Joint attention refers to an early developing set of behaviors that plays a critical role in both social and language development and is specifically impaired in children with autism. In a series of three studies, preschool teachers demonstrated the effectiveness of discrete trial instruction and pivotal response training strategies to teach joint…

The presence of HIV-positive children in preschool and day care programs is becoming more widespread as medical research discovers new drugs to combat the disease. This paper examines one child's experience in his first 3 years of school in the Bronx, New York. The paper begins with a description of how teachers are becoming more aware of children…

Early childhood educators and parents face the task of educating young children in Canada about environmental issues. The sooner young children participate in activities with an environmental theme, the more likely they are to appreciate the environment. This booklet is designed to introduce early childhood educators to environmental education…

This paper elaborates on a series of quotations to illustrate major influences in children's language development. The first quotation, from Lilian G. Katz (1988), suggests that what children like is not necessarily developmentally appropriate for them. This idea can be applied to the development of language competence. In the second quotation,…

Excursions, or field trips, are a common component of early childhood programs, seen as a means of enriching the curriculum by providing experiences with people, places, and things in the community. Although excursions have been used as a framework for research on children's memory development, research on the efficacy of excursions in terms of…

A microanalysis of social interaction in a preschool classroom revealed ways in which children and teachers "co-constructed" the rudiments of school culture during the first three days of school. Findings are based on videotapes, teachers' notes, and daily field notes taken by a group of observers. The three domains of the establishment…

Presented is an interactional analysis of preschool circle time that builds on the view of classrooms as social systems within the broader culture of schooling. In the preschool studied, 18 children, 2 teachers, and several student teachers learned to use circle time together. The head teacher's approach to circle time was a developmental one,…

One of a series of 18, this Child Development Associate (CDA) training module provides a guide to promoting acute hearing and sound discrimination in young children through both group and self-selected music activities. Upon completion of this module the trainee is expected to be able to provide daily music experiences; emphasize enjoyment of and…

This comprehensive training program, Together We Can, involves a cooperative effort to reduce sex-role stereotyping and to expand options in education, work, and life styles for females and males. This packet consists of facilitator and participant manuals designed for use with preschool educators and parents of preschool children. This training…

Educational psychotherapy for preschool children and its functioning are described in detail. Also described is the process of training teachers to do this work. The educational psychotherapy process attempts to operate at the interface between education and psychotherapy. The components of catharsis, recall, sharpening and correcting of…

State-funded pre-Kindergarten is a growing phenomenon in the United States. The majority of 4-year-olds now spend time every weekday in care outside of their home and many of these children are being served in preschool classrooms funded with state education dollars. The public strongly supports such programs and there is generally bipartisan…

Drawing from several weeks of observation and study in Northern Italian preschools, this paper links practices in Reggio Emilia with the theoretical constructs of John Dewey, Susan Isaacs, and Howard Gardner. Part 1 presents background about the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, which are unique both in their respect for the space created for…

The third of three interactive staff development units on discipline in early childhood classrooms, this multi-media pack explores a technique to help early childhood teachers discern what a child is trying to communicate through disruptive behavior, so they can resolve such behavior rather than just react to it. The 25-minute teaching videotape…

The School Readiness Language Development Program (SRLDP) is one of several programs developed in response to a court order to racially integrate the Los Angeles Unified School District (California). The program, developed for schools with high proportions of minority students, includes oral language development opportunities for 4 year-olds, a…

Describes the development and field testing of a handbook for nursery school staff on the management of children's behavior problems. The handbook includes four schedules (for behavioral assessment, general assessment, parent interviews, and agency resources) and discusses play activity, behavior modification, and problem-solving approaches to…