Through balanced interaction between preschool staff and mental health consultants, staff are helped to understand specific children and develop ways of dealing with them which derive from staff's own observations and perceptions. (HS)

Discusses ways the Head Start community can create a safe environment to meet the needs of grieving children. Describes the normal grieving process for children and children's views of death. Provides a list of "Do's and Don'ts" for adults responding to grieving children, suggesting grief activities for young children and describing…

Examines whether spouse caregivers of people either with noncognitive disorders (Parkinson's disease) or cognitive disorders (Alzheimer's disease) differed in their use and perception of social support resources. Results indicate that caregivers of spouses diagnosed with cognitive disorders were older, had fewer children, and had fewer financial…

Discusses how to make mealtime an educational part of the child care day. Presents strategies for teaching children about new foods and providing opportunities to try new foods. Examines ways to meet special dietary needs. Discusses ways to engage children in the meal, child-child interactions during mealtime, and adults' role in setting the tone…

Notes the lack of literature on day care inspection under Britain's 1989 Children Act; reviews some older studies on childminding and child development in light of how much they have, or have not, influenced inspection procedures. Asserts that many studies are scathing indictments of childminders as "fit persons" to care for children;…

Reviews contributions of National Vocational Qualifications in Child Care and Education to early childhood workers. Argues that whether or not introduction of the qualifications is seen as an advance depends on whether the focus is on improving the training of currently unqualified workers or on the need to develop a new graduate-level education…

Reviews research showing that there is a level of quality below which children's development is compromised. Uses analogies of options available to consumers when buying cars to designate features of quality child care. Argues that high-quality care should be available to all children. (AMC)

This study compared the prosodic characteristics of parental language targeted to children with Down syndrome and children with other etiologies of mental retardation. Results showed that parents of children with Down syndrome showed prosodic characteristics more typical of infant-directed speech than did parents of other children with mental…

Two studies explored how mothers and preschoolers talk and reason about events in which biological and nonbiological objects change in size. Analysis of conversations indicated that although mothers discussed events primarily in domain-specific ways when using the term growth, they exhibited some domain blurring in explanations to preschoolers.…

Rebutts claims by Ben Spiecker and Jan Steutel that sex between individuals with mild or moderate mental retardation is morally permissable only with the substitutive consent of caregivers. Reviews historical, empirical, and practical considerations. Concludes that Spiecker and Steutel's arguments are deeply flawed and their proposed policy is…

Three studies of how heredity and environment affect child development are described. Suggestions for applying this knowledge to the management of camper behavior include asking about a child's environment on the camp health form, consulting parents and professionals about a child's behavior, providing loving and safe consequences, and making camp…

Examined attachment relationships of toddlers at 26 months to their child caregivers. Developed a scale describing safe haven and secure base functions of attachment relationships in child care. Found that this Safe and Secure Scale related to proximal indicators of child-care quality, and was a stronger measure than the child-caregiver Q-security…

Describes strategies for disciplining campers: establishing a caring atmosphere; using praise; modeling positive behavior; using time-outs; keeping campers busy; using conflict resolution; and improving communication with campers by using words they understand, getting on their level, establishing eye contact, using I-messages, and using humor…

Suggests effective ways to work with parents who may be permissive, busy, detached, overprotective, or negative. Recommends that child care professionals be sensitive and understanding, recognize other demands on parents' time and communicate competitively with them, use terms parents understand, accept various levels of parental involvement, be…