Children move the instant they are born and the moment they wake up every morning. Moving is one of the first and most important ways infants and toddlers explore and learn about the world, and this process continues as they grow and develop. Research shows that movement and exercise can spark the growth of new brain cells and facilitate learning…

"Inclusion" has long been a term used to describe the practice of including a child with special needs in age-appropriate general education classes in their home schools. Increasingly, the term is being used to describe the process of including very young children--infants and toddlers--with special needs in a setting comprised mostly of children…

The authors describe a teaching strategy that can support the development and learning of all children in inclusive learning environments. They give an overview of peer-mediated intervention and share useful information on how classroom teachers can use this tool to promote learning, particularly in the areas of social and communication…

The authors discuss why challenging behavior tends to occur during transitions. They offer strategies for planning and implementing more effective transitions, ideas for using transitions to teach social skills and emotional competencies, and a planning process for working individually with children who continue to have difficulty during…

Discusses research on the effect of integrating disabled children into early childhood programs. Finds fears that nondisabled children will imitate the socially unacceptable behaviors of disabled children or will not make adequate progress to be unfounded. Social integration of disabled children was found to be dependent on the attitudes and…

Notes the difficulty of finding quality day care for special needs children. Discusses Project Specialcare, designed to support family child-care providers who accept such children into their programs. Describes how providers participated in Saturday sessions focused on a topic followed by open discussion and how the advice and counsel of a…

Enumerates negative emotions that early childhood teachers may feel when first encountering the handicapped child and suggests ways to overcome these feelings. (KS)

Inclusion is an oft-used buzzword in education. It is also a concept that the author highly values and wants to be a part of her teaching. She feels she would not be teaching to her potential if she was not able to reach all students. She truly wants a classroom in which all children have access. The author was a Sure Start teacher at a U.S.…

Describes and illustrates a technique for using guided dramatization in intervention with special needs or at-risk children. Discusses social benefits of the technique. Maintains that the technique is useful for helping mainstreamed children socially integrate into the regular classroom. (BG)

Describes the ways in which major provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are likely to affect child care centers and family child care homes. Keys to success with the ADA are listed. (BB)

Reviews theory and research on mastery motivation in young children. Discusses Piaget's and White's perspectives on motivation, changes in mastery motivation during early childhood, how motivation relates to cognition, how caregivers influence mastery motivation, motivation in children with disabilities, assessment of mastery motivation, and how…