Sixty-four Japanese mothers of 3- to 6-year-olds were interviewed concerning their conceptions of children's areas of personal control. Mothers granted children choices regarding recreational activities, clothes, and friends to foster autonomy and competence, but they set limits around daily routines, recreational activities, and interpersonal…

In this article, the author discusses how important kindergarten is and how important it is for the parents to choose a kindergarten program that will be appropriate for their child. Most parents understand the importance of education and its relationship to their child's success in later years. However, today is a confusing time to be raising a…

This study investigates whether depressive tendencies or anger/hostility is associated with an increased propensity for a mother to target a particular child in the family as the "problem child." The 180 participants were drawn from a larger cohort of urban, low-income mothers and young children. Maternal data were gathered from measures of…

In an effort to understand the reasons that young children might be referred for psychological services, ratings provided by mothers who had contacted a psychology clinic were compared to those provided by mothers who were college students. Results of this study suggested that children who were referred for psychological services were rated as…

Purpose: This qualitative study explored mothers' perceptions of their children's communication disabilities, emergent literacy development, and speech-language therapy programs. Method: Participants were 14 Mexican immigrant mothers and their children (age 17-47 months) who were receiving center-based services from an early childhood intervention…

Drawing on data from the 1995 National Household Education Survey, this report examines the characteristics of the care and education children receive on a regular basis before they enter school. The report focuses on various characteristics of child care arrangements categorized into two groups: those that have been associated with children's…

The Revised Children's Eating Behaviour Inventory, the Parenting Stress Index, and the Krug Autism Behavior Checklist were used to assess eating/mealtime problems and related variables in 33 young high functioning autistic children (mean age 5 years, 3 months), 295 normally developing children (mean age 5 years, 8 months) and 11 young boys (mean…

Parents' views concerning the developmental assessment of their special children were evaluated, and a diagnostic model was developed based on the findings. Nineteen families whose 3- to 36-month-old children were undergoing first-time developmental evaluations were studied through questionnaire and interview responses. Twelve recurring themes…

Twenty-four two-parent families of young multihandicapped children (ages 2-37 months) participated in a study comparing play behaviors of fathers and mothers, as well as the relationship to parental involvement in play of fathers' and mothers' perceptions of (1) the child, (2) the impact of the child on the family, and (3) perceived level of…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a research project that examined the nature of the relationship between 52 Navajo caregivers' perceptions of the early intervention service system and specific program, provider, and family variables. The project also investigated perceptions of 16 early intervention personnel regarding barriers to, and…

During 1998 and 1999, the Starting School Project at the University of Western Sydney-Macarthur conducted a survey across New South Wales (Australia) of parent and teacher opinions about children's successful transition to school. Survey responses were received from 240 teachers and 243 parents of young children. Respondents were grouped according…

Compared perceptions of 39 parents and 186 teachers toward death education for young children. Parents expressed significantly less support than teachers for death education as a part of early childhood education and did not wish teachers to share their personal or religious beliefs with children. (Author/JAC)

The Early Childhood Project is a longitudinal investigation of contexts in which children from different sociocultural groups learn to read. Data collected from 41 families showed some consistency between parental beliefs on fostering reading development (entertainment versus skills perspective) and nature of experiences made available to…

A survey involving 53 parents of children (mean age 5.3) with mental disabilities asked parents to rate various aspects of special education and related services. Results found parents were more concerned about development of skills in key areas than holistic skills development and were satisfied with current student placement. (CR)

Discusses cases in which there is a conflict between what educators perceive as being best for children in light of their program's mission and what parents believe to be best in the context of home life. Suggests looking at problems of this nature from the perspective of each of the key players, one by one. (AA)