This is one in a series of publications designed for parents and teachers to help children acquire developmentally appropriate basic educational skills at home and in school. Topics included are: (1) "What is math?" explaining mathematical concepts such as number, measurement, space, and time; (2) "How do children learn about…

This is one in a series of publications designed for parents and teachers to help children acquire developmentally appropriate basic educational skills at home and in school. Topics included are: (1) "What is science?"; (2) "Why is science important?"; (3) "How children develop science skills?"; (4) "You can help…

A pictorial interview with indirect questioning techniques was used to examine the effects of family structure on children's perceptions of parental roles. A total of 121 4-year-olds participated. Interviews focused on caregiving, companionship, and housekeeping, and compared families headed by single custodial mothers, single custodial fathers,…

The paper examines educational needs of the parents of handicapped children from an international perspective. Noted are common reactions and behaviors of parents including shock, embarrassment, denial of the problem, projection of blame and suspicion, fear and anxiety, and guilt and self-reproach. The impact of the handicapped child on the family…

Presented are practical ideas parents can use to prevent and manage excessive crying during their infant's first year. Designed to foster the development of children's physical and emotional independence, the ideas discussed concern (1) the changing functions of crying throughout the infant's first year, (2) causes of crying, (3) the intellectual…

Two separate studies suggest that the development of positive sibling relations may be related to siblings' social-cognitive skills (Stewart & Marvin, 1984) and the nature of mothers' conversations with their children (Dunn & Kendrick, 1982). The purpose of the present study was to provide a synthesis of these two studies and to demonstrate the…

A teacher needs to make a conscious effort to get parents involved in their child's education. To gain such parental involvement, the teacher must first establish open communication lines. After this, the teacher can encourage parents to become active partners in education by providing workshops; asking parents to serve on committees; and asking…

A question-and-answer format is used in this booklet to provide concise, practical information for adults concerned about a preschool child who frequently hesitates and repeats when speaking. The nature of the preschooler's repetitions and hesitations, as well as the role listeners can play in dealing with these stuttering-like behaviors, are…

As family structures have shifted to include a high proportion of single parent households, more attention has been directed toward the characteristics of both the maternal and paternal roles. A study was conducted to identify the nurturing qualities of parenthood in a sample of 51 presently unmarried, noncustodial fathers, and to determine the…

The trend in public child welfare toward increased purchase of services from local agencies is presented in this report as a rationale for developing monitoring systems which link service to client outcomes and to agency mandates. The monitoring system designed for the Parent Training Initiative, a parent education program, is described as one…

Research indicates that the family has a great influence on a child's employment and educational decisions. Family-oriented career development programs are needed for several reasons. Parents indirectly increase their children's career options and career development by enhancing their own employability and career planning skills. Research…

Two studies investigated the effectiveness of a parent-implemented intervention to teach nine Down Syndrome infants social-communicative behaviors. The intervention took place in the infants' homes and consisted of teaching parents: (1) to recognize social-communicative behaviors; (2) to use specified turn-taking strategies in games and routines;…

Case studies of six gifted productive youth (9-18 years old) were conducted to search for the special environmental conditions and personality characteristics that precede and accompany such productivity. Interviews were held with the students, their parents, and their teachers. Students were also requested to keep a journal to record their…

Two studies investigated the role that parental attitudes and behavior play in filtering the complexity of the world into manageable forms for children. Cognitive and behavioral patterns used as dependent variables were cognition (reading scores, language use, general information, beliefs, reality-fantasy discrimination); imagination;…

This pamphlet is designed to help parents develop and maintain a consistently firm style when dealing with their children's behavior. It explains the importance of setting limits of acceptable behavior for children. A "firmness continuum" is described with a "wishy-washy," uncertain parenting style at one extreme, a harsh, stern style at the other…