Six experiments with 42 kindergartners, 190 first graders, and 15 second graders in Germany investigated why arithmetic word problems with an unknown reference set are more difficult for children than are problems with an unknown compare set. Lack of access to flexible language use makes these problems so difficult. (SLD)

Reviews research that indicates the need to increase support for in-home care for infants with special needs, to examine the impact of current family leave regulations on infants with special needs in low income families, and to develop service delivery models that support early development across appropriate contexts. (Author/CR)

A cumulative risk model was used to examine the relationship among failure-to-thrive (FIT), maltreatment, and four aspects of children's development (cognitive performance, adaptive functioning at school, classroom behavior, and behavior at home) in 193 6-year-olds. Risk status was negatively associated with the four developmental outcomes.…

This study investigated the structure and content of the language that medical personnel used with 15 pediatric hospitalized patients during medical procedures, by observing in two hospital settings. Medical procedures were rarely characterized by appropriate verbal structuring. Results suggest that the unsupportive communicative environment may…

Evaluates the effects of home-based family therapy on 116 high- risk teenage mothers and their children. Subjects received case management, supportive counseling and some received family therapy. Twelve-month follow-up indicated family therapy subjects improved parenting and became less welfare dependent. No significant difference was found at 24…

A total of over 400 parents, teachers, therapists, and child development specialists in early intervention and preschool programs evaluated the ABILITIES Index, which describes the functional abilities and limitations of children across 9 domains. Satisfaction ratings across five dimensions were generally positive, with parents consistently rating…

Examines children's production and participation in play and games in an Italian preschool and a Swedish after-school program. Considers play as part of a process of interpretive reproduction in children's lives, and demonstrates how children at play use a range of communicative skills, collectively participate in and extend their peer cultures,…

Investigates how the age of entry into regular group day care influences short-term behaviors expressing well-being or discomfort in the day care environment. Finds that children entered at two particular ages displayed difficult reunions with their mothers and were less resistant to frustration; children entered at another age showed lower…

This article comments on two studies (EC 629 875) that investigated the validity of a set of 15 general growth outcomes (GGOs) for identifying young children with disabilities. It argues that without additional efforts focusing on the nature of GGOs, the ultimate utility of the outcome measures will be limited. (Contains references.) (CR)

A study investigated why some of the low-income single caregivers of 104 children (ages 7-40 months) with disabilities were more involved in early intervention services than others. Difficulties in family functioning and lower levels of knowledge about child development were directly related to caregiver involvement. (Contains references.)…

Examines the ways that adult narrators address the child reader in fictions written for children in moral education. Analyzes these relationships and considers their pedagogical implications. Specifically considers the personification of children's behavior by animals in these stories and connects this to a shift in the contemporary concept of…

Reviews current large-scale, longitudinal studies focusing on children. Describes the data collected, including child outcomes, process-oriented information on child-parent interactions, child care quality, parental mental health, family violence, fathering, employment patterns, and community characteristics. Notes that several studies incorporate…

In the 1990s, parenting became a difficult effort to balance work demands with children's needs. However, Canadian and U.S. government policies have not met changing family needs for child care, other services, paid parental leave, and work flexibility. Canada's long-awaited National Children's Agenda has the potential to modernize family policy…

This research examined 2 strategies for encouraging children's narratives. Twenty-five European American and 31 African American children from low-income backgrounds (M age = 4.76) participated. Children were assigned randomly to either high or low elaborative narrative style conditions and to either a draw-and-tell or tell-only reporting…

Increasing numbers of infants and toddlers who were premature, had low birth weight, or experience chronic medical conditions are referred to early intervention services (Bernstein, Heimler, & Sasidharan, 1998). These young children often endure prolonged hospitalizations and are at risk for developmental disabilities by nature of their illnesses,…