All Indigenous communities have a time-tested child-rearing knowledge base that reflects and honors their cultural beliefs and historical experiences. Many of these communities emphasize group harmony and collaboration and respect for the natural environment--competencies that are increasingly important on our crowded and depleted planet.…

Since the early 1990s, the Open Society Foundations have supported early childhood development, recognizing it as a prerequisite for sustainable political and social change--with a focus not only on young children, but on parents, caregivers, and the wider community. This report commemorates the Open Society Early Childhood Program, which, from…

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 calls on countries to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Sub-goal 4.6 aims to ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults of both genders achieve literacy and numeracy, with literacy being regarded indispensable not only for the…

This paper describes the activities of a course on adult development. The course intended to sensitize participants to the theories and reality of adulthood and aging by introducing them to selected literature on adult development and to the preparation of case records and mastery of activities that permit an analysis of the adult's world. The…

This article describes two methods for use in program development and refinement. Problem mapping and forcefield analysis are explained with a real-world example about parenting education. Both methods are visual and consider multiple causes and effects of a problem. The methods are effective for clearly thinking through a problem, identifying…

The birth of a child can be a simultaneously joyous and challenging time for families. Virtually all parents will struggle with the enormous physical and emotional demands of parenting a very young child, but for too many California families those challenges are additionally compounded by poverty, housing instability, lack of social support, or…

Nearly half of the nation's families with young children struggle to make ends meet. A new KIDS COUNT policy report makes the case for creating opportunity for families by addressing the needs of parents and their children simultaneously. "Creating Opportunity for Families: A Two-Generation Approach" describes a new approach to reducing…

This article is a 20-year evaluation of the Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) of Child and Family Services in Western Manitoba. Following Levenstein's (1979, 1988) approach, home visitors model parent-child interchanges using books and toys to enhance children's cognitive development through appropriate parenting behaviors. The evaluation provides…

This article features two exemplary programs in health education practice: (1) Project L.E.A.P (Learning Effective and Applicable Parenting); and (2) A program that uses a pedestrian count tool to measure environmental and health promotion efforts. Project L.E.A.P. was developed by the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities to promote…

Several studies have suggested the importance of parent education in the prevention of incompetence. The child development and day care movements offer programs that show promise for preventing the incompetence associated with culturally deprived children. But many of these programs lack the elements necessary to break the cycle of poverty: (1)…

Community-based parenting education programs have a unique role to play in the promotion of infant mental health. In contrast to classes that seek to accelerate child development, the author describes enrichment programs that promote parent-child bonding and healthy social and emotional development. The ParentSource program was developed on the…

This 5-year study involved the design, development and evaluation of a combined day care and parent guidance program for infants and preschool children, and included comparisons between participants' development from 6 months to 5 years of age and the development of a group of similar children reared entirely at home. Major elements of the parent…

Early childhood education is the topic of this chapter from "Six Crucial Issues in Education." The Foreword and introduction to the book are provided. The following areas are discussed in this chapter: (1) Research--Bloom, Hunt's "Intelligence and Experience," Piaget; (2) Head Start and Other Compensatory Programs; (3) Public…

Data about the quality of attachment between infants and parents in high-risk populations suggests that early intervention may be advantageous for positive developmental outcomes for the child. Mothers in prison represent a high-risk parenting population in terms of both attachment histories and economic and social risk factors. New Beginnings was…

To provide undergraduate and graduate psychology students with exposure to a wide range of parenting perspectives, eight videocassette programs were produced focusing on the child rearing strategies of parents. Described are project background, rationale, activities, materials development, and program implementation and evaluation. (RM)