During the 20th century, preschool education in Lithuania evolved within a context of a changing society, ideology, and politics, including the experience of national independence, two world wars, political exile and occupation, and regained independence. This paper demonstrates the connection between past and present preschool educational…

This pamphlet, in English- and Spanish-language versions, offers information to parents on the functioning and benefits of Head Start, a federal program for preschool children from low-income families. The pamphlet's sections answer the following questions: (1) "What Is Head Start?" (2) "What Can the Head Start Program Offer to Your…

In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, teachers and parents use a kindergarten screening and academic readiness intervention program that nips potential learning problems in the bud. (Editor/SJL)

Indicates that it is possible for very young children to learn some basic concepts about nutrition which can affect their eating habits. To foster such learning, an appropriate curriculum for the children's age level must be planned and implemented. (Author/MP)

Describes a program designed for four-year olds to teach them about the human body. The learning activity employs a hands-on, discovery approach in which children construct models of their bodies, enabling them to learn how the various systems in the human body work and to appreciate the similarities and differences among people. (TJQ)

Describes the International Reading Project, a series of six weekly one-hour sessions that focus on teaching parents with limited reading skills how to read aloud to their children. Notes that (1) choral reading is a major part of the program; and (2) the low-income families and their children who participated in the program were all African…

Describes a project about lines in the environment used with 2- and 3-year olds and based on the Reggio Emilia approach. Activities included making tracks with riding toys, drawing lines on papers, seeing cloud lines, and making lines with yarn and Cuisenaire rods. Shows how young children's observations and ongoing discoveries can uncover their…

Background: To explore whether social or emotional outcomes for high-risk early adolescent youth that attended an established preventive intervention called the Chicago Child-Parent Center Preschool Program (CPC) are moderated by individual, family and program variations. Purpose: Two questions are addressed: (1) Do the effects of CPC preschool…

A parent-child dialogic reading program was implemented across four preschools, involving 62 caregivers/parents in a low socioeconomic status, disadvantaged community where English was not the first language in 54 per cent of the homes. This socioculturally sensitive program aimed to enhance children's language and emergent literacy development,…

In a review of the challenges to progress in providing social research evidence that might usefully inform policy, Oakley (2004) argues strongly that the "paradigm divide" between qualitative and quantitative research communities continues to constitute a major problem. Oakley refers to a number of recent critiques of what is seen as "misplaced…

This paper describes the proposed School Without Walls program in the United Kingdom, a television-centered project which is designed to deliver high quality nursery (preschool) education direct to children at a fraction of the cost of traditional educational television programming. The daily programs will present a selection of practical learning…

Recognizing that children who experience continuity as they enter formal education are more likely to sustain their earlier gains than children who do not experience continuity, this document provides guidelines for preschool, Head Start, and elementary teachers and administrators on transition procedures. An executive summary begins the document.…

This document consists of the three 1998 issues of The Bernard van Leer Foundations'"Early Childhood Matters." This periodical, addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood development, evolved from an in-house publication directed to projects funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Articles in the February 1998 edition…

This document reviews problems in the identification and assessment of behavioral impairment in young students. Several models of emotional disturbance are reviewed and characteristics of behavior problems are outlined. Assessment methods discussed include observation of student behavior patterns and more formal instruments (such as the "Neonatal…