This booklet reviews the developmental tasks and needs of infants and toddlers, describes the support for healthy development currently available in the United States, and documents needs which are not being met. Two major initiatives are proposed and strategies for their implementation are recommended. Proposals argue for the (1) establishment of…

On the basis of two sets of videotaped observations collected on same-sex, same-age and mixed-age dyads composed of children 18 and/or 24 months old, issues concerning research on infants and toddlers are addressed. The first set of observations was a simple description of the structure and content of children's peer interaction during 15 minutes…

Two studies investigated whether young children acquiring verbs at an exceptional rate can use the syntactic structure of familiar and unfamiliar verbs to make conjectures about some aspect of the meanings of those verbs. The preferential looking paradigm (Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek, 1981) was used to set up a naturalistic pairing of scene and…

Following a prefatory description of infant development and high-quality infant day care centers, this paper focuses on the construction of learning centers for infants and toddlers in day care. Issues for consideration are specified, and 18 different care/learning centers and 6 work sstations for parents/staff are briefly described. In addition…

In a study of children's moral development, four toddlers and their mothers were observed at home approximately every three weeks when toddlers were 13-23 months of age. Six behavioral signs of children's awareness of standards were coded: (1) proud looks, achievement smiles, statements of accomplishment; (2) awareness of, interest in, and…

A total of 41 preschool children, either 2 or 3 years of age, and their mothers were randomly assigned to two treatment groups: a microworld computer experience designed to teach the concept of inside/outside and an alphabet computer experience designed to drill ABC's. Videotapes of mother/child dyads were coded and scored using a revision of the…

Forms and guidelines presented in this manual were compiled and/or developed by staff of agencies serving nursery schools, group day care centers, and family day care homes. The health and safety guidelines focus on excluding ill children and staff, caring for ill children, safety policies, emergency procedures, fire emergencies, pets, bites, and…

Examined in a longitudinal study of children were correspondences and correlations between early language development on the one hand, and the manipulation of objects and play development on the other. There were developmental correspondences between the onset of five language landmarks (the emergence of first word, referential word, demonstrative…

A study was conducted to examine continuities and discontinuities in the socialization experiences of toddler-age children attending day care. Interaction between adults and children during socialization episodes was observed in home and day care settings. Parents rated their extent of agreement with the teacher regarding discipline and the extent…

This study focuses on the interrelationship between family influences and child care of varying quality on the toddler's capacity for compliance and self-regulation in a laboratory setting. A total of 89 families with children 18 to 36 months participated. Thirty-two families used day care centers identified as high quality, 25 families used day…

A study was conducted to compare experiential features of mother/toddler interaction and maternal perception of toddler temperament in two ethnic groups: Chinese-Americans and European-Americans. Subjects were 16 mother/toddler dyads with five girls and three boys in each group matched for sex, age, and birth order. Caucasian mothers were…

Home programs for young handicapped children have the potential for enhancing the partnership between home and school. In an effective home program the parent is viewed as the person most qualified to facilitate the child's development. This paper focuses on the philosophy of home programming and details some useful strategies which can be used by…

Described are the provisions of U.S. Public Law 99-457 (Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments, 1986), which authorizes early intervention services for handicapped infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families. Specific components of the law are detailed, followed by implications for families, service providers, and early childhood…

Discusses various factors which need to be considered when designing physical environments for infants and toddlers in child care settings. Along with the developmental differences and needs of infants and toddlers, these factors include health and safety, variety, flexibility, scale and proportion, softness and responsiveness, and harmony and…

Examines the role of the partner in the development of social pretend play in two related studies. In both studies, toddler age children played with same-age and five-year-old partners. In both studies, two-year-olds engaged in more social pretend play with older than same-age partners. (Author/BB)