Personal narratives of 20 middle-class Japanese preschoolers, half of them 4 years old and half 5 years old, and their mothers were analyzed using stanza analysis and high point analysis. The patterning in stanzas yielded the following: (1) with regard to the proportion of three-verse stanzas, there were no differences between the groups of…

This article discusses a program in education and mental health set up for young mothers who would like to resume their studies but find inherent difficulties. Evaluation of the project's first year revealed that these women were capable of integrating their various life roles and had achieved a sense of competence. (Author/BW)

Sixty-three mother-child dyads, selected from middle- and working-class English backgrounds, were observed in semi-structured teaching activities. Results indicated that middle-class mothers used significantly fewer negative statements and imperatives, and significantly more questions. They were also less intrusive. (Author/KC)

Sex role stereotyping by parents of male and female children was assessed by asking parents in 88 middle-class families to rate the importance of five broadly defined categories of attitudes they believed a 2-year-old should learn. All parents had at least one child 5 years old or younger. It was assumed that if sex role stereotyping was present,…

Seventy-seven fathers of preschool-aged children enrolled in the Human Development Laboratories program at Colorado State University completed a questionnaire packet of background information, the Attitudes Toward Fathering Scale, and the Father-Child Activity Scale. Analyses of the responses indicated that the fathers' attitudes toward fathering…

In 40 mainland Puerto Rican intact middle-income families, fathers spent about a third as much time as mothers in primary caregiving of preschool children. Paternal involvement with preschool children was associated with paternal commitment to family and competence but not with family income or father's educational attainment. (Author/SV)

Analysis of mother-child interaction data for 36 children and their mothers revealed that the three groups of mothers' verbal interactions differed significantly in their mean length of utterance, percentage of yes-no questions, percentage of information questions, and percentage of clarification questions. (Author/CS)

Any theory of language acquisition must take into account the actual speech heard by children during the acquisition period. When 8 well-educated mothers were tape-recorded talking to their daughters, ages 16 to 30 months, it was found that their speech differed significantly from that spoken to another adult. The mothers used a more restricted…

Introduces research comparing changes in the child rearing practices of employed and nonemployed mothers of four-year-old children. Also discusses the mother's occupational role as it influences the parent's attitudes in child rearing practices. No significant differences were found between the employed and nonemployed mothers on six Child Rearing…

A short term preschool readiness program was designed in 1967 to employ nonpedagogically trained middle class mothers as teachers for preschool disadvantaged children. The children chosen for this study were 43 Mexican-Americans and five Negroes from lower class families. Three classrooms, consisting of 12 children and three mothers each, were…

Examined the speech of middle- and working-class black and white parents to their preschool children during picture identification, free play, and a meal. The study found the groups similar in the level and form of parental labeling and different in the information supplied by parents, parental direction of child behavior, and parental sensitivity…

This document is section one of a final report on Head Start Evaluation and Research for 1967-68 by the Child Development Evaluation and Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. This section is composed of two studies: (A) Middle Class Mother-Teachers in an Experimental Preschool Program for Socially Disadvantaged Children (PS 001…

The purpose of this study was to examine the verbal and nonverbal interaction patterns of black parents and their preschool children. Three types of verbal interaction patterns were observed between the parent and child: nurturant, non-nurturant, and restrictive. Patterns of nonverbal interaction were also observed. Also studied were patterns of…

A study relating mothers' language styles and techniques of family control to children's cognitive development was conducted with 163 urban Negro mothers from the lower and middle classes and their 4-year-old children. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) There was a significant negative correlation between responses of status-oriented…

This paper traces the development of the Maternal Teaching Style Instrument (MTSI) at the Demonstration and Research Center for Early Education (DARCEE). The MTSI was developed to document changes in maternal behavior; to better understand the role of maternal behavior as it influences children's cognitive growth and development and to redefine…