We discuss oral history interviews with academics who laid the foundation of research and pedagogies in daycare for under three-year-olds in Europe and North and South America since the 1970s. Their work is clearly embedded in the social-political context of their country: the left-wing programmes for disadvantaged families in the U.S.A.;…

Autism has a unique history. The definition has broadened and changed over time, from an emotional disturbance with psychogenic origins to a neurodevelopmental disability with suspected environmental and genetic origins. Diagnosis occurs later than children born with obvious disabilities such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome, but earlier than…

This book presents reviews and analyses from a variety of disciplinary perspectives that place American and Canadian family day care in a historical, demographic, social, and economic context. The 15 chapters are: (1) "Family Day Care: Issues and Information Needs" (Donald Peters and Alan Pence); (2) "Historical Perspectives on…

Maintains that the Italian concept of "l'inserimento" suggests a different way of thinking about children's entry to out-of-home care and challenges American practitioners to rethink current interpretations of quality care, teachers' professional responsibilities, and the role of child-development theory. Concludes that cultural…

More than 485,000 low-birth-weight, premature babies are born in the U.S. each year. The increase in preterm births since 1990 may be due to assisted pregnancies and births to older mothers. Although their survival rates are improving, many premature infants experience long-lasting developmental and behavioral problems. The author describes recent…

Describes the value of nonparental adult-child relationships for infants and toddlers and outlines specific steps that American and Italian educators from relationship-oriented programs rely on to expand on children's relationship dances with their parents. Suggests that educators should initially take the initiative to become attuned to the child…

This volume explores the unexplored consequences of globalization on the lives of women worldwide, as each year millions leave their third world countries to work in the homes, nurseries, and brothels of first world countries. This mass migration results in a transfer of labor associated with women's traditional roles that creates a "care…