The author of this article asks: What is readiness for kindergarten? How do we know when a child is ready? Unfortunately, as with many topics in education reform and improvement, policy makers ignore the complex questions about readiness and instead focus narrowly on select variables. The focus for kindergarten readiness is on select literacy and…

One hundred percent literacy is a relatively modern goal. According to The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (n.d.), writing was invented in 3200 BC. However, it was not until the Industrial Revolution, in the 19th century, that large numbers of ordinary people began to read and write. Today, most people believe that becoming a…

Homework is a reality in the lives of most American school children. At its best, homework is a highly useful and appropriate strategy. At its worst, it can wreak havoc in the lives of many children and families who fail to master behavioral and environmental routines that create conditions and patterns conducive for optimal performance. Thus,…

This article presents an interview with Shonda Schilling, wife of retired professional baseball pitcher Curt Schilling. In addition to her role as mom, advocate, and author, Schilling is also a melanoma survivor and the Founder of Shade (http://www.shadefoundation.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating melanoma through the…

Using the work of Judith Butler on gender regulation, Black Feminist Thought (BFT), and autobiographic storytelling, this piece illustrates how essentialist notions of gender, and discourses related to gender create conflict in shaping identity construction for a Black woman academic and single mother (BWA/SM) in the United States. This piece…

Head Start, the federal program that provides preschool education, health, and social services for children from poor families, is one of the United States' most popular government programs. Created in 1965, it has endured as a symbol of commitment to children, serving just fewer than one million children a year in neighborhood sites across the…

The authors argue for the need of a cyclical, rather than a linear, model of family coping and life management when a child has a disability. Longitudinal support for such a cyclical model of family life management is presented, with recognition that parental control of outcome lessens as the young person ages, because the adult world is not…

In an intriguing account, the hypothesis is proposed that elevating effects of quantity of childcare on aggression might not, as other research has suggested, be dissipating over time, but instead be diffusing across groups of children. Paradoxically, this diffusion may also affect children with little or no experience with non-maternal care. If…

Shyness is a general term used for behavior that has several different bases. Ten to fifteen percent of children are born with predisposition to shyness. There are two main types of shy children: those who are temperamentally shy from birth, which is evident by their second birthdays, and those who don't become shy from birth until a few years…

Critiques an article that appeared in an earlier issue of this journal on language choice and raising children in bilingual households. The author of that article responds to these comments. (Author/VWL)

Fitting in and being liked by peers is important to children of all ages. It is unrealistic to expect such a young child to be satisfied with national or ethnic pride, at the price of having close friends. In the best school situations, children achieve a realistic balance between feeling they belong with their peer group and retaining pride and…

Offers suggestions for parents and school personnel designed to help handicapped children look upon school as a normal course of events. (FL)

Describes a child's gradual discovery and awareness of the meaning of print and her beginning reading experiences. (HTH)

An awareness of television's potentially harmful influence on young children's ways of thinking and behaving may lead parents to reconsider their acceptance of television as an inevitable part of their children's lives. Such an awareness may change their focus from what their children are watching to why and how much they are watching, and what…

This extensive discussion provides an examination of issues concerning dual-career families in the United States. Section I explores changes in the paid labor force and factors contributing to such changes. Section II discusses sex stratification in the family and briefly points out changes needed to strengthen the interface between work and…