Examined impact of experimentally altering mothers' style when discussing sexuality and AIDS with adolescent children. Found that intervention group mothers reduced their amount of speaking, asked more open-ended questions, acted less judgmental, and discussed dating and sexuality more than did control group mothers. Intervention group adolescents…

An HIV/AIDS education program was given to 121 family-based foster care providers and 61 supervisors of foster care facilities for individuals with mental retardation. Although these service providers had some prior knowledge about HIV and AIDS, there were significant improvements in knowledge following the training. Implications for serving…

Examines the quality of care in two mid-19th-century day nurseries in North America. Finds that quality was associated with saving children's lives within a context of charity-based social welfare. The concern for the health and safety of children led to the entrenchment of a custodial model of child care, which proved resilient into the 20th…

Traditionally, the role of the family therapist working in foster care has been limited to the areas of evaluation and treatment. This paper proposes that the family therapist can extend conventional boundaries to include the practice of systemic consultation. Case studies are included to exemplify family therapist microlevel consultation with…

Studies the relationship between age norms, family role transitions, and the caregiving responsibilities of mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers in multigeneration African American families. On time (n=23) and early (n=20) normative transition families distributed caregiving duties equitably. Early nonnormative families' (n=18) caregiving…

Recommends that child care workers engage in community networking to form mutually beneficial relationships with people who can help children and families. Identifies good work, leadership, communication, advocacy, and sharing of credit as five fundamental components of power networking. (DLH)

Examined home-school relations in five Italian cities, focusing on the continuity and sub-cultural variations associated with two national guidelines: participatory social management and the initial entry of young children into out-of-home care. Found diverse sociopolitical and theoretical interpretations of effective home-school relationships,…

Examined aspects of early childhood environment related to developing mathematical concepts in three studies. Found that family day care providers rated math skills as less important than others, but believed skills were acquired the same way. Parents and providers reported similar frequencies for engaging children in math activities. Activity…

Discusses the effect early-childhood educators have on children's identity development--their stories of themselves. Examines children's abilities to produce narratives, and considers the role of nonverbal expression in the making of children's identities. Notes the social context of these stories. (JPB)

Investigated the early childhood teacher's role in selecting, reading, and making accessible high-quality children's books, and providing reading opportunities. Twenty-one teachers' responses showed that they mostly read books recommended for literary quality; a smaller portion of the books accessible to the children were of high quality. Problems…

A mother of a son with Down syndrome discusses how her family and child care providers work with him in natural environments to support his learning in daily activities. She urges other parents to keep trying until they find the right match that works for their family. (CR)

Presents four articles about professionalism in early childhood education: "Early Childhood Education as an Emerging Profession: Ongoing Conversations" (Stephanie Feeney and Nancy Freeman); "Voices in Search of Cultural Continuity in Communities" (Marion Cowee and others); "Early Childhood Professionals: Current Status and…

Suggests that a better understanding of effective methods for teaching adults will contribute to a paradigm shift in training of child care center staff based on developmentally appropriate practices for adults. Details seven recommendations for improving staff training, and contrasts appropriate and inappropriate practice in the areas of…

This article discusses the effectiveness of a curriculum used in training 177 participants to change their knowledge about childhood sexuality and beliefs about the adult's role in responding. On six of the seven items measuring change, post-training scores were significantly higher. Information dissemination, emerging research, and promising…

Discusses early childhood practitioners' reluctance to continue their education. Focuses on the importance of developing a relationship with the adult learner that enables learning and clearly identifying the purpose for learning. Includes discussion of life stages, training needs, and the role of respect and pride. Offers suggestions for creating…