Early childhood centers today are buffeted with unprecedented financial, organizational, and societal challenges. This article profiles "exceptional directors" who have responded to these challenges through their skills in leading people, working with parents, developing programs, managing their organizations, and advocating for…

A study of interactions among Swedish intermediate-grade students as they solved a nonstandard mathematics task confronting the phenomenon of infinity shows that the children can reach a considerable understanding of the problem by contextualizing the problem in different ways. The collective orchestration of problem variations results in enhanced…

Three child psychology studies illustrate that although behavior can be shaped by rewards and punishments, children also learn through imitating adult role models. When parents combine control and warmth, children are more independent, responsible, and content than when either control or warmth is absent. Human behavior is influenced by context…

Presents music-enhanced kinesthetic visualization therapeutic methods to assist young children in coping with problems and to enhance their development. Highlights results from 9 therapy sessions over 2 months with 6 third graders that illustrate positive growth in emotional, social, and motor development. Shows how organized intersemiotic motoric…

Highlights recent early childhood and community development work in rural Kenyan communities. Presents: (1) a brief history and overview of early childhood care and education; (2) examples from the Mwana Mwende community development project; (3) ways in which early childhood development has mobilized the community; and (4) examples of increasing…

Presents the relationship between Iceland's early childhood curriculum and important elements of its culture, such as population size, weather, terrain, language, literature, and cultural celebrations. Discusses the influence of foreign ideas on Icelandic educational thought and provides information on college curriculum for early childhood…

Examines the significance of several developmental theories for early childhood education, including those of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Bronfenbrenner. Raises questions about how ideological assumptions and contextual factors affect theory development. Argues that contemporary theorists can share ideas, cross geographical and interdisciplinary…

Asserts that play is closely tied to cognitive, socioemotional, and physical development. Defines play and gives reasons for its importance in early childhood education, using Parten's (1932) and Smilansky's (1968) categories of play, along with Vygotskian and Piagetian play theories. Discusses the teacher's role as facilitator of classroom play.…

This collection of seven articles focuses on playgrounds, looking at such issues as the importance of play in child development, playground injuries and safety (including international playground safety), community playground improvement projects, and shock-absorbing playground surfaces. (SM)

A critical and comprehensive review of a variety of research programs investigating students' thinking and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and knowing leads to the identification of nine theoretical and methodological issues that need to be resolved in future research on epistemological theories. (SLD)

Examined claim that associations between emotional responses to maternal separation and cognitive performance would change with cognitive development over the first year. Emphasized the measurement of separation and reunion distress. Found that emotional responses and cognitive performance may be linked by individual differences in self-regulation…

Studied whether disturbances in mothers' metabolism (N=139) during pregnancy may exert long-range effects on neurobehavioral development of singleton progeny. Examined detailed pregnancy and perinatal records of mothers who experienced diabetes in pregnancy and intelligence tests of their offspring, administered at ages 7 to 11 years. All…

In the continuation of an earlier study, 69 high school students who had completed an epistemological beliefs questionnaire in 1992 completed the questionnaire again as seniors in 1995. Beliefs in fixed ability to learn, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge changed as they grew older. (SLD)

After reading a vignette describing a child's emotional problems, parents rated their perceptions of responsibility and acceptable treatments. Mothers, fathers, and teachers were seen as more responsible for younger rather than older children's problems. Older children were considered responsible for their own problems. Teachers were viewed as…

A study evaluated a more-to-less, child-directed continuum of intervention to increase toy play among six toddlers with multiple disabilities. Toddlers were provided with repeated choices of preferred toys in a child-directed manner. Nonprompted toy play for two toddlers increased. Toy play also increased for another child after staff prompts and…