Barrie's personal background, however, reveals that the tale is a conflicted solution to and separation from early childhood losses and disappointments. Themes of separation and reunion, redesertion and revenge…

This memorial lecture offers a synoptic overview of the history of childhood and a selective discussion of the current state of children's rights in Australia. Attention is drawn to now generally recognized rights of children and to specific legislation or policy in Australia relative to each of those rights. Specific recommendations, thought to…

Children are able to cope with a majority of problems of learning and growing; some problems, however, may require guidance and support. A technique available to all people, trained or untrained in counseling or guidance is bibliotherapy--a process of dynamic interaction between the personality of the reader and literature which may be used for…

When there is evidence of severe child abuse or neglect, the school must be the child's advocate and defender. Basically, child advocacy is concerned with identifying and correcting ongoing practices and policies that violate legal and human rights or that are seriously harmful to children. The main targets are the institutional barriers that…

Describes the fundamental attitude of learning-from-the-child as integral to observation. Discusses how one learns what motivates each child through patience, humility, repeated experience, objectivity, and faith. Outlines some human tendencies, and challenges us to ensure these tendencies are answered within the Montessori environment. (JS)

Five papers on the topic of family history are presented. In the first paper, the author discusses techniques which have been successfully used for motivating reluctant writers to write their own personal histories. For example, in an effort to get her husband to write his life story, one woman asked her children to write what they remembered and…

This brief paper discusses needs of school-age children and factors to consider in providing school-age child care. These needs and factors are explored in a discussion of five myths about school-age day care. The myths are as follows: (1) school-age children are old enough to fend for themselves, assume responsibility for their own welfare and…

While it is our responsibility as adults to protect our children from hazards that would inflict injury, it is also our responsibility to provide children with a safe play environment providing challenging opportunities to explore, practice, and reach personal levels of competence. Children learn their own play abilities and limitations through…

Advocates of children's right to play are caught between the need to provide developmentally appropriate and challenging places for play and restrictions that result from fears of liability. It may be that implementation of the suggestions of research on playground safety has resulted in the creation of playgrounds that are colorful, cute, and…

A saturation sample of child and adolescent residential treatment facilities and psychiatric hospitals in Florida was conducted. A total of 128 facilities completed surveys, with a response rate of 51%. The majority of those who responded were from Child Caring (CC) facilities (55%), Hospital/Intensive Residential Treatment (IRT) facilities (25%),…

Fred Rogers, creator and host of the television program "Mister Roger's Neighborhood," believes strongly in several propositions concerning the healthy development and education of young children. These ideas include the following: (1) to grow up to be healthy, very young children do not need to know how to read, but they do need to know how to…

This paper briefly describes the Division of Behavioral and Developmental Pediatrics, which is the child development and mental health clinical, research, and training center for the Department of Pediatrics at Evanston Hospital and Northwestern University Medical Center in Illinois. Responsibilities of the child psychiatrists within this division…