This brief biographical sketch of Maria Montessori focuses on her philosophy of learning and her methods of teaching. Her holistic approach to education is discussed in the light of its impact on educational theories and practices in the early 1900s. Included in this discussion is a description of her theories, such as the developmental stages of…

Studies of young children's sequence of development from counting to the beginnings of formal arithmetic are reviewed. Four essential basic skills are identified: use of counting words, enumeration, the cardinality rule, and quantitative comparison. The contribution of counting to the development of arithmetical proficiency is stressed. (JDD)

After some preliminary doubts about Kohlberg's method of assessing moral reasoning, six claims of his "stage-structural" theory are criticized: (1) that the stages constitute structural wholes; (2) their invariant sequence; (3) their cultural universality; (4) their logical necessity; (5) increasing cognitive adequacy; and (6) increasing…

As an example, two aspects of children's conservation are explained: decalages and the shift from perceptual to quantitative cues. This approach, relative to structuralist formulation, involves cognitive factors such as prior learning, as well as impinging social experience. It is compatible with Piaget's theory, yet simpler and more flexible. (CP)

The manual presents sequences of skills designed for use as guides to teaching/learning objectives and as a basis for evaluating and recording special education students' progress. It is explained that the goal of the first level of objectives (sequenced in this document) is to enable the student to function at a motor/psychomotor state of…