Kids on Earth is a free online collection of interviews with children and teenagers, 8 years old to 15 years old, living around the world and sharing details about their lives, hopes, dreams, and interests. It is a unique tool for learning about the world and the young people who live in it.

This interdisciplinary article draws upon human geography to bring fresh new perspectives to the relationship between two commonly conflated concepts: "childhood" and "nature". Childhood studies scholars have gone a long way towards retheorizing childhood beyond the "natural" and the "universal" by pointing to its historical and cultural…

Meeting the needs of children with disabilities requires strategies for engaging each and every child as an individual and facilitating their participation as a member of a group. The use of the project approach meets the needs of individual children by building on an awareness of children's interests and high expectations. All early childhood…

International and national political agendas have prioritized children's issues in the past decade or so. However the nature of the commitment to children themselves participating in arrangements that affect them and their communities are highly ambiguous. Whilst children's voices have become progressively louder, the extent to which these voices…

In order to promote the understanding of plants, nurture imagination, and provide a place for the enrichment and delight of children, the Michigan 4-H Children's Garden on the campus of Michigan State University has over 50 theme areas for children to experience. History, purpose, and projects are briefly described. (SAS)

Every summer and fall, Japanese children (mostly boys) spend hours catching and playing with insects, or mushi. Different species are associated with the seasons, times of the day, or specific games. Mushi customs are centuries old, were traditionally passed from grandfather to grandchild, and are reflected in electronic and "virtual"…

Discusses changes in the history of childhood. Argues that the change was not caused by reform pedagogics, but by a movement to popular culture. Describes the functioning of a commercialized children's culture and its definition of happiness. Analyzes possible concepts of education within the framework of such learning environments. (CAJ)

A "children's festival" can be an exciting and meaningful alternative to the traditional school carnival, which often emphasizes competition rather than cooperation and learning. Ideas for such a festival that can generate money, provide fun for adults and children, encourage cooperation, and provide learning experiences are presented.…

American culture appears to be the enemy of childhood. Children now look, dress, talk, and behave like adults. At the same time, adults have become more like children. (Author/JM)

The aim of this paper is to induce doubt about the ethical rightness of compulsory education laws and inspire educators to imagine and begin to make a world in which there are many different forms of gifted education. The paper does this in three ways. It paints a polemical picture of gifted education as a minor variation on public schooling and…

When teachers lay the weight of the world's ecological problems on elementary students before they have fostered the kind of connectedness that underlies appropriate environmental education, they create a condition of fear and disempowerment called "ecophobia." The paper suggests that teachers must lead with emotional connectedness…

This document contains two papers on library services for children which were presented at the 1985 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference. In "Children's Services of Public Libraries in the United States," Selma K. Richardson (United States) discusses goals and guidelines which have been prepared nationally for public…

Relates a narrative of a boy's life from his elementary school years through his early adult years. Reports on how his early empathy for the economic and social status of migrant workers changed as a result of parental pressure. Concludes that parents often send children conflicting messages about ethics and values. (CFR)

The development and management of children's libraries and library services in the USSR are discussed by N.S. Kobzarenko, State Republican Library for Children of the Ukraine, and comparisons and contrasts between that system and the U.S. system are outlined. Kobzarenko notes that library services for children, established along directives from…

Examines the relationship between story-telling and children's construction of meaning. Includes transcripts of children's discussions of a story involving Vietnamese refugee children. Maintains that children, especially when given encouraging contexts, can construct and discover meaningful insights. Discusses the role of the teacher in this…