This paper examines the educational philosophy underlying Waldorf Education, focusing on Rudolf Steiner's concept of "vital" or etheric energy and comparing Piaget's and Steiner's stages of cognition. The paper begins with a discussion of school readiness and the trend toward lowering the school entry age, and maintains that this trend…

GRADS (Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills) is an in-school instructional and intervention program for pregnant teens and young parents. Its objectives are to help these students remain in school through graduation, have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, learn practical parenting and child-development skills, gain an orientation to…

This book provides research in the area of educational play for early childhood teachers and teacher educators. Following an introduction by the editors, the chapters of the book are: (1) "A Historical Overview of Theories of Play" (Olivia Saracho and Bernard Spodek); (2) "Playing with a Theory of Mind" (Angeline Lillard); (3)…

This very brief paper summarizes 20 major findings of research on 3000 gifted children over 19 years at the Gifted Development Center (Denver, Colorado). Among findings are: (1) there are more highly gifted children than previously recognized; (2) when one child is gifted, the chances are great that all siblings are gifted; (3) second children are…

This paper examines the prevailing theoretical orientation of the "free play" curriculum in New Zealand child care centers. It also introduces an alternative way of understanding how children learn and discusses a literacy-centered curriculum that uses aspects of the free play and alternative curricula. Child care centers in New Zealand…

This report presents a research-based framework for identifying high-quality early childhood centers. Quality in a school-based early childhood center is identified by: (1) classroom parameters, including curriculum and adult-child interaction; (2) client parameters, relating to children, families, and communities; and (3) school structure…

This study compared Swedish and British child care policy, educational philosophy, and function and organization of preschools. The activities, language, and group patterns of 559 children in 73 full-time and 42 part-time preschools in Sweden were observed. Questionnaires assessed staff-child ratio, group size, staff working conditions, and…

This document is intended to help secondary home economics teachers incorporate social studies principles into their curriculum. After an introduction, the document is divided into three sections. The first section identifies and explains fundamental principles within social studies and covers the history and current state of the social studies…

Early childhood special educators recognize the necessity of establishing indices of reliability and validity for instruments that provide an index of developmental status. Many such instruments present little empirical evidence regarding psychometric integrity, particularly for a non-normative sample. The 341-item Battelle Developmental Inventory…

Among the goals of the teacher of human development is to open students' minds to the diverse cultural and ethnic influences that effect the development of children. A new approach to a semester-long human development course offered at Green Mountain College, in Vermont, is based on the study of children's literature. The course is organized…

This primer on fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) distinguishes between the syndrome and fetal alcohol effects (FAE), offers a history of FAS, outlines medical criteria for diagnosis, rates of incidence, factors influencing incidence and severity, developmental stages of children with FAS, clinical features, and educational implications and approaches.…

This guide is designed to help facilitators tailor the Reach and Teach program to their clients' individual needs. Reach and Teach is a family literacy project designed to improve the parenting and basic skills of clients of family agencies in Pinellas County, Florida. The program emphasizes enhancing the parent's role as the child's nurturer and…

Designed for teachers, students, caregivers, and health professionals who work with children from birth to age 8, this book provides a review of recent research and theories of development and learning in the early childhood years, with an emphasis on implications for effective teaching. Where appropriate, the book takes an Australian perspective,…

This study investigated the extent to which preservice teachers could differentiate developmentally appropriate from inappropriate practices in the education of young children. Responses to 2 teaching scenarios were collected from 158 junior and/or senior early childhood teacher education majors from a university in the mid-South. Results…

This report reviews literature on the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on the fetus and the resulting impact on the learning abilities and behavior of children born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Recent reports indicate that an estimated 73 percent of infants are exposed to alcohol before birth, resulting in varying degrees of learning…