The study aims at analyzing toddlers' sociability within an early educational context, by adopting a socio-constructivist perspective that considers "school-nursery" (Italian "nido di infanzia") as an important "natural context" that can promote their sociability development. The larger research involved 18 toddlers…

Background: Research conducted on preterm children's linguistic skills has provided varying pictures, and the question of whether and to what extent preterm children are delayed in early language acquisition remains largely unresolved. Aims: To examine communicative and linguistic development during the second year in a group of Italian children…

This study examined early vocal production to assess whether it is possible to identify predictors of vocabulary development prior to the age point at which lexical delay is usually identified. Characteristics of babbling and first words in 12 Italian children with slow expressive development (late talkers; LT) were compared with those of 12…

The study proposes an analysis of the processes through which the material and symbolic features of the setting and the activities of the educators interact to determine the children's experience in an early educational centre. This analysis is of particular interest with regard to both educational practice and understanding developmental…

A Day in the Life is an interdisciplinary study of thriving 2-year-old girls and their families in diverse communities around the globe. We understand development to be active participation in cultural systems of practice, and examine children's interactions with their caregivers, other companions, and the environment. We focus upon children…

Background: Children with Down's syndrome seem to show a preference for the use of gestural rather than vocal productions during the first stages of language development. This "gestural advantage" could actually be due to a developmental strategy used to compensate the difficulties in verbal production that are typical of language…

The prevalence of behavioral inhibition in toddlers was examined in five cultures. Participants in this study included 110 Australian, 108 Canadian, 151 Chinese, 104 Italian, and 113 South Korean toddlers and their mothers who were observed during a structured observational laboratory session. Matched procedures were used in each country, with…

This article describes the design of a flexible school for childhood education in Milan, Italy. The architecture of this school takes into account children's development and the different ways they experience space according to their age. The facilities will include not only a nursery school and kindergarten, but also a drop-in day-care centre, a…

This study investigated the influence of the speaker's experience and addressee's developmental level on baby talk characteristics. A total of 240 mothers of only child infants (l-l8 months) or of children 2-3 years old responded to an Infant or Child Series of drawings with an attached list of sentences. Subjects described situations in drawings,…

Examined antecedents of maternal separation anxiety in 83 Italian mothers prior to their infants or toddlers entering group care. Mothers' anxiety did not vary with the child's age. Anxious mothers were younger and less educated, received less support, had temperamentally negative infants, and provided less varied stimulation in the home. (MM)

This survey was undertaken to gather accurate and reliable information on private and government-supported day care centers within Italy, and to compare such data to currently available government statistics. A questionnaire was drawn up and sent to the 21 regions of Italy to examine: (1) the number of centers in each region and the number of…

Despite U.S. world leadership in research in child healthcare and development, in all the statistical indicators of children's well-being the United States lags well behind most advanced industrialized societies. This book discusses U.S. public policy issues concerning the healthcare and development of children under age three. Studies are cited…

Describes a private, early (birth to four) therapeutic intervention center in Italy that provides short-term intensive treatment to children with severe visual impairments and possible additional disabilities. The residential program emphasizes maximum use of residual vision, vision stimulation and training, psychological counseling for parents,…

This study compared multiple characteristics of girls' and boys' vocabulary in 6 different linguistic communities--1 urban and 1 rural setting in each of 3 countries. Two hundred fifty-two mothers in Argentina, Italy, and the United States completed vocabulary checklists for their 20-month-old children. Individual variability was substantial…

This survey of 25 day care centers in 5 regions of Italy was designed to determine the characteristics of competent centers and the effects of differing local regulations on the quality of care provided. The Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) and a questionnaire were utilized to assess the quality of the day care centers in the…