Describes a study that identified parenting practices related to the psychosocial development of children and evaluated the effectiveness of the Catholic elementary school to prepare parents to apply such practices. Concludes that schools must increase efforts to provide a comprehensive program of formative parenting that assists parents in…

Reports on the service learning program developed by Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) and The Peabody School in Virginia to expose children to philosophy. Linked by service learning, students from PVCC and Peabody gather for discussions about democracy, compassion, and responsibility and participate in community service activities with…

Explored practices around transitioning infants/toddlers to new classes. Responses to mail survey indicated that relatively few programs provided caregiver continuity. Most programs considered attainment of developmental milestones, age, and available space when making transition decisions for infants/toddlers. Most centers used a few practices to…

The authors examine the influence of neighborhood characteristics on the academic outcomes of children in middle childhood. Prior research has examined structural features of the community and has evaluated their associations with youth outcomes (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov, & Sealand, 1993; Kowaleski-Jones, 2000). Other research has related…

In order to improve post-discharge outcomes for children, it has been proposed that residential treatment centers place a greater emphasis on engaging families and building on strengths of the youths in treatment. This review presents the theoretical and empirical support for several promising strategies for engaging families, such as behavioral…

Brain research has strengthened our understanding of the first five years of a child's life as a critical period. Quality early care is important to the healthy development of young children, and their later success in school. Concurrently, many families depend on childcare outside the home. Programs that have knowledgeable and skilled staff,…

All school professionals working with children and adolescents deal with social skills issues. Even if not the primary issue or goal, teachers, counselors, school psychologists, other specialists such as nurses, speech and language therapists, etc., and some administrators make informal assessments of their students' ability to successfully…

The early childhood years are critical for literacy development, and there is evidence that the home environments of young children with delays or disabilities are not as rich in literacy opportunities as those of their typically developing peers. The purpose of this study was to obtain information about how parents of infants and toddlers with…

Most schools are unwilling to consider decreasing computer use at school because they fear that without screen time, students will not be prepared for the demands of a high-tech 21st century. Monke argues that having young children spend a significant amount of time on computers in school is harmful, particularly when children spend so much…

Family-professional partnerships have been recognized through research and supported through legislation as critical components contributing to the positive development of children with disabilities, yet current practices and services need significant improvement. In practice, families and service providers often experience difficulty in…

Using a sample of 42 Korean mothers whose infants are cared for by someone at non-maternal child care facilities, this study first examined both main effects and interaction effects between maternal knowledge of infant development and maternal self-efficacy on parenting behavior. Second, the combined effects of variables of interest in this study…

Early life experiences can powerfully impact attitudes toward learning and later achievements in education. The chances for optimal development of children with special needs, including the gifted and talented, can be enhanced with identification and intervention at an early age. This paper reports on investigations into the lives of five gifted…

This article describes how an international group of infant-family researchers, practitioners, program directors, and advocates have helped the World Health Organization recognize the importance of caregiving relationships to children's survival, health, and development. When children lack contact and attachment to caregivers, they may fail to…

Background: Research suggests that institutional care has long-lasting effects on children. However, no study has longitudinally studied infants in an institution and their subsequent development at age four. Methods: Sixty-one adopted children aged four years who had spent their first two years of life in an institution were compared to 39…

Background: In an earlier series of studies, we documented the effects of feeding practices and postnatal maternal mood on the growth and development of 226 Barbadian children during the first few months of life. In this report, we extend our earlier studies by examining predictive relationships between infant size, feeding practices and…