Few alcohol prevention programs focus on elementary school-aged youth, yet children develop expectancies and norms about alcohol use during the elementary school years, and many elementary school children are allowed to have sips or tastes of alcohol at home. Research on consequences of early alcohol use indicates that it can put children at…

Parents in 16 families of children with autism spectrum disorders or Down syndrome participated in a qualitative study examining family (i.e., all caregivers in the home) belief systems. All families had children who had recently entered elementary school or who were in the early years of high school. As a result of their experiences, families…

Compares the effect of weak, flexible, and rigid family structures on the cognitive development of 61 Scottish and 40 Pakistani school children in Glasgow, Scotland. In a problem-solving test, children from flexible environments outperformed those from either weakly or rigidly structured homes. This difference was reflected in the school…

More than seven million adolescents under the age of 18 live in homes where one or both parents is an alcoholic. This document presents a three-part discussion of adolescent children of alcoholics' (AdCOA) issues relative to school classrooms. Part I discusses characteristics and behaviors of AdCOAs. The characteristics of dysfunctional families…

This report introduces the concept of syncretic literacy by examining an exchange in which a 6-year-old Samoan-American boy, in his urban Los Angeles (California) home, involves members of his extended family to complete homework. The study illustrates how English is sometimes used in ways that are consistent with the socialization practices…

This brochure, written in Spanish, discusses strategies that Spanish-speaking parents can use to support the interests of their children and how to recognize and extend their children's talents. Parents are urged to: (1) be aware of what their child likes to do and be patient with the changing patterns as the child explores areas of interests and…

This paper discusses the overuse of medications to deal with attention deficit disorder (ADD) in the classroom, offering suggestions related to teaching strategies, classroom environment, school environment, and home environment to help keep students' attention without resorting to medication. A chart shows the difference between ADD and other…

This practicum was designed to enhance the school and home learning environments of 20 neurologically and perceptually impaired students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Participating students received daily regular class and resource room instruction. Needs assessment measures revealed that little learning characteristic data were available…