Delineates advocacy strategies for action related to the provision of child care for infants and toddlers. Goals, target groups, and approaches are specified for publc information campaigns, training, and policy formation. Related printed materials and organizational resources are listed. (Author/RH)

Discusses a method by which young children learn about life and death by studying plants. Plants are used because their life cycle has minimal emotional significance to the children. Parent involvement, teacher attitudes, and experiences with the method are discussed. (DG)

Discusses the importance of cultural sensitivity and specific cultural knowledge when providing care for infants and toddlers. Makes suggestions for responding to cultural differences. Describes dialogue and reflective-thinking strategies for identifying and responding to cultural differences. Asserts that caregivers need diversity training to see…

Provides guidelines on diapering and potty training toddlers in child care settings. (BB)

Reflects upon the nature of caring and teaching in the infant care setting. Presents two scenarios of caregivers interacting with infants and toddlers who are having difficulty with a motor activity to illustrate caring. Urges caregivers to consider caring as an attitude of total, focused presence with the child and at the heart of teaching. (KB)

Discusses three major characteristics that are important for child care professionals: experience, knowledge, and special personal qualities. Among the special personal qualities discussed are those of anticipating and planning, protecting, listening, comforting, and caring for the whole family. (BB)

This article reflects on what it means for teachers to put relationships with children as the priority in their practice. The authors focus on four themes that they believe are at the heart of a good relationship: (1) recognition; (2) familiarity; (3) respect; and (4) commitment. "Recognition" is acknowledging another person's presence and…

Discusses ingredients of quality infant/toddler caregiving; these include individualized attentive loving, respect for children's tempos and exploration needs, language mastery experiences, activities shared by caregiver and child, nutrition and health care, promotion of babies' altruism, continuity of care and cognitive facilitation. (BB)

Discusses some of the problems that infants and toddlers experience in infant and toddler day care programs, and suggests four program features that are vital in aiding infants and toddlers in the early years of care. (BB)

Discusses five critical issues pertaining to quality infant care: improving training for caregivers of infants and toddlers, ensuring health and safety, meeting special needs of children and their parents, balancing high quality and affordability, and evaluating program effectiveness. (RH)

Maintains that infants and toddlers, parents, and child caregivers are vulnerable to a variety of infectious diseases from infant-toddler child care centers. These diseases include infectious diarrhea; rubella; cytomeglovirus; hepatitis A, and haemophilus influenza type B. Suggests ways to prevent the spread of such diseases. (BB)

Discusses and demystifies curriculum needs of infants and toddlers for optimum emotional, social, physical and mental well-being and growth. (NH)

Examines singing as a tool for managing children's behaviors. Suggests that singing can be a powerful tool to soothe a baby, promote learning daily routines and cooperativeness, ease separation troubles, build trust and self-esteem, awake a love for poetry and imagery, stretch memorizing power, help develop humor, and build motor skills. Proposes…

Presents three viewpoints on the question of whether high-quality, publicly funded infant/toddler child care should be provided to all families who want it. (BB)

Discusses the history, characteristics, and purposes of the "ecole maternelle," the French system of free public preschool education for two- to five-year-old children. Focuses on the classes for two year olds, and particularly their enrollment levels, schedules, and links with day care. Describes research on the classes. (BB)