This action research project describes an educational program to develop parenting skills among pregnant high school students. The evidence of students' lack of parenting skills included observations by the researcher, student responses to questionnaires, and sub-optimal growth and development in the infants and children. The educational program…

Addresses how affective facial expression interacts with the linguistic forms in American Sign Language (ASL) motherese. The article presents data from both cross-sectional and longitudinal interaction from 15 deaf mothers signing with their deaf toddlers. Findings indicate a shift from affect to grammar at about the child's second birthday. (59…

The studies and policies of the U.S. Children's Bureau in the era of Progressive education benefited many children, but its emphasis on the middle-class family ideals and relative disinterest in poverty issues left a legacy with policy implications in today's climate of welfare reform. (SLD)

Surveyed parents' knowledge and beliefs about early development, information and support sources, and receptivity to new information. Found that parents learn about development after becoming parents, feel most able to impact emotional development, do not see the full significance of early childhood, are concerned about caregiver continuity and…

Describes the value of nonparental adult-child relationships for infants and toddlers and outlines specific steps that American and Italian educators from relationship-oriented programs rely on to expand on children's relationship dances with their parents. Suggests that educators should initially take the initiative to become attuned to the child…

Data on 3,449 children (ages 0-3) indicate children at risk because of low income, minority status, or lack of insurance were 3 to 12 times more likely to be without a usual source of care and 2 to 30 times more likely to have unmet needs for health care. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This article discusses the importance of early intervention advocacy and provides vignettes that illustrate sample early intervention advocacy issues from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and program administrators. Quick tips are provided for professionals as self-advocates and for family advocacy, along with legislative Web site resources.…

Discusses the alarming rise in numbers of infants perinatally exposed to illegal drugs, including crack and cocaine. Schools must provide more services for these babies. Service delivery systems should be developed and coordinated to help these babies. (GH)

Cross-sectional and longitudinal study of one- to six-year-olds in full-time child care assessed sequences and individual differences in development of social competence with peers. Study collects most extensive and varied data to date. Findings concern stability of individual differences, social classifications, influences of variations in…

Reviews research on influences on children's symbolic play. Finds little support for the effects of child-adult symbolic play interactions on child solitary play. Discusses three theoretical perspectives that should support these effects: attachment, ethological, and scaffolding theories. Reconsiders the essence of specific variables affecting…

Response to article by Bornstein and Tamis-LeMonda in this same issue. Delimits the faults of the ethological, scaffolding, and attachment theories in assessing maternal effects on children's symbolic play. Concludes that environmental influences are important to, but are not necessarily the sole cause of, child behavior. (JW)

Assessed effects of maternal employment on infants with mothers working 20 or more hours per week or fewer than 20 hours per week. Found that neither differences in maternal employment during child's first year, nor child's entry into nonmaternal care before age one, predicted differences in cognitive and socioemotional development at ages two and…

Infants' visual recognition memory (VRM) at seven months was associated with their general intelligence, language proficiency, reading and quantitative skills, and perceptual organization at six years. Infants' VRM, object permanence, and cross-modal transfer of perceptions at one year were related to their IQ and several outcomes at six years.…

The staff of the Center for the Future of Children analyzes policies to make the U.S. health care system more responsive to the needs of children and pregnant women focusing on (1) efficiency; (2) access; and (3) affordability. Recommendations are made in each of these areas. (SLD)

The East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, a federal grantee providing Head Start services to migrant families, has developed a continuity system to ensure that comprehensive service delivery occurs for each child and family enrolled. The system focuses on centralized and parent-held documentation, advocacy training for staff and parents, and…