Reports on a study where 111 primary age children were asked to map four model landscapes of increasing complexity. The results show an age-related progression from representing hills in elevation only to early experiments with the use of contours. Includes maps, graphs, and statistical data. (MJP)

Describes the main features of a new method for teaching religious education to children. Compares this method to other British religious education approaches. The "gift method" approach begins with the child receiving some easily understood component of a religion (song, prayer, material object) then progresses to a more complex…

Discusses a select group of children's fiction books that tell the tales of some Hispanic people in the United States. The books reveal various aspects of Hispanic culture including family, community, friends, and neighbors. Suggested learning activities support the reading material. (MJP)

Compares middle-school and elementary school teachers' reasoning about their professional roles when violence occurs in school subcontexts such as hallways, cafeterias, and playgrounds. Uses concepts from urban planning, architecture, criminology, and cognitive developmental domain theory to explore teachers' moral attitudes toward school…

Reviews research on three issues related to the first edition of the developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children: (1) the prevalence of DAP; (2) teachers and parents beliefs about DAP and influence of beliefs on practice; and (3) how appropriate and inappropriate practice…

Defines a generalization as "a descriptive statement of broad application indicating a relationship between two or more concepts." Argues that successful teaching about generalizations can only occur when students understand the relationship between concepts and facts. Discusses four issues and four approaches related to teaching…

Discusses relationships among selected aspects of parental involvement as they relate to the cognitive, affective, and performance outcomes of instrumental music students. Discovers that for cognitive musical and musical performance outcomes parental influence is strongest at the elementary level. For affective outcomes parental involvement…

Interviews with parents from 50 Mexican-descent families revealed that parents encouraged their preschool children to ask questions about science and causal relationships; older and younger siblings learned different skills from one another; and children learned through observation and imitation. Discusses issues of "match" between home…

Presented are six activities that help to promote critical and creative student thinking. Activities include discrepant events and questioning, divergent thinking, dilemma discussions, and drawing objects from symbols. Activities can be adapted to any science discipline. (KR)

Discussed are inconsistencies and cognitive conflict with respect to current mathematical knowledge of students and how that knowledge might be modified is discussed. The inconsistencies that students generate for themselves and those produced by the teacher are described. (KR)

Examines the relationship between pupil characteristics of income, gender, chronological age, and level of cognitive development and selected domain-specific skills in mathematics. Results show mathematics performance as a function of the quality of thinking. Teaching to cognitive developmental level requires an individualized approach to…

Developmental differences in the acquisition of information about strategy efficiency gleaned from observation of a peer model were assessed among 60 second and 60 seventh graders and 60 undergraduate students. At each age level, 20 subjects were randomly assigned to each of 3 experimental conditions. Developmental differences were considerable.…

Provides a theory-based examination of relations among aspects of preschool children's social environments and cognitive indices of their gender role development. Examines differences in the relations among social agents on cognitive indices of girls' and boys' gender role development. Significant sex differences are discussed. (JS)

Recent developments in infant mental health are outlined, with implications for work with at-risk populations. Discussed are: the biobehavioral-developmental perspective, the infant as a social being, the infant-caregiver relationship, the transactional model of the infant-parent relationship, assessing developmental disabilities, conceptualizing…

Reviews a monograph which addresses children's higher-order thinking skills. Suggests the following for teaching problem solving: identify and develop content-independent and content-dependent problem-solving skills, connect developed skills through workshop-style activities to subject discipline, and help students identify and reconstruct their…