The seven papers in this issue address a variety of challenges that parents in several different cultural places encounter as they do their best to ensure their children's safe, happy, and successful development from infancy through middle childhood: infant sleep, developmental agendas, temperament, preschools, academic success, and learning to be…

Shares the authors' impressions about the education of young children with special needs in Poland, Russia, and the former Czechoslovakia. Describes the region's history of early childhood education, emphasis on family, specific preschool experiences, and teacher training. (HTH)

A brief overview of the development of Polish education since the Second World War precedes a discussion of preschool education in Poland. The education of very young children is viewed seriously in Poland and has become a socially approved part of the system of education. Discussion focuses on the structure of preschool education, financing, and…