Strong support from eminent educators such as Froebel and Dewey and other scholars has led to play becoming a major component of early childhood curricula. This paper draws on research studies to: (1) elaborate on the nature of play and its function in children's overall development; (2) discuss how children's play relates to their literacy…

The first public Hungarian preschool, modeled after Great Britain's, was opened in 1828. Between 1849 and 1891 there was a decline in the infant school movement. The 1891 Preschool Education Act made kindergarten obligatory. Since the Hungarian liberation (1945) the state has supervised and maintained higher standards for preschool education. (RM)

The paper reviews the methodology of quantitative documentation of the progress of handicapped, delayed, and at risk infants in early intervention programs. The authors discuss design and analysis issues, concluding that the use of several designs and analytic techniques provides useful exploration of hypotheses in early intervention programs.…

The extent and nature of remediation are said to depend on careful observation of children in the environment. Remedial techniques appropriate for older children must be adapted to meet the individual situation of each preschool visually handicapped child. (Author)

Horizontal and vertical prediction performance matrix analyses on 15 early identification studies of children at risk for school problems suggested ten conclusions, including the following: that teacher perceptions and behavioral skill analyses seem to be efficient and useful predictors of school problems; and that physical indices, developmental…

Legal mandate and limited resources provide an impetus to increase the utility of functional assessment. The goal of this study was to develop a brief assessment that could be conducted in the natural setting to identify naturally occurring, high-frequency subsequent events that may serve as maintaining consequences for disruptive behavior using…

Reviews literature concerning the relationship between symbolic play and ideational fluency. Discusses a study relating preschool symbolic play to aspects of divergent cognitive style. Symbolic play at preschool was related to ideational fluency and measures of flexibility, originality, and intelligence three years later. (RJC)

Describes the contents of the November 1989 issue of Early Childhood Development and Care, which concerns early childhood education and care in Australia. (RJC)

Early intervention services provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families include case management. A historical framework for the concept of case management is presented, the role of the case manager in early intervention is explored, and competencies involved in the role are outlined. (Author/JDD)

Research on solitary play most often views solitary in contrast to social play. Children who play alone more than is typical fall into four groups: shy and non-shy soloists, isolated, and depressed children. Only the latter two groups present clear concerns during the preschool years. Solo play should be viewed as an important developmental…

The paper is a product of the 3-year project, "Functional Mainstreaming for Success," designed to develop a model for instructional mainstreaming of handicapped children (3-6 years old) in community settings. The paper reviews the literature defining "mainstreaming," notes that mainstreaming is not the wholesale return of exceptional students from…

Basic assumptions regarding the process of identifying gifted children for special preschool programs are examined in light of traditional and contemporary definitions of giftedness. Uses and limitations of various identification techniques are discussed with an emphasis on approaches which are being used currently to identify gifted preschoolers.…

Explores implications of interdisciplinary findings in an attempt to: (1) identify family practices and behaviors that contribute to preschool obesity; and (2) suggest effective obesity control strategies that can guide family-oriented nutrition education and counseling efforts. (JN)

An interview with David Olson concerning his current research on the relation between the oral conversational language of preschool children and the formalized language of written texts. (RAE)

Examines the issue of providing art instruction to very young children, suggests that there is a need to reappraise the scope of preschool art, and offers suggestions for implementing an extended art curriculum. (SKC)