As our knowledge of young children grows, so does our awareness of the importance of the first few years of life. This book is written for students of child care at the college level, for those who work with children in the first three years of their lives, and for anyone who wants to understand more about what researchers and theorists have to…

Intended for use in Florida training programs for caregivers of infants and toddlers with disabilities, this guide presents an overview of the Model of Interdisciplinary Training for Children with Handicaps (MITCH); offers a user's guide to the series; and provides specific information for presenting Module 12, which focuses on visual impairments.…

Noting that children's experiences at home during the preschool years set the stage for reading success, this guide provides the initiative, principles, and activities for reading to children from early months to 7 years to improve their literacy acquisition. The nine chapters are as follows: (1) "Reading: An Overview of the Discovery…

In fiscal year 1990, the Bilingual Education Special Populations Program of the Department of Education awarded grants to 30 programs serving children of limited English proficiency. These programs were preschool projects, special education projects, or projects that served gifted children. This document reports the results of a survey, conducted…

A discussion of bilingualism in young children in the Soviet Union looks at the three main forms of early bilingualism (bilingual home environment, different languages spoken at home and in school, and second language instruction in school), notes the challenges they pose for development and maintenance of bilingual skills, and then describes a…

The Neglected or Delinquent (N or D) Program of the Columbus (Ohio) public schools is designed to provide classroom and tutorial services in the area of language development for pupils served in Chapter 1 eligible facilities for the neglected or delinquent. In the 1991-92 school year, there was one full-time N or D teacher and 16 part-time tutors…

The primary goal of this practicum was to provide opportunities for rich and diverse language activities designed to enhance the kindergarten curriculum. New instructional guidelines were designed that encouraged daily classroom time devoted to language development activities. These activities replaced all formal isolated skill instruction.…

American education traditionally has used a "recitation script," a repeated assignment/assessment cycle. Contemporary educational reform is now emphasizing the fundamental, natural method of teaching, such as assisting learners through "instructional conversation." This method helps learners perform just beyond their current…

Cooperative learning is a valuable strategy for teaching secondary school students, especially useful with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds who are learning English as a Second Language. It offers a method for managing diversity, channeling peer influence into a positive force for improving school performance, and…

Noting that whereas British primary schools are admirable, provision of preschool education is uneven, this book examines the questionable changes brought on by recent government policies, and the consequences of those changes, enjoining policymakers to change their attitude toward early childhood education and improve the mesh between nursery and…

This document reports the findings of the 1990-91 process evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool (MECEP) program for 4-year-olds at risk of academic failure. As of January 18, 1991, a total of 285 pupils were participating in the program at 8 sites. The overall goal of the program is to provide 4-year-olds with an…

Papers from the proceedings are: "Cultural Universals in the Acquisition of Language;""The Acquisition of Locative Constructions in Cantonese Children"; "The Acquisition of VOT: Is It Language-Dependent?"; "Flexibility in Semantic Representations: Children's Ability To Switch among Different Interpretations of 'Big' and 'Little'"; "Multifunctional…

A 12-week study concentrated on the improvement and development of literacy skills in the young child, aiming to encourage emergent reading ability, written language development, and oral expression. A process-centered classroom program was designed for 25 kindergarten students to become competent users of language. Students were exposed to a wide…

Concerned with what can be done to help produce more thoughtful, critical readers, this report first presents an historical overview of theories on the origin of language, referring to B. F. Skinner, Noam Chomsky, and Jean Piaget, among others. It then discusses biological reasons for the evolution of language and the impact of verbal language on…

Intended to provide practical information pertaining to methods and techniques for speech elicitation and production, the monograph offers specific methods and techniques to elicit spontaneous speech in bilingual students. Chapter 1, "Traditional Methodologies for Language Production and Recording," presents an overview of studies using…