Discusses the Step by Step Program, funded by the Open Society Institute (OSI) and operated in Eastern and Central Europe, former Soviet states, Haiti, and South Africa. Discusses OSI's belief that educating the youngest members of society in a way that encourages individualism, choice, initiative, and appreciation of differences can lead to a new…

Investigated the relationship between the quality of after-school child care programs in Quebec and the education and experience of staff. Based on questionnaire responses of teachers and administrators, 26 programs were rated using the School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale. Found correlations between program directors' experience and program…

Examined the relationships between young children's language ability and their home or day care play environments. Found that mother-child interaction pattern was the best predictor of children's language abilities, even though teachers and day care mothers engaged in better quality interactions than did home care mothers. Aspects of home…

Notes that children are scientists at play, positing theories and making observations about their activities. Suggests that successful early childhood science programs include open-ended, free-choice activities; a wide array of equipment; safe supervision; spontaneity; a variety of discovery locations; helpful print resources; and community…

Twenty children (ages 4-8) with Down syndrome and their caregivers were compared to 20 typical children (ages 2-4) and their caregivers. Children with Down syndrome showed greater positive affect, social orientation, and task outcome behaviors reflective of pride. Caregivers of children with Down syndrome provided a greater frequency of praise.…

Examines development of verb structures in the multiword combinations of two Korean learners, starting from 15 months of age when both children produced their first word combination. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the changing roles of early childhood educators to include collaborations with parents and families. Considers factors affecting this change in educational practice. Examines new tasks and roles for educators, and offers suggestions to early childhood educators for adapting to collaborative roles when preparation programs are not…

Reports that for-profit child care centers were successful in 2000 but had few mergers and sales. Presents organizational news concerning the future directions chosen by 18 national for-profit chains. Lists the top 40 child care organizations in North America. (DLH)

Finds this work edited by Tobin to be scholarship from the "far left" of the early childhood field. Notes the depth of theoretical analysis in most of the book's chapters, however, and suggests that despite its shock value, the work may be useful in forcing the early childhood field to "think about what we're doing." (HTH)

This article discusses four aspects of assessing children with disabilities: factors that influence assessments (the instruments, environment, examiner, and the child), transactions that occur between the client and caregiver, establishing rapport, and some teaching strategies that are based on a child's learning style. A case study is presented.…

Compares responses to the issue of children caring for ill or disabled family members in the 1990s to resistance encountered in the implementation of child labor and education reforms toward the end of the nineteenth century. Discusses parallel ways in which the quality of childhood became problematized without sufficient recognition of the…

Discusses the benefits of using a preemployment test to help screen job candidates for those qualities that lead to cost-effective long-term employment. Gives an example of how to determine the cost of staff turnover at any child-care facility. (ET)

States that as long as society rates careers outside the home as more valuable than parenting, it will be impossible for the status of child-care professionals to improve. When children become valued, their caretakers will be. Three child-care professionals respond with their points of view. (ET)

As part of a longitudinal study of families with an adult son/daughter with mental retardation living in the home, 329 families were surveyed regarding the current involvement and future caregiving plans of adult siblings. Factors differentiating siblings intending to co-reside (36 percent) with the retarded sibling or intending to live apart (64…

Data from time diaries kept by parents in two-parent, two-child families in four states in 1977 and 1978 were used to examine time shared by parents and children, as well as parent solitary times, in a number of household activities. Analysis focused on how the mother's employment time affects shared parent-child time and whether the time was sex…