The past five years have seen a ground swell in public attention and public policy aimed at increasing the availability of after-school programs for children and young teens during the "risk" hours when safety, supervision and homework are a top concern. Popularly called "after-school," these programs represent a new and growing variation on the…

Research shows that many things affect how well preschool children perform in school, including meeting their physical needs with a healthy diet, exercise and good medical care. Young children also need social and emotional help that will build their confidence, independence and cooperation skills. This booklet highlights needs of babies, toddlers…

Written from a multidisciplinary perspective, this handbook for home visitors provides functional, field test guidance techniques for working with parents and children from birth to 5 years. The guide offers techniques to enhance children's development in conjunction with educating and supporting families. Firsthand account of home visits…

The Enriching a Child's Literacy Environment (ECLE) program was designed to establish a model for teaching parents, teachers, and other care providers how to develop the oral language, thinking abilities and motor skills of young children (ages six months to three years). ECLE trainers instruct the parents or other care providers by first modeling…

Recent research suggests that quality of experience in child care centers and family child care homes in the United States is mediocre. The research literature over the past 20 years indicates how variations in quality of care in center-based and family child care affect children's development. Higher levels of quality across a wide range of child…

An action research project integrated violence intervention and prevention into a child development curriculum through a parenting unit fostering confirmatory methods of struggle management between high school and preschool students. Subjects were 45 second- and third-year child development students, 75 first-year child development students, and…

This final report describes a 3-year project which examined effects of different service delivery structures on the development of toddlers with disabilities who were receiving early intervention within natural group environments. Participants (n=70) were matched across four groups who were receiving either full-time specialized instruction or…

This guide catalogs and describes over 60 major survey and statistical databases containing useful information about the characteristics, experiences, and behavior of U.S. families and is designed to assist researchers in locating suitable databases. The surveys described deal with substantive issues, including health, education, employment and…

Based on the assumption that a knowledge of child development is essential when planning an early childhood program, this booklet provides information on the typical development of children from birth to two years. The booklet begins with a description of stages of physical, mental, and social development and presents a chart illustrating the…

This Spanish-language report offers a framework for the analysis and evaluation of intervention on children's behalf against which to analyze actions upon their environment. The first section looks at the complex issue of defining suitable child development outcomes for intervention programs, noting that because the concept of childhood varies…

This report describes capacity and needs assessments of youth services in the District of Columbia. The assessments were conducted by the Urban Institute, Georgetown University, and the University of the District of Columbia in the summer of 1999. D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams requested these assessments to help guide the allocation of additional…

This book examines the adoption process in Great Britain, recounting first-hand experiences to take the reader through each stage of the process from the adopter's point of view. The book also examines the success and failure of several types of adoption. The chapters are: (1) "You Want to Adopt"; (2) "First Meetings, First Months,…

Two important topics in early literacy development in Slovakia are discussed in this paper: the conceptual framework for its stimulation by efficient preschool curriculum, and the continuity of formal elementary school education with respect to children's preceding developmental achievements. The paper discusses the ongoing research project…

Noting that one of the biggest challenges in the United States today is the increasing number of infants and toddlers younger than age 3 who are cared for by someone other than their parents during work hours, this issue of NCEDL Spotlights announces the publication of a book examining out-of-home care for infants and toddlers. The book is an…

Based on the view that blocks are a tool that preschool teachers can use to teach all the skills and concepts necessary for children to be successful learners, this guide presents over 50 activities to enhance the preschool and kindergarten classroom's block corner. Chapter 1 of the guide illustrates the skills learned through block play in the…