Children with life-threatening food allergies are increasing in number in Australia. A variety of foods such as dairy milk, peanut and tree nuts, fish and egg can cause severe allergic reactions in some children. The foods that cause allergies could trigger severe breathing difficulties (anaphylaxis) for these children and, if not treated…

Some business experts predict that a tight economy, intense competition, and demanding customers will become the norm for at least the next decade. To ride what may be rough waters in target markets, commitment to quality must go beyond a beautiful center, a recognized curriculum, and a well-trained staff. Willingness to take necessary action now…

More states are recognizing that preschool is a vital first step toward helping children succeed in school. Ensuring that preschoolers have a high quality early learning experience provides them with the skills they need for later school success. In New Jersey, the poorest school districts have been collaborating with community-based child care…

In an attempt to better prepare young children for the challenges of kindergarten and first grade, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, in its 1998 landmark decision of "Abbott v. Burke" (Abbott V), required the State's poorest school districts to implement high quality, intensive preschool for all 3-and 4-year old children. To take…

The past quarter of a century has seen wide extension of the use of schoolhouses for social, recreational, and community purposes, providing fuller utilization of school buildings erected usually at heavy cost. Thirty-two States have definitely provided by law for such use, and in the other States school authorities permit it under their general…

Offers tips for organizing the search for a child care center director. Suggestions cover: organizing a balanced, interested search committee; setting up preliminary meetings to determine desired qualifications for candidates; identifying the center's needs; writing and posting the position announcement; narrowing the pool of applicants; and…

Discusses the collaborative efforts of educators, parents, the program coordinator, and a consultant in a bilingual child care setting in Montreal to find solutions to the poor fit between a preschool-age child's behavior, educator expectations, and the classroom setting. Includes discussion of the educators' strategies, the team approach, the…

This article is concerned with the continuing staff shortages in Australian long day care services. To expand possibilities for addressing this ongoing problem, the article advocates the use of discourse as a theoretical and practical tool for reframing discussions about staff shortages. Drawing on discourses of crisis and professionalism as…

Penn State York has a history of collaboration with the York community. The campus became involved in two university-community collaborative efforts to identify and take action to resolve living and learning needs of children and teachers in York County. This article presents stories of two initiatives, and the lessons that emerged from reflection…

Profiles child care arrangements in the United States. Specifically describes care by parents, care by relatives, care by non-relatives, and care in centers. Focuses on trends related to child care arrangements of preschool children in the 1990s, use of child care centers by legal status, and the economic impact of child care. (SD)

This report compiles standardized data on child care supply and requests for care in California. The report provides county and statewide information based on responses from about 42,000 child care providers and more than 55,000 parents over a 3-month period and on data from state and federal government agencies, including: (1) demographic…

This manual describes the procedures for administering and coding the enactive social knowledge interview for preschool children. This interview is comprised of two segments, an enactive procedure and a reflective procedure using line drawings. The purpose of this interview is to assess preschooler's responses to hypothetical social situations.…

This manuscript describes the implementation of looping or continuity of care in a high-quality child care facility. Through interviews with parents and teachers, themes were identified including the advantages (stability and continuity of care, ease in transition, anticipating children's needs, parent friendships and networking) and challenges…

One of the very unique characteristics of child care boards is the prevalence of parent volunteers serving as board members. When parents serve as board members, a number of challenges are created. Because most parents do not have previous board experience and they are both clients as well as trustees, there is the potential for conflicts of…

In this interview, Cuban psychologist and scholar Franklin Martinez discusses the importance of early childhood education to the development of intelligence. Education affects child development, but it is the knowledge of child learning and development that makes education effective, not material resources. Cuba has invested heavily in preschool…