"Inclusion" has long been a term used to describe the practice of including a child with special needs in age-appropriate general education classes in their home schools. Increasingly, the term is being used to describe the process of including very young children--infants and toddlers--with special needs in a setting comprised mostly of children…

In a "Young Children" article worth revisiting, Wien (2004) makes the case that rules tend not to be helpful in early childhood communities. Rules are usually stated as negatives. When an adult enforces rules with children, the children know they have done something wrong. However, the negative experience in rule enforcement does not teach them…

The authors teach in an inner-city school where 74 percent of the students qualify for the free/reduced-price lunch program; 96 percent of the students are Hispanic, and 59 percent are learning English as their second language. Given that most of the children come from similar home environments, they set out to discover the difference between the…

Planning effectively for children with diverse backgrounds, learning styles, and school-readiness levels can be daunting. To better understand and respond to such challenges, early elementary educators need to become familiar with what it means to be a ready school, so they can assess and implement strategies to ensure success for all students. In…

First in a series of articles on professional ethics in early childhood education, this article intends to help clarify the ethical dimension of professional practice. Aims particularly to convey a sufficient sense of the nature of professional ethics to enable readers to continue to develop effective resolutions of ethical dilemmas. (RH)

Communities of practice (COPs) are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through interacting with one another (Wenger 1998). Communities of practice have enormous potential to support and sustain quality care and education within a community and, in fact, are doing so. Businesses and…

Two charts are given: one to assess program objectives; the other, resources. (MB)

Television for children can help them broaden their experiences, develop values and understand more about human feelings. An example of this type of educational television is Ripples," a series of 15-minute color programs for in-school viewing by children in kindergarten and early primary grades. (AJ)

Reviews children's books that oppose violence, affirm similarities and differences among individuals, value cultural variety, and focus on solving problems peaceably. Indicates stories of a peaceful, soothing nature. (RH)

Examines ways in which early childhood teachers and directors waste time during the course of the working day and provides suggestions as to how time wasting can be avoided. (Author/PW)

Outlines the reasons for a need to know more about water and swimming pool dangers with regards to young children and how to make these water areas more safe. (BB)

Provides information and suggestions to help parents and teachers deal constructively with the issues concerning AIDS and reduce the likelihood of conveying anxiety about the disease to very young children. (RH)

Illustrates professional, nonprofessional and unprofessional judgment by describing possible responses to a common predicament faced by those working with young children. (RH)

Author describes practical guidelines for teachers in handling the subject of death with young children. (Editor)

Discusses guidelines (developed by the Oregon State University Early Childhood Sex Education Project) for developing teacher-parent cooperation in providing sex education to young children. The guidelines concern how to talk about body differences and body functions; how to deal with masturbation, sex play and obscene language; and how to involve…