Although alcoholism has long been considered a serious problem, the impact of parental alcoholism on children has only recently begun to receive attention from researchers and clinicians. A review of the empirical literature on children of alcoholics was conducted and it was concluded that children raised in an alcoholic family are at increased…

The study examined the interaction between the developmental condition of nonhandicapped and handicapped children and the psychosocial climate of the home. Mothers of 34 nonhandicapped, 22 Down syndrome, and 18 language impaired children (mean ages 3.5 years) participated in a study which used the Family Environment Scale (FES) to evaluate the…

Families in which one or both parents are diagnosed as being depressed are observed in this ongoing study of how the behavior of depressed parents relates to the child's present and long-term development. Each family which enters the study has a child approximately two years old and a child between five and seven years old. Families are initially…

This interpretive book explores some of the contexts in modern American society within which toys seem to be very important and discusses some of the conflicting interpretations regarding those contexts. Part I, which concerns the toy in the family, discusses the toy as bond and obligation, as solitariness, and as consolation. Part II discusses…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Haitian Perinatal Intervention Project, which provided services to Haitian women and children in south Florida. The project's goals were to help Haitian mothers obtain health services for themselves and their infants and to provide information concerning child care and cognitive stimulation.…

This paper examines John Dewey's major educational thoughts and his influence on education from a dynamic-historical perspective. Dewey's marked and enduring influence on Chinese educational thought and practice is a central theme. The paper argues that because Dewey himself and his ideas grew and matured in a dramatically changing and developing…

This newsletter theme issue contains four articles which focus on the development of normal and handicapped infants in various settings. "The Baby's World," by Lois Barclay Murphy and Colleen T. Small, emphasizes experiences of sensation and discovery in the first three years of life, noting the role of caregivers and the cultural context. "The…

This booklet for parents offers examples of key aspects of children's behavior and learning as they develop from birth through the fifth year of age. It provides characteristics of behavior that is likely to occur, of appropriate responses by parents, and of developmental irregularities that need professional attention. Supplemental material…

This book is a product of a research effort to identify exemplary elementary school guidance and counseling programs and practices across the United States. It consists of program descriptions from 134 programs in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Section 1 gives the background of how programs were identified and selected.…

Intended for parents, this booklet offers advice and suggestions for developing a child's self-expression and providing a supportive environment for reading experiences at home. Various sections of the book discuss the following: (1) giving love and warmth to your child, (2) reading with your child, (3) listening to your child, (4) talking with…

This two-part study began with a replication, statistical validation, and extension of the Karmiloff-Smith and Inhelder study of children's construction of theories about balance. The 128 subjects (ages 4 to 6) were videotaped as they tried to balance blocks on a fulcrum. A scale was developed to assess the degree to which the child's performance…

This position paper was written to assist teachers and administrators in Oregon in preparing curriculum and setting priorities for kindergarten programs. It begins by asserting that the focus of kindergarten instruction should be on the total development of the child: socioemotional, physical, and intellectual. The need for concrete learning…

This comprehensive guide to Federal resources in maternal and child health is designed to aid health professionals, educators, and the general public in locating information available from government agencies and information centers. Part 1 is a listing of Federal agencies and information centers that provide information services related to…

Responding to recent advances in developmental and cognitive science research on knowledge acquisition, this report presents a theoretical framework for analyzing cognitive development as a process of learning. The first section summarizes three developmental characteristics recognized in both the Piagetian and the quantita experimental tradition:…

To investigate young children's understanding of metaphorical language, 90 chidren from preschool to third grade were read stories ending with metaphorical sentences of varying degrees of difficulty--sentences representing more or less predictable story outcomes and differing in the complexity and explicitness of their figures of speech. After…