Argues that children need play time to explore the world because it is valuable, irreplaceable, spontaneous, and provides situations where children can learn with all their senses. Examines play in terms of its role in exploration, imagination, creative activity, work, learning, knowledge expansion, art, and the culture of children. (Author/SD)

The mission of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools (CYFS) is to advance the conduct of high-quality interdisciplinary research to promote the intellectual, behavioral, and social-emotional development and functioning of individuals across educational, familial, and community contexts. Central to this is…

A series of partial studies aimed at understanding how much progress students can make in 1 year of second language study are described. The first concerns Swedish university students in their first year studying Spanish as a third language in higher education. Students were tested and interviewed for their perceptions of their language ability…

A general model for second language learning is proposed in this paper. First, this model aims to describe different components (input, intake, integration, output) of the learning process in terms of the information (explicit/implicit, linguistic/sociolinguistic) to which the learner is exposed. Secondly, the model serves to identify the stages,…

This paper describes the development and use of the Casey-Monahan Screening Instrument, designed to assess kindergarten readiness. The instrument consisted of various tests and evaluation procedures chosen from previously published tests. The instrument was designed to measure ability in five areas: (1) motor integration and motor development, (2)…

This study identified behaviors of sibling pairs interacting on a cognitive task and related these behaviors to sibling structure variables (age and sex of each sibling and age spacing between them) and to measure of cognitive abilities of the younger sibling. Subjects were 160 sibling pairs randomly selected from appropriate subpopulations of…

Project PRIME (Programmed Re-Entry Into Mainstream Education) is concerned with evaluating the effectiveness of programs that aim at integration of handicapped children into regular classrooms. The main goals of the project are to determine which handicapped children can benefit from integration and under which conditions would it prove the most…

Addressed to both professionals and parents, the handbook delineates visual impairment and discusses child growth with reference to the visually handicapped. Development in the visually impaired of self care skills and along physical, social/personal, intellectual, and emotional lines is described and contrasted to that of the normal child. Also,…

Special emphasis is placed on the potential of dialog learning in a discussion of a sequence of activities and materials appropriate for developing the recognition and selection levels of activity involved in listening to a foreign language. Also referred to are the (1) procedural features of presentation, (2) emotional problems possibly resulting…

The proceedings include 33 papers and two addresses on the psychopathology of mental development. The following six subject areas are considered: genetics and neurophysiology, socio-cultural and paranatal factors; epidemiology; behavior characteristics and learning; observational techniques and measurement of intelligence; and diagnosis and…

To study the home environment of the Puerto Rican as it relates to the children's academic achievement, 45 working class families were interviewed and these variables were investigated: achievement, classroom behavior inventory in relation to academic achievement, the effect of bilinguality on academic achievement, the influence of examiner…

The Institute for Developmental Studies (IDS) is engaged in research aimed at specifying what the academic handicaps of deprived children are, what causes these handicaps, and what can be done to overcome them. This IDS report on their research and evaluation program is divided into two sections. The first, "Summaries of Basic Research, Applied…

The present study was undertaken to investigate the interplay of motivation, socio-emotional interactions between the child and his educators in the impact of early educational intervention on the later development of disadvantaged children. The study attempted to concentrate on obtaining a broad spectrum of the child's functioning and changes in…

The primary purpose of this manual is to present actual games used in programs designed to involve Head Start parents in the intellectual and social-emotional development of their children. A brief history of previous experience in working with parents of preschool children is also given. Four primary areas of concern have emerged as the work of…

This text is designed not only as a teaching text but also as a reference source for students and professionals on the assessment of the cognitive development of children. Chapters address: (1) process challenges of assessing children; (2) context challenges in assessing children; (3) ethical, legal, and professional applications of assessment…