Infants and young children are vulnerable to multiple types of trauma, including neglect and sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Some believe that young children are not impacted by trauma and that, if they are, they will simply "grow out of it." Continuing research, however, clearly demonstrates that trauma can alter young children's…

This book makes explicit connections between young children's spontaneous repeated actions and their representations of their emotional worlds. Drawing on the literature on schemas, attachment theory and family contexts, the author takes schema theory into the territory of the emotions, making it relevant to the social and emotional development…

Attachment describes the unique human ability to form lasting relationships with others, and to maintain these relationships over time and distance. Research into attachment has shown that children have the potential to form many attachment relationships, and that each relationship can contribute to the child's growing sense of self. This booklet…

The literature review examines the relationship of neurological impairment in young children with their social and emotional development. It identifies disorders of interaction and/or attachment and disorders of independence/dependence as specific maladaptive social and emotional states associated with neurological impairment. Three theoretical…

Noting that millions of young American children are at-risk because they have been denied bonding and communication with a caring adult, this book serves as a call for national attention and provides a guide for developing the parenting skills needed by today's parents and child caregivers. The book contends that caregivers' qualifications must…

This paper emphasizes the need for early childhood teachers to value themselves more highly in order to better their work with young children. The goal of working with children must be to build their self-esteem so they like themselves as human beings. The document (1) reviews research findings that will help teachers make insightful caregiving…

This module is part of a training program for foster parents and foster care workers offered at Colorado State University. The module's learning objectives address: (1) factors that interact to affect child development; (2) developmental milestones for infants and young children; (3) parenting processes appropriate to the childhood years; (4)…

Recognizing the importance of helping children develop coping skills to deal with daily separations and more serious losses, this handbook provides basic information and classroom support strategies for teachers and caregivers to use responsively with preschoolers. Parts 1 through 3 of the handbook provide a rationale for responding to the…