Living in an age of communication, literacy is an extremely integral part of our society. We are impacted by literature during our infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. "Literacy for the New Millennium" includes information from specialists in the field who discuss the influence of popular culture, media, and technology on…

Many of the most talented authors and artists of the past and present have shared their thoughts and their gifts with young children through picture books. Many picture books allow young children to explore important ideas and to stretch their minds far beyond rote memorization. Young children absorb knowledge at a very rapid pace. In an age of…

This issue highlights seven distinct studies. The first study examines the perceptions of early childhood educators and elementary educators concerning their beliefs about young children and how those beliefs translate to practice. The second explores joint book reading among parents and very young children. The third investigates the importance…

A program was implemented to involve 10 parents in helping their preschool children with language delays. Monthly parent support groups were held, and 10 professional speakers lectured to parents on child development topics. Parents were trained by a speech language pathologist to be language facilitators for their children. Parents were also…

Based on the author's experience working with the French minority in the Yukon, this study investigated the contributions of the school and of the family to the success at Ecole Emilie-Tremblay, a school of children from exogamous families (those with parents from different language groups). Three areas of parental involvement were…

This paper describes Bilingual-Bicultural (BiBi) instructional programs for students with hearing impairments and proposes a model for BiBi instruction which uses parents as partners with instructors to develop the linguistic abilities of hearing-impaired students. In the model, traditionally spoken languages are conveyed via cued speech instead…

The purpose of this fastback is to help teachers find out how children acquire a second language and explore the linguistic foundations on which sound English as a Second Language (ESL) curricula can be developed. It is intended for the regular classroom teacher, not the ESL specialist. Central findings in research on second language learning…

This theme issue focuses on strategies to enhance learning of English as a second language and on the importance of bilingual education. In "Bilingual Education Makes the Difference in Learning," Roberto Feliz, who was born in the Dominican Republic and is now a doctor, describes how bilingual education saved him from academic failure…

This list of publications contains approximately 230 items published by the National Research Center on Student Learning (NRCSL) over the last seven years and reflects the range of theoretical and applied work that is undertaken in the NRCSL research program. The publications listed in this volume report on NRCSL research, collaborations, and…

In response to parents' expressed need for appropriate academic strategies to be used at home with their kindergarten children, a series of parent workshops were designed to explain the philosophy of developmentally appropriate practices with children and to train parents to select activities that followed the philosophy. Participating parents…

Designed for use by both parents and professionals who work with young children, this reference work is intended to include all of the major areas in the field of early childhood education. Current topics such as AIDS and computers are addressed, as are more traditional concerns such as family and parenting issues. The book is organized into six…

The Communicative Development of Toddlers with Cerebral Palsy (COCP) project developed an assessment-intervention program for non-speaking children with cerebral palsy. The goals of the project's Assessment-Intervention protocol are to teach the child to communicate in an appropriate, effective, and efficient way in different situations and with…

This literature review examines the development and early language acquisition of infants with blindness or visual impairments. The paper begins with a history of public perceptions of individuals with visual disabilities, efforts to develop educational programs for them, and legislation supporting these efforts. Review of the literature on early…

This paper discusses issues central to communicative/cognitive development in children with visual impairments who also have other disabilities, and presents a multi-modal model of augmentative alternative communication delivery that includes tangible symbols, language input strategies, voice output communication devices, software programs with…

"Instructional conversations" (ICs) are presented as one way for language minority students to achieve educational goals related to a depth of student understanding and appreciation of issues. ICs are discussion-based lessons geared toward creating opportunities for students' conceptual and linguistic development. They focus on an idea…