Around the world, the singing of lullabies and reciting of nursery rhymes foster children's development and show parents' love for their infants and young children. (BB)

Suggests that, although stresses in the classroom are unavoidable, they may offer optimal opportunities for effective early childhood education. Such education requires work with the child's feelings and cooperative work with the child's parents. Offers different ideas that can be used by teachers to help young children and their parents to cope…

Parents of a 21-year-old son with Down's Syndrome address aspects of the cooperative partnership of school, home, and community, focusing on the dangers of labeling, the importance of communication, the need to express appreciation of the individual as he/she is, the value of full participation, and the importance of developing authentic…

Considers those defenses against anxiety and frustration on the part of parents and day-care workers which impede the provision of high-quality day care for young children. Uses observations of infants and children to show how attachment theory can provide a structure for thinking about children's experiences in day care. (MDM)

As children with disabilities participate more fully in community education and recreation programs, educators face special challenges in helping families deal with the special needs of disabled children. Support for parents who have a child with a disability must be based on the parents' perceived needs. (MDM)

Suggests that parenting beliefs are influenced by the broader societal contextual variations, and focuses on cultural and subcultural variation. Uses studies of parental beliefs among immigrant families who must make transitions across different cultural contexts to illustrate these variations. (ET)

Reviews research on the development of intentional communication between adult and child. Suggests that the communicative partnership between caregiver and child is dynamic, functioning to assist in the developmental achievements of the child and also functioning as a mechanism for socializing the child and his or her partner into the appropriate…

Examines the advice being given to today's college graduating classes in commencement speeches and compares it to that given in early premodern society. It shows how the old advice centered on basic skills and virtues that empowered youth to create an independent and worthy life, but today, youth are mostly getting adults' guilty conscience and…

Maintains that the controversy concerning the effects of early nonmaternal care on the quality of infant-mother attachment is in part the product of fundamental theoretical differences among researchers. (BB)

Discusses how parents can discipline their children successfully. Distinguishes between punishment, permissiveness, and discipline. Provides parents with guidelines on positive steps in disciplining their children with practices that are appropriate to the child's age and developmental level, especially infants, toddlers, and preschool children.…

Argues that assessment in early childhood special education needs to go beyond diagnosis of the child in isolation and include evaluation of the child using an ecological perspective. Three aspects of ecological early childhood assessment are discussed: (1) the family interview; (2) the evaluation of adult-child learning styles; and (3)…

A mother of a deaf child recounts her earlier commitment to an oralist position, her gradual realization that she was asking her child to do the impossible, and the child's rapid acquisition of language when allowed and encouraged to use signs. The importance of hearing parents learning sign language is stressed. (DB)

Provides counselors with the foundations of group theory and practice specifically geared toward meeting the needs of school children growing up in chemically dependent homes. Information is geared toward late elementary and early middle school grades. Examples provided reflect work with that age group, but counselors can use materials with other…

Discusses empowering parents and communities to enhance loving and healthy family relationships through the concept of resilience and other factors, irrespective of different cultural understandings about bringing up children. Argues that good child-adult relations can reduce stress and help children develop tolerance, understanding, cooperation,…

Surprising new studies show that privileged adolescents are more likely than any other socioeconomic group to suffer from depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse. This article presents an interview with Madeline Levine, a Marin County, California, clinical psychologist of 25 years, and author of the new book "The Price of Privilege"…