Describes characteristics of a high-quality school-age care program: resourceful, caring staff; recognition of the importance of peers; opportunities for mixed- and same-age grouping; children's selection of activities and experiences; guidance for children's social and emotional development; and environments that encourage a wide variety of…

Maintains that beliefs that young children should not leave the care of their mothers and that education is not a legitimate profession need to be dispelled to promote and improve early childhood education and care programs and teacher education programs in the South. (BB)

Five principles of learning for young children with handicaps (functioning below a developmental age of one year) are presented, with descriptions of strategies that can be used to facilitate ascendance to higher levels of cognitive-social-communicative functioning. The principles include frequent adult-child interactions, meaningful context for…

Reflects on Head Start's beginnings, its goal of enhancing children's social competence, and errors associated with the incorporation of evaluation measures and curricula that are cognitive in orientation into its programs. Concludes that such errors must not recur. Evaluation measures and curricula must reflect concern for the child's whole…

Discusses a new observational measure for classroom practices, the Classroom Practices Inventory, which is based on the Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practices of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This scale demonstrated internal consistency in tapping the curricular emphasis of emotional climate of…

Advocates that the design and implementation of an early childhood unit in public elementary schools must be adapted to young children's unique needs. Such adaptation can occur by means of developmentally appropriate programs that require proper training for school administrators and staff, program accountability, and promotion of parent and…

Reviews four books on issues and concerns surrounding kindergarten entrance requirements, assessment, and curriculum: (1) "Kindergarten Policies: What Is Best for Children" (Peck and others); (2) "Changing Kindergartens: Four Success Stories (Goffin and Stealing, Eds.); (3) "Teaching Kindergarten: A Developmentally Appropriate Approach" (Walmsley…

Describes how two teachers changed daily techniques in a child care home and center to promote developmentally appropriate practice and literacy in creative ways. Areas and activities presented include reading aloud together, using books with different genres and themes, sequencing as a reading prerequisite, using experience charts and…

Notes that as more young children with disabilities are included in classrooms for children who are developing typically, practitioners must continue to identify and refine strategies for making inclusion successful. Discusses a successful inclusion program that is observation based and child initiated. Discusses a procedure that facilitates the…

Examined the interrelationships between day care teachers' job satisfaction, stability, and their interaction with children in 25 classrooms of 3- and 4-year-olds. Found that teachers who were higher on quality of interactions with children were more likely to consider their work a long-term career, to return to their job in the fall, and to take…

Describes an approach to developmentally appropriate library media skills instruction. Details the two phases involved: (1) describing library media center expectations according to grade level--which outlines skills for grades K-12; and (2) describing library media instruction in terms of reading level. Discusses browsing skills and includes six…

Safe, developmentally appropriate play is difficult to achieve when middle schools move into the competitive interscholastic arena. Problems associated with middle-level sports programs include students' predisposition to physical injury, psychological unreadiness, high attrition rates, improper coaching, and liability issues. Improving…

Some advocates of "all children can learn" downplay the need for adequate resources and child-friendly public policy. Educators' heroic efforts alone are insufficient. Other destructive fallacies include the principal as sole instructional leader and exception-based, uniform standards. The effective-schools movement has become too…

Compares the 1989 National Curriculum implemented in Great Britain with the National Agenda for Curriculum Reform in Australia. Reports some of the concerns about early childhood education (heavily subject-dominated curriculum and formalized assessment) the curriculum caused in Britain. Urges Australian educators to learn from Britain's experience…

Proposes a four-phase model to promote ethical literacy among preservice and practicing early childhood teachers: awareness, differentiation, analysis of ethical dilemmas, and application of the NAEYC Code in daily practice. Includes a sample case for ethics discussion. Each phase includes a rationale, common myths about professional ethics, and…