This book uses a child-initiated, whole language approach to help children have fun while exploring the world of science. The activities are divided into 23 units. Each unit begins with an "Attention Getter," the purpose of which is to introduce the unit to children in a way that grabs their attention, stimulates their interest, and creates…

Noting that understanding a child's brain and the way it develops is the key to understanding learning, this book explores the relationship between brain physiology and children's learning processes. The book first translates the most current scientific theories on nervous-system development into practical information for parents. It then details…

Considerable research supports the notion that individuals' level of cognitive complexity influences their behavior. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the relationship between principals' supervisory beliefs and the implementation of integrated-curriculum approaches. The first phase of the study surveyed a total of 400…

This Yugoslavian study aimed to describe the ways in which mothers are (or are not) using the opportunity, created by interacting with their children on tasks which are in the child's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), to foster the child's metacognitive development. The underlying assumption of this study on metacognition is derived from the…

How do good science students perceive the process of learning science? What occurs in the learning process that motivates students to accept the challenge of pursuing a career in science? This paper reports on panel discussions held by teams of medical students, research science doctoral students, science education students, and high school…

In dynamical theory, mathematical understanding is considered to be that of a person (or group) of a topic (or problem) in a situation or setting. This paper compares the interactions between the situations and the mathematical understandings of two students by comparing the growth in understanding within a Fibonacci sequence setting in which…

The analysis reported in this paper is part of a year-long first-grade teaching experiment and focuses on the teacher's proactive role in supporting students' mathematical growth in an inquiry mathematics classroom. Within the project classroom, the teacher often redescribed and notated students' responses so that what students had done…

At present, there are no formal tests to assess adequately the ways in which a child processes information. Furthermore, scores on current measures cannot be directly interpreted, with few exceptions, as direct measures of cognitive processes, and results are difficult to translate directly into remediation goals or instructional objectives.…

The Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP), an eight-site randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive intervention program combining home visits, child centers, and parent meetings with pediatric follow-up and referral, effectively reduced the incidence of health and developmental problems in a sample of 377 low birth weight, premature…

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the security of mother-infant attachment and of infants' cognitive development on mothers' and infants' ability to coordinate their attention to objects with the attention of another person. Fifty-eight 15- to 19-month-olds were videotaped for 10 minutes while they played with toys near…

This paper contains a poetry reading presented to a meeting on poetic narrative and educational development. The presentation was based on the theory that the field of philosophy of education should include the realm of the possible as created and populated by the imagination, and often portrayed by works of art. The poems consist of attempts to…

Noting children's limited opportunities for cross-age interaction, this paper discusses the benefits of mixed-aged groupings of preschool and elementary school children for social and intellectual development. The benefits for older children and younger children are considered in turn, and general benefits to both groups and their adult caregivers…

This paper presents a brief overview of the array of neuroscience research as it applies to play and child development. The paper discusses research showing the importance of play for brain growth and child development, and recommends that families, schools and other social and corporate institutions rearrange their attitudes and priorities about…

The "epistemological reflection model" of Marcia Baxter Magolda is reviewed, and the implications of her work for the education of college students are considered. Four levels of knowing are postulated by Baxter Magolda; these are "Absolute" knowing, "Transitional" knowing, "Independent" knowing, and…

This paper defines and discusses the term "differentiation" as it is applied in gifted and talented education programs. It begins by describing three components that are most notably associated with differentiation: content (what is being taught); process (how it is being taught); and product (tangible results produced that are based on…