The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recently published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." For the first time, these new standards include pre-kindergarten standards, while outlining the mathematics that children should learn as they progress through school. The standards present a broad view of what…

The best childhood predictor of later adult adaptation is the adequacy with which a child gets along with other children. Because social development begins in the early years, it is appropriate that early childhood programs include regular formal and informal assessment of children's acquisition of social competence. This digest presents the…

Given the support for increased involvement of parents in their children's schooling and the positive contribution men can make to children's development, it is important to reach out specifically to fathers or other significant males in parent involvement efforts for pre-kindergarten and early childhood programs. This digest discusses barriers to…

This monograph explores issues around the position of child development knowledge in early childhood education. Part 1 of the monograph raises questions regarding the role of such knowledge in teaching young children and its place in teacher education. This section considers the definition of "development," the type of child development…

Given the support for increased involvement of parents in their children's schooling and the positive contribution men can make to children's development, it is important to reach out specifically to fathers or other significant males in parent involvement efforts for pre-kindergarten and early childhood programs. This digest discusses barriers to…

Screening programs are now widely used with children who are age-eligible for school entry. Screening is used to identify children who may be at risk of future difficulty in school (e.g., inability to meet academic expectations) and those who may have special needs in learning (e.g., extraordinary abilities and talents or handicapping conditions).…

Although pretend play has long been part of the early childhood curriculum, recent emphasis on accountability in education seems to have led to a decline in the general understanding of the contribution that high-quality play can make to children's cognitive development in the early years. This digest defines the cluster of concepts related to…

During the past two decades, a convincing body of evidence has accumulated to indicate that unless children achieve minimal social competence by about the age of 6 years, they have a high probability of being at risk into adulthood in several ways. This digest presents a checklist of attributes of child social behavior that teachers are encouraged…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recently published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." For the first time, these new standards include pre-kindergarten standards, while outlining the mathematics that children should learn as they progress through school. The standards present a broad view of what…

This digest examines the value of outdoor experience for young children, reasons for its decline, ways to enhance school play spaces, and aspects of developmentally appropriate outdoor environments. Young children appear to benefit from being outdoors and especially need the broad experiential base provided by being outdoors. The richness and…

This digest explores some of the reasons for spanking, examines its effectiveness, and suggests alternative discipline methods. Many parents believe that spanking will teach children not to do things that are forbidden, stop them quickly when they are being irritating, and encourage them to do what they should. Others believe nonphysical forms of…

Based on the idea that parents are the first and most important teachers of their children's literacy, this bilingual (Spanish/English) booklet offers 101 practical and fun-to-do activities that children and parents can do together. The activities in the booklet are organized to fit the way parents tend to think about their time with their…

Aggression and cooperation, which represent two critical features in the child's social domain, have one element in common: they both emerge from children's strong developmental push to initiate and maintain relationships with other children. Aggression is defined as any intentional behavior that results in physical or mental injury to any person…

Based on the idea that parents are the first and most important teachers, this bilingual (Spanish/English) book offers 101 practical and fun-to-do activities that children and parents can do together. The revised edition provides a preface by Professor Josefina Villamil Tinajero and additional information of particular interest to Latino parents.…

Based on the idea that parents are the first and most important teachers of their children's literacy, this booklet offers 101 practical and fun-to-do activities that children and parents can do together. The activities in the booklet are organized to fit the way parents tend to think about their time with their children: in the nursery; at…