Two studies are presented which investigate the influence of various toy structures on the frequency of individual fantasy play forms in 3- to 6-year-old children. In the first study, the effects of high-realistic/high-complexity and low-realistic/low-complexity toy structures were compared. There were significant main effects for the factor toy…

While construction of early childhood education curricula requires the use of educational and developmental theories, significant differences between the two domains exist. Whereas educational theories are particularistic and maximalist, developmental theories are universalist and minimalist. Developmental theory views change in individuals as…

A case is presented for a major overhaul in the language arts curriculum, based on the idea that traditional teaching methods, especially in reading and writing, that do not take into account children's natural tendency to make sense of their world and to base new learning on what they already know, are ineffective or even inhibitive of literacy…

In order to satisfy the need for low-cost child care services for the growing number of student-parents and to provide a more structured practical experience for students in its child care curriculum, Schoolcraft College created the Child Care Center as a campus laboratory in 1981. The child care curriculum, which emphasizes optimal development of…

Children experience stress just as adults do. Various responses to stress can damage the body's health in at least two different ways. First, they may do direct damage to the tissues--especially those of the circulatory system. Second, and more often important to the health of children, they may suppress the body's natural defenses against…

Delayed language development is compared to normal development along six basic parameters, and the problem of language delay among handicapped children is addressed. Interaction characteristics that occur at an early stage between the mother and handicapped child are also reviewed, along with the way parents tend to compensate for their child's…

Descriptions are provided of the six parenthood education and child development programs selected as outstanding by the American Vocational Association and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. These programs identified as models for adoption or adaptation nationwide are Akron Family Life Education, Akron, Ohio; Teenage Parenting Curriculum Units,…

Twenty-four mother-toddler dyads, 12 each from the Hmong and Caucasian communities of the Twin Cities, took part in a cross-cultural study of maternal-child interaction and its links to health and development. Findings showed that the Hmong mothers were rated as more attentive, expressive, sensitive, responsive, and patient in childrearing than…

The Nurse-Parent Training Project, developed in cooperation with Children's Hospital of Buffalo (New York), was designed to provide developmental supportive care for premature infants, and to reduce stress while optimizing neurobehavioral development. A program was conducted to train nurses working in neonatal intensive care nurseries, to enable…

The first chapter of this manual discusses the impact physical activity has on the growth and development of youngsters. It offers a rationale for including physical education in the school curriculum. Guidelines for exercising children safely are offered, including a section on weight training for children. Chapter 2 includes the Physical Best…

In exploring myths surrounding the development of persons with Down syndrome, this paper discusses briefly the characteristics of Down syndrome, the origins of the myths, the status of the myths in light of current empirical research, and reasons why developmental psychology has clung to some essentially counter-developmental assumptions.…

The project studied videotaped unstructured play sessions between 16 Downs Syndrome (DS) infants (aged 6 months and 12 months) and their mothers, to investigate the relationship between maternal attention-directing strategies and the infants' response to toys. A comparison group consisted of 16 high-risk premature infants matched by mental and…

Implemented in an urban community college's child development teacher training program, this practicum project addressed the problem of discrepancies between training and work environments. General goals of the practicum were: (1) to design a learning styles training format for preschool teachers; (2) to provide teachers with factual information…

In an effort to look at factors moderating the negative effects of preterm low birthweight and perinatal illness, the study followed up (at 7 and 12 months of age) 50 preterm infants whose cumulative morbidity score was greater than 100 and/or who had a life threatening complication. Home visits provided ratings of maternal sensitivity, the…

Intended to encourage teachers to examine their assumptions about teaching writing, this document containing a mixture of theory and practice deals with many aspects of writing. The chapters discuss (1) an examination of children's writing and some questions arising from the examination; (2) reasons for failure to write well, including the home…