As the pressure to succeed academically is imposed on children earlier than ever before, it is essential to understand what characteristics are most important to parents and teachers in order to be school ready. While formally readiness is typically measured using chronological age and mastery of cognitive skills, it also involves physical,…

Children, particularly young children, demonstrate characteristics of giftedness in many different ways. These characteristics manifest themselves based on gender, experiences, cultural identity, personal passions and interests, and family or community. Gifted children develop asynchronously. Morelock (2000) stated that "asynchrony in the gifted…

The Early Learning Guidelines: Nebraska's Birth to Five Learning and Development Standards (hereafter referred to as the Guidelines) is a resource to provide information about young children's learning and development. The Guidelines are intended to assist adults in planning and providing meaningful learning experiences and environments for…

The process of early intervention is a critical component of Early Childhood Special Music Education. Early intervention is the process of providing services, education, and support to young children who have disabilities or to children who are at-risk of developing needs that may affect their physical, cognitive, or emotional development. The…

Being asked to give the Charles H. McCloy research lecture is one of the highlights of the author's academic career. Although McCloy's primary area of expertise was measurement and the analysis of motor skills, he also shared an avid interest in youth development through sport and physical activity. In this article, the author features youth sport…

The use of drama to teach social skills to public middle school students labeled at-risk is powerfully effective. Drama is a universal form of human expression found in cultures all over the world and throughout history. For students at-risk of poor educational outcomes, drama is effective for teaching social, emotional, and physical development.…

Four experiments investigating the effects of physical and social variables on the production of pointing in infants 10 to 18 months old are described. In the first two experiments, which were primarily concerned with the relation between reaching and index finger pointing, physical dimensions such as distance between baby and target objects were…

Best practice is based on knowledge--not on beliefs or guesses--about how children learn and develop. This volume contains 20 overviews of research on aspects of young children's social, emotional, cognitive, or physical development, as well as how the findings can be applied in the classroom. Originally "Research in Review" articles in NAEYC's…

In an attempt to integrate the theoretical perspectives of G.H. Mead and Piaget, this paper presents a model of human development which views physiological and cognitive growth as a unitary, universal progression that is interdependent with social development. Social development is seen as a result of the child's developmentally constrained…

Written for families with adolescent children, this handbook provides information about adolescent development and about the new ways family members relate to each other when children become adolescents. The handbook discusses the physical, social, and intellectual changes that young people experience, describing how parents can respond to some of…

This paper provides an overview of a project (now in its formative stages) to develop Head Start measures of program effects on children 3 to 7 years of age. The program approach is distinctive in emphasizing evaluation of all aspects of children's development that may affect their overall competence in reflecting the concerns, views, and values…

Asserts that play is an important medium for young children's learning, one that contributes to the child's cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development. Discusses the qualities that distinguish play from other activities, the skills children develop from exposure to a variety of play experiences at home and in the classroom, and…

Presented are two curriculum guides written and field tested by teachers for junior and senior high school educable retarded students. In each guide behavioral objectives are set forth for basic skills (listening, speaking, reading, arithmetic, writing, environmental awareness, and consumerism), vocational competencies (attitudes, choosing a job,…

Designed for educable mentally handicapped children, these lessons on social attitudes stress sex education and also present broader coverage of information relevant to the development of social skills. The pre-primary unit, for ages 4 to 7, includes lessons on healthy body image, proper toilet habits, male and female roles, sequence of growth,…

The curriculum guide is a revised unit in family living and sex education for K-6, planned as a continuing school experience for the child and meant to be correlated, integrated, and articulated with the total educational program. It involves concepts of human sexuality and provides activities to motivate student learning. Five topics are treated…