Briefly discusses the development of writing in young children. Describes children's acquisition of concepts about writing, their experimentation with written language, and their construction of written language for themselves. (AS)

Uses a cross-sectional design to assess the reasoning of 65 children and adolescents in four age groups about kibbutz socio-political norms and issues. Responses to seven dilemmas are used to construct a developmental model of ideology labeled as kibbutzism, a variant of socialism circumscribed by the kibbutz. (JAC)

Discusses efforts at teaching children in kindergarten how to write, indicating that emergent readers can indeed write with scribbles, random letters, numerals, and sometimes words. Discusses their dictation, journal content, writing stages, and developmental trends. (HTH)

This developmental study was designed to examine the effects of field dependence-independence and level of operational development on the reading achievement of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Field dependence-independence had no significant effect on reading achievement, but high-operational students scored significantly higher than…

The subjects that young adults study, their motives for learning, and the deterrents to their participation have direct implications for planning and marketing programs. (Author)

It was expected that reciprocal relationships would be maintained more frequently across a six-month interval than would unilateral ones. Of secondary concern was the question of whether the dimensions children offered to justify their friendships would remain more stable for reciprocal than unilateral relationships. (RH)

A study to assess gross and fine motor control within pairs of twins and between twins and singletons found that singletons out-performed twins in motor development. There were no apparent performance differences by sex or between the first- and second-born twins. Research methodology and analysis of data are presented. (DF)

By enhancing the block play in classrooms, teachers can help children acquire the emerging skills they need--with numbers, vocabulary, and reading--for kindergarten readiness. Newburger and Vaughan provide a theoretical foundation describing why and how to use blocks, and give guidance on selecting blocks and block safety. With chapters on the…

This book is designed to enhance understanding of what is important for parents, coaches, and teachers to know when making choices about non-school-based programs for children. The book begins with "Preface" (Patricia A. Sullivan" and "Introduction" (Liane M. Summerfield.) The first section, "Team Sports" (Danny R. Mielke), which applies to a…

Noting that early intervention can be an effective method to help children who have special needs and their parents, this study explored the relationship between a mother's knowledge of development and the age at which she recognizes her child's special needs. The second portion of the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory was used to quantify…

This 1-year qualitative study collected observational and interview data on 12 preschool children concerning their initial computer use. Children had the choice to use a computer during center time in their preschool. Findings indicated that initial computer use with a mouse was found to occur at approximately 36 months. Some possible gender…

This article deals with an important question in the area of developmental psycholinguistics. It studies the conditions for a presyntactcic utterance to become a "canonical sentence" or "canonical utterance" at the stage of the two-word combinations. Two main points are highlighted: (1) how a prelinguistic utterance between 9-12 months of age can…

This study examined research on children's block play, using content analysis to review 75 documents that focused on such play. Each document was coded by type (empirical study or nonempirical article) and by 15 topics and 76 subtopics grouped into 4 broad categories: (1) environment/ecology; (2) block play and the school curriculum; (3) block…

This paper explains the creation and validation of the Narrative Comprehension of Picture Books task (NC task), an assessment of young children's comprehension of wordless picture books. Study 1 explored developmental improvements in the task, as well as relationships to other measures of early reading. Subjects, 158 K-2 students, were…

This guidebook for parents and early intervention personnel was developed by the "Let's Play! Project," a 3-year federally supported project that worked to promote play in infants and toddlers with disabilities through the use of "low-tech" assistive technology. The guide is organized around six emerging stages of play development: (1) sensory…