The Home Kit/Home Visit Program--designed for children needing reinforcement of basic concepts and knowledge of colors, shapes, numbers, letter recognition, and letter-sound correspondence--is proving successful in encouraging parent involvement in first-graders' learning of basic skills. Parents are provided with home learning kits to guide their…

The authors describe a zone defense schedule (ZDS), a system for organizing the staff and environment of a preschool classroom. Specifically, it is used to organize the roles of adults in the classroom so that transitions between activities are easier for children and provides greater opportunity for teaching (both during the transition and…

In Sweden, governmental decision-making is based on a social-democratic ideology and a system of representative democracy. In citizens' meetings, the democratic values and norms, that are both a requirement and goal, at are formed. This concept of democracy, and the value system behind it, permeates Swedish culture, and its institutions and…

Starting school raises concerns for children, parents and teachers. Each has a range of issues to consider. Over the past eight years, The Starting School Research Project has examined eight categories which various stakeholders see as important in children's transition to school. This paper focuses on a particular group, gifted children starting…

The notion of excellence in early childhood education is increasingly recognised as both subjective and problematic. The search for excellence can be, however, a motivating force for those committed to providing experiences that enrich and enhance the lives of young children within diverse Australian communities. This commitment is shared by the…

Educators have frequently expressed concern about young children who are exposed to known environmental risk factors associated with the development of chronic behavior problems (e.g., poverty, domestic violence, child maltreatment). Nevertheless, a societal commitment to address these environmental risk factors by identifying young children who…

Developed in response to requests from public school providers to the Massachusetts Department of Education for technical assistance, this publication offers guidance on how best to care for and educate young children whose first language is other than English and/or who are from diverse cultural backgrounds. The question and answer format…

A program developed by the Intensive English Language Program (IELP) for English language and American cultural studies at the State University of New York at Albany in cooperation with the Ichabod Crane Primary School brings together the primary school children and adult nonnative students from the IELP. The program involves weekend home stays by…

The Early Referral and Follow-up Project of the University of Nebraska Medical Center was designed to facilitate developmental assessment and intervention with long-term or repeatedly hospitalized children from birth to 3 years of age. Developmentally delayed children, handicapped children, and children at risk for delays were eligible for…

Using a common format outlining program settings, agencies, children/families served, staff, services, delivery strategies, and program costs, descriptions of four cost-effective rural service delivery programs for young handicapped children provide evidence that good rural programs are affordable. The Early Lifestyle Program at King's Daughters'…

This paper describes a center- and community-based training program for autistic preschool-aged children, their families, and community-based service providers in a traditionally underserved section of Appalachia. The program's team training approach focuses on early identification, comprehensive assessment, intensive individualized training,…

This policy brief provides the context and the research supporting the American Federation of Teacher's call for universal early childhood education. It focuses on the current challenges the nation faces in achieving such a program; and it includes the signs of progress, a description of what other industrialized countries are doing, the features…

Between 1995 and 2004, Early Head Start (EHS) grew from 68 to more than 700 programs nationwide, serving more than 62,000 children and securing the program's reputation as a beacon of hope for the nation's low-income families with infants and toddlers. According to a comprehensive 5-year national evaluation of EHS, children who participated in…

This working paper describes the development of a child care center in Berlin, Germany, focusing on how the program's pedagogical principles support children's learning, how respect for diversity is integrated in everyday practice, and how program quality and accessibility are defined within a multicultural context. Chapter 1 describes the…

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and…