Assessed children's satisfaction with alternative child care. Seventy-seven children, ages three to six, from six child-care centers participated in the Child Care Game Assessment. Found that children's satisfaction regarding teacher interaction was closely related to family stress events. High maternal education levels predicted more positive…

Suggests that concern for "latchkey" children during World War II was hyperbolic. Examines the variety of successful solutions parents devised for child day care: (1) day care arrangements made by families themselves; (2) Lanham Act child day care centers; (3) centers operated by private industry; and (4) the very successful Extended…

Uses data from eight-state survey to explore types and amount of information provided by child welfare workers and agencies to two African American foster parent types--extended family and those derived from organizational tradition (strangers). The traditional group requested and received more information on policies, services, and foster parent…

Describes development of NAEYC accreditation and offers a description of the process. Highlights the effects of accreditation and discusses its future. Notes that accreditation provides opportunities and motivation for valuable professional development, and that quality control is the greatest challenge faced by accreditation efforts. Notes…

Caregivers need to be alert to signs that a child is not hearing well so that children with hearing problems will receive prompt treatment. Explains the hearing process, what causes hearing loss, how to identify hearing loss at various stages of a child's development, and what caregivers can do if they suspect that a child has a hearing problem.…

Describes possible sources of tension between day-care center staff and parents, including unmet expectations on both sides, unexpected substitute teachers, difficult transitions from one class to another, biting children, children's reluctance to leave the center at the end of the day, and parents' failure to read center announcements. Suggests…

Studied verbal disclosure of abuse in a sample of 28 children who presented with purely physical complaints later diagnosed as a sexually transmitted disease. Only 43 percent gave any verbal confirmation of sexual contact. Disclosure was strongly associated with the attitude taken by the child's caretaker toward the possibility of abuse. (RJM)

Explains the volume's goal of providing a framework for inquiry into the role of relationships between children and nonparental adults in children's development. Reviews the volume's seven articles, each of which addresses an important developmental question and has implications for policy and practice in child care and school settings. (BC)

Discusses the concept of "Velcro time": a period in infants' lives when they show an increased interest in books and in their primary caregiver, and particularly, in his or her use of speech. (BB)

This review and commentary on research on signs of giftedness in preschool children focuses on feats and failures of child prodigies, development and measurement of early giftedness (including acceleration through developmental stages and early predictors of giftedness), and effects of caretaker child interaction on precocious development. (JDD)

Findings from study of daughters (n=112) in midlife who were caring for their elderly mothers indicated that employment outside of home was related only to increase in physical strain in caregiving. Presence of children in household predicted lower levels of caregiver strain and greater caregiver well-being. (Author/NB)

Discusses ways in which child care program directors can provide a model of good early childhood education in their training visits to classrooms. Presents a workshop format and agenda for training early childhood education teachers in observation skills. (GLR)

Maintains that, rather than simply assuming patience is a virtue, early childhood teachers can use feelings of patience or impatience as cues to examine their expectations and alter their situation so that they can respond in supportive, appropriate, effective, and educational ways. (BB)

Fifteen caregivers each glossed a simultaneously videotaped and audiotaped sample of their child with speech delay in conversation with a clinician. Comparison with a reference gloss developed for each sample indicated that caregivers accurately understood an average of 58% of the utterances and 73% of the words. (Author/DB)

Describes behaviors of infants, toddlers, and their center caregivers at entry and after three and six months of group care. Longitudinal data revealed increased activity/interest and peer interaction and a decline in negative affect and adult interaction/contact during the first three months. Age-matched group comparisons revealed improvements in…