The practicum was designed to increase parent participation in a preschool (birth to 3 years) special education program serving children with handicaps in Chicago, Illinois. The practicum was intended to provide parents with an effective and meaningful involvement in a structured program of transition services. Input from both staff and parents…

This study considered two questions about infants' perception of affective expressions: (1) Can infants distinguish between happiness and anger on the basis of facial motion information alone? (2) Can infants detect a correspondence between happy and angry facial and vocal expressions by different people? A total of 40 infants of 7 months of age…

This ERIC Digest discusses children's play and its relationship to developmental growth from infancy to middle childhood. Discussion focuses on: (1) sensorimotor play in which infants and toddlers experiment with bodily sensation, motor movements, objects, and people; (2) pretend play in which children carry out action plans, take on roles, and…

One of the major challenges to early childhood professionals is to effectively deal with separation anxiety and assist children in the transfer from home to other environments. This article summarizes, from a psychoanalytic perspective, the developmental stages of psychological separation, and describes techniques for practitioners for dealing…

Four curriculum modules provide instruction on aspects of infant and toddler child care services. Contents concern budgeting, center characteristics, curriculum planning, and environmental design for infant and toddler programs. The color-coded modules list objectives and resources, and provide information and assignment sheets, sample forms and…

An early childhood educator at a 360-bed community general hospital implemented a licensed on-site child care program for children between 6 weeks and 10 years of age in order to improve employee recruitment and retention by assisting employees with appropriate child care arrangements. A parent questionnaire was used to assess the degree to which…

This practicum involved the design and construction of an outdoor playground for infants and toddlers. The primary goal was to design and construct a playground scaled to the size and developmental needs of infants and toddlers. The second goal was to evaluate the overall playground in terms of contents, maintenance and usage. The third goal was…

The 1976 revision of "The Portage Guide to Early Education", which appeared originally in the United States in 1972, was adapted for use in the Japanese culture and language and published in its Japanese version in 1983. Since then it has been used with more than 200 children (ages from birth to 7 years) of whom more than 60% were…

The paper describes training of staff in a mainstream program for children 4 months through 5 years of age. Approximately 40% of the 105 children have one or more handicapping condition. The program provides training via a competency model. Preservice training is delivered to a new employee when entering the program by teams made up of the program…

The paper explores policy options for beginning, expanding, or establishing services for disabled and at-risk infants and toddlers in a state. An initial section outlines characteristic advantages and drawbacks of options in three areas: legislative action (mandatory, phase-in, and non-mandatory legislation), executive action, and interagency…

In October, 1986, The World Health Organization's regional offices for Europe and the Americas held a joint symposium attended by over 40 participants from North and South America and Europe, including obstetricians, pediatricians, health administrators, sociologists, psychologists, economists, epidemiologists, medical journalists, and service…

Observations in an infant day care program in which mothers take part indicated "jealousy" in infants as young as 5 months when they saw their mother or even the assigned caregiver paying attention to another infant. A total of 18 first-born females between 11 and 13 months of age were the subjects in a systematic study of this…

The booklet provides background information on the diagnosis and characteristics of autism. A chart portrays the signs and symptoms, followed by the definition of the syndrome by the National Society For Children and Adults with Autism. Associated features are noted along with information on age of onset, etiology, incidence and sex ratio,…

An investigation was made of the relationship between sex-role orientation (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) and responsiveness in infant care (as determined by observations on the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale). Subjects participating in the study consisted of 44 father/infant dyads. It was hypothesized that androgynous fathers…

As part of a series on the legal and governmental foundations governing education of handicapped and gifted children, the booklet focuses on the provision of developmentally appropriate services to handicapped infants and preschool age children and their families. An initial section reviews the literature on the benefits of early intervention in…