Comparison of the home environments provided by 38 low-income mothers with IQs less than 75 and 27 low-income mothers with IQs over 85 found significant differences, indicating greater developmental risk for children of low IQ mothers resulting from environmental deprivation. Most of the variance was in the area of interaction. (Author/DB)

Reviews the findings of the eight studies in this special section on children and ethnic/political violence, focusing on the contributions and limitations of research in this area and suggestions for future research. (MDM)

Examined the association between otitis media with effusion (OME) during the first 3 years of life and cognitive, academic performance, and behavior outcomes at 12 years of age. Results indicated that OME during early childhood was not related to intellectual performance, academic achievement, behavior, and attention. Suggests that generalizations…

Elementary students want to play traditional games like kickball. Teachers want them to learn developmentally appropriate skills. To meet everyone's needs, physical educators should build games progressively using the "Children Moving" approach, which satisfies all principles of developmental physical education using invariant, dynamic,…

Describes an early childhood educator's experience in using the Orff-Schulwerk approach in a preschool environment. Discusses the combination of whole language and Orff-Schulwerk approaches. Provides information on how to build a repertoire of music and words and create the reading/writing connection. Provides a list of sources for Orff-Schulwerk…

Discusses Maria Montessori's view of the elementary child's educational needs. Maintains that older children need opportunities to use their reasoning abilities to come to a state of peace, stability, and security at the second plane of development. Discusses the teacher's role in cosmic education to incite curiosity and to teach responsibility.…

Presents conceptual analysis of U.S. and Japanese early education discourse, contrasting cultural assumptions and views of self that inform each context. Finds Japan holds progressive, child-centered but not developmentalist views that promote self in terms of cultural values; the United States emphasizes the individual child defined by…

Reviews research that supports the value of music education, focusing on topics such as young children listening to music, the child as actor in relation to music, brain research, and being exposed to music education. Addresses how the research affects educational decision-making and provides some facts and statistics. (CMK)

Sensory and motor experiences are essential in childhood and are the foundation for all higher level learning and skill acquisition. This paper examines how young children make sense of sensory experiences, focusing on infants and toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. It also looks at the importance of creating an environment rich in…

A follow-up study examined cognitive and motor development in 52 children prenatally exposed to cocaine (ages 48-64 months) and 52 typical children. Results found that the children who were prenatally exposed to cocaine continued to exhibit problems in expressive and receptive language areas. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study examined cognitive and motor development in 56 toddlers prenatally exposed to cocaine (ages 12-27 months) and 56 typical toddlers. Infants prenatally exposed to cocaine experienced developmental problems in expressive and receptive language areas. In addition, there was a possible relationship between cocaine exposure and subsequent…

This study compared cognitive and linguistic development of young children with (N=28) and without (N=29) cleft palate. Children with cleft palate, although well within the normal range, performed significantly below the control group on cognitive and linguistic tests. Cognitive differences were linguistic in nature and were related to hearing…

Considers the nature and developmental functions of physical activity play. Distinguishes three kinds of physical activity play with consecutive age peaks: rhythmic stereotypies, exercise play, and rough-and-tumble play. Considers gender differences and function in terms of immediate and deferred consequences in physical, cognitive, and social…

Provides a rationale for the participation of children in development for school health. Addresses why participation should be promoted and how children can participate. Explores ways to assess children's participation by presenting case studies from Nepal, Zambia, and Botswana. Offers strategies for developing children's participation and for…

Discusses the central areas of dispute over character education. Outlines an agenda for character education focusing on goals and practices. Addresses appropriate goals for character education proposing that civic literacy be embraced by character education advocates. Argues that character education in practice should adopt a developmental…