Parents are a child's first teachers. They are responsible for building children's social, emotional, physical, and intellectual foundations. The problem investigated through this dissertation case study was the inconsistent knowledge of child development and developmentally appropriate activities among parents of young and primary school aged…

Children who receive copious amounts of language stimulation from caring adults are likely to develop strong language skills, whereas children who receive limited language stimulation may experience delays. Little is known about the language stimulation strategies that families prefer to use. This mixed-methods study investigated families'…

This practical resource explains brain development from prenatal to age 8 with suggestions for activities educators and caregivers can use to foster children's cognitive growth. The authors begin with the basics of brain development, and the issues that affect it, and then provide information specific to infant, toddler, preschool, and…

The Cultivating Readers Family Guide provides tips and to grow reading skills from birth to age eight. The guide will help parents keep their shared learning activities with their children fun and part of their everyday routine.

Building on extensive feedback from the field as well as vigorous new research on how best to support infant and toddler development and learning, the authors have revised and updated the widely used "Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale." ITERS-3 is the next-generation assessment tool for use in center-based child care programs for…

Children observe, listen, feel, taste, and take apart while exploring everything in their environment. Teachers can cultivate nature investigations with very young children by offering infants natural objects they can explore and investigate. When adults introduce nature in the earliest stages of development, children will be open to new ideas and…

Songs, rhymes, and sayings entered in this handbook are particularly useful as basic teaching techniques for babies and small children. Popular and easy to learn, many are simple Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Others are traditional songs and sayings that have been passed on from generation to generation in our culture. Some are appropriate for use…

One of a series intended for parents and other caregivers, this handbook on child development focuses on the first 2 years of life. Contents include discussions on (1) basic developmental principles; (2) physical development; (3) cognitive development and language acquisition; (4) personality development, temperament, attachment, and bonding; (5)…

A selection of books and pamphlets which parents and beginning caregivers may find useful in expanding their knowledge of young children. (Author/HS)

Intended for parents, this booklet presents learning activities for very young children with special needs. Activities were developed as part of project DEBT (Developmental Education Birth through Two). Activities are grouped according to the following developmental levels: newborn, 1-3 months, 4-5 months, 6-8 months, 9-11 months, 12-14 months,…

A series of easy activities for parents or caregivers to use in guiding the developmental progress of children at the infant, toddler, and preschool levels. (Author)

This book is a guide to understanding the development and needs of the child from 0 to 5. There are three sections: General principles of learning and development; infant development and ways of caring for infants; and the preschool child, which concerns the young child's development and proposes teaching and developmental activities. An appendix…

The fourth in a series of 16 booklets on the Macomb (Illinois) 0-3 Regional Project, a rural program for parents and their handicapped and high risk infants and toddlers, describes easily constructed toys and games. Illustrations and narrative are presented for the following types of materials: balls, beanbags, blocks; infant toys; language…

This paper presents a system for synthesizing the educational objectives of infant curricula and illustrates the procedure by reviewing the synthesis of several specific objectives of the Carolina Infant Curriculum. Five sources are used in the synthetic process: (1) consumer opinions, (2) developmental theory, (3) developmental facts, (4)…

Based on the premise that children learn language best in daily playful interactions with people, this guide for parents and professionals was designed to assist them in working with a child who is beginning to talk or who is not using language very much in their social and learning lives, especially with children with disabilities. The bulk of…