The prelinguistic child's attempts at communication cannot be viewed as rudimentary language. More than cataloguing overt acts, we need to understand the functional character of both language and non-language communication capabilities, and in particular the maturational stages of the internal communication systems that produce overt behavior in…

This report presents a statistical description of the Appalachian child. The population studied were fifth, sixth and seventh grade boys and girls, in home and school environments. There is no commentary beyond a brief explanation of the meaning of each scale or measure employed. Some of the areas for which data are presented are: locus of…

This research paper summarizes several experiments in which children's speech volume was compared to the varied background noise against which they spoke. Age was found to be an important factor: 4 1/2-year-olds, as contrasted with 6 1/2-year-olds, failed to adjust their speech to make it audible over noise when talking about complex stimuli.…

Research examining the epidemiology and etiology of child abuse, parent and child characteristics, and the effects of maltreatment is reviewed. Unemployment, lower social class status, marital discord, and health problems are more common among abusive families. Increased knowledge improves the clinician's ability to intervene, treat, and prevent…

Describes how four teachers use reading as an integral part of their writing instruction. (SRT)

Spanish-speaking children of Mexican descent living in California were tested on the acquisition of 18 Spanish consonants. The 120 subjects (aged 3 to 5:7 years) were equally divided into eight age groups, and the median ages (50%) and upper age limits (90%) of customary production of each consonant were determined. (Author/JDD)

Research literature on childrens' causal understanding in oral and written settings is reviewed. Results show that maturation and task complexity both influence childrens' causal understanding. However, the findings are contradictory, and no generalizations could be made about which factors influence causal understanding and at which ages they are…

Examines positive child rearing interactions in an out-of-family (home- or center-based) child care setting. Presents a conceptual model of the levels of adult interactions with children and examines specific patterns of adult child interactions. Also urges early childhood educators and supervisors to notice and record these interactions. (BB)

Following a literature review on Rett's Syndrome, a case study is presented of a 15-year-old girl with normal development during the first months of life followed by manifestation of behavior abnormalities and deterioration of intellectual level. The child's medical history and the mother's description of the girl's development are included.…

Parents are encouraged to take a child-centered approach to maximizing individual potential, which includes modeling the basic skills including how to learn, live, love, and communicate. Educators can help fully develop students' learning potential by matching their learning pace and the information content provided to their level of functioning.…

Argues against ritualized approaches to literature. Endorses four aesthetic teaching stances which vary the conversations that can occur between student and student, student and teacher, and student and literature, and which pursue a "playful" literature curriculum, value the unexpected, and allow conversations where children talk their…

The Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic Edition and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales were subjected to multitrait-multimethod analysis with 40 randomly selected preschoolers. Difficulties in the areas of convergent validity and profile interpretations of functioning were found. (TJH)

Sixty-two very low-birthweight children were evaluated at five years of age on cognitive abilities and visual motor integration. The subjects, enrolled in regular classrooms, scored lower than controls on measures of visual perceptual/visual motor function and had more problems including attending to tasks, following directions, and passivity.…

A comprehensive three-level program evaluation plan assesses overall impact of early intervention programs through assessment of children's progress toward developmental milestones; quarterly child progress through administration of a program-relevant, criterion-referenced tool; and weekly child progress toward specific instructional objectives by…

Proposes a theoretical framework of sibling conflict that includes temperamental characteristics of the siblings, the parent-sibling relationship, and the interaction between these factors. Continuing research validates this framework. (BJV)