Why does the city of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy feature one of the best public systems of early education in the world? This book documents the comprehensive and innovative approach that utilizes the "hundred languages of children" to support their well-being and foster their intellectual development. Reggio Emilia is a fast-growing…

Examined the relationship between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and children's intellectual functioning through age four. Found that children whose mothers smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day during pregnancy had Stanford-Binet scores 4 points lower than those whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy. (HTH)

Five conference reports that originally appeared as monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development concern cognition in young children. Included in a section on thought are articles on Piaget and his theories, computer simulation on human thinking, and an information processing theory of intellectual development. The development of…

Examined bias in reasoning in adults and in children, ages five through nine years, by presenting story or videotape true/false messages. Found that adults made judgments contaminated by their own background knowledge abut the believability of the message more frequently than did children. (ET)

Analyzed the influence of a comprehensive program of nurse home visitation on the intellectual functioning of children born to women who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy. Found that comprehensive home-visitation services before and after delivery can offset the impairment in intellectual functioning associated with substantial maternal smoking…

Outlines basic concepts about how the brain develops and considers how Head Start teachers and parents can take full advantage of the brain's multisensory learning approach to develop more effective ways to interact with children. Focuses on the critical developmental period for stimulating neurons and developing neural connections. Suggests…

The Fullerton Longitudinal Study is a contemporary prospective investigation that spans approximately a quarter of a century. Commencing at age 1, children and their families were systematically followed every 6 months from infancy through preschool and annually at ages 5 through 17. They were again assessed at age 24. The course of development…

Provides some background from the biological and behavioral sciences relevant to the education of young children. The author concludes that experience gained by age 8 (particularly during the years 0 to 5) matters for the rest of an individual's life. (PEB)

Understanding the nature of the 5- to 7-year shift is essential if educators are to help children adjust to elementary school. The timing and quality of this shift is influenced by child characteristics, home environment, cultural context, and previous group learning experience. Since child development depends on children's engagement in cultural…

While early research suggests that bilingualism creates a language handicap in individuals, more recent and methodologically better research clearly supports the advantages of bilingualism in promoting overall cognitive development. Three major explanations for this improved development are proposed: that (1) the bilingual-bicultural child…

Reexamines Yoruba children from educated and traditional families after five years, finding that those growing up in a privileged environment showed increasingly superior mental scores. (Author/JM)

Discusses the differences between Piagetian and post-Piagetian conceptions of intellectual development and the implications of these differences for science education in early childhood. (GLR)

This bibliography on nutritional disorders and child development is directed towards early childhood professionals outside the field of nutrition. The main topic covered pertains to malnutrition and undernutrition as it relates to mental/intellectual/cognitive development of children from the fetal stage through the early childhood years. Included…

A four-and-a-half-year longitudinal experiment reconsidered the contribution of organic impairment to the genesis of mild mental retardation among disadvantaged children. It was hypothesized that nonoptimal perinatal conditions might result in deficits that increase a child's vulnerability to environmental risk factors. Study results supported the…

This book presents 350 classroom-tested activities for use with children to create an environment that will stimulate young children's brains. Designed to be used by families, classroom teachers, family childcare providers, or others caring for young children, the book includes information on current brain research and describes interest areas in…