Discusses how parents can discipline their children successfully. Distinguishes between punishment, permissiveness, and discipline. Provides parents with guidelines on positive steps in disciplining their children with practices that are appropriate to the child's age and developmental level, especially infants, toddlers, and preschool children.…

Reacting to an article describing the Individualized Support Project Program (EC 618 445) for young children with autism and their families, this article notes that the program's primary purpose is family preservation through restoring family efficacy, solving child behavior problems, and establishing child communication. The program is seen as…

Discusses the importance of nurturing alliances between specialists and families within the context of developmental assessments. Five axioms with family stories illustrate how specialists and families can collaborate during assessments to ensure that services include families and promote acquisition of knowledge in natural settings. (Author/CR)

This study compared the effect of two language sampling elicitation contexts, free play and picture descriptions, on variability in the use of African American English (AAE) with 65 normally developing African American children (ages 4 to 6) from lower socioeconomic status homes. Picture descriptions elicited more AAE usage overall, a larger set…

Investigated the extent to which family environment predicted differences in trajectories of adaptive development in young children with Down syndrome. Found that growth in communication, daily living skills, and socialization domains were predicted by family cohesion and mother/child interaction beyond that predicted by maternal education. Bailey…

When faced with threats to physical or psychological well-being, our bodies and brains respond in a variety of self-protective ways, including the production of stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Our ability to turn this response on and off is critical to healthy functioning in society, and scientists now believe that significant…

This practice/policy brief focuses on early childhood home visiting as a place-based family strengthening strategy that supports parent/caregivers as a key influence on the lives of young children. ("Place-based family strengthening" means that "children do better when their families are strong, and families do better when they live in communities…

A study was undertaken to determine the effects of tobacco smoke in the home on children's cognitive development. The study focused on 280 children, representing equal numbers of boys and girls and of Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. When the participating children were 2 years old, their mothers were surveyed, interviewed, and tested to gather…

In this address, Richard W. Riley contends that parents' most important activity is to raise their children. Parents, educators and policymakers can work together to create a healthy and nurturing environment for all children in America. Young children absorb and later imitate adult activities they see, and they observe their parents more than…

The monograph presents essential components of a decision making sequence used to incorporate formalized family assessment and service planning procedures into two existing early intervention programs in Massachusetts. The 1-year effort used a consultant to: (1) redefine screening and assessment processes to include both child and family centered…

This nationwide study examined the following factors in terms of predictive relationships between home environment and child adjustment within mother-employed households: (1) marital status; (2) number of hours worked per week; (3) full- versus part-time employment; (4) mother's occupational classification; (5) family income; (6) child rearing…

This book reports on the Harvard Preschool Project, a study of how child-rearing practices affect the development of social and intellectual competence in children from birth to age six. The study is based on the experiences of 31 subjects in their own homes in Massachusetts. Part I gives the introduction, background and strategy for determining…

Enumerates ways to help early readers without negatively affecting their development in other areas, such as: (l) providing an atmosphere rich in environment print and positive role models, (2) using encouragement rather than praise as a means of reinforcing their progress, (3) exhibiting respect for the child, (4) eliminating criticism and…

This report summarizes the findings of a study of the effects of home environment on child outcomes as influenced by the Infant Health and Development Program, an intervention aimed at improving the health and development of premature, low birth weight infants through parental education and support and enriched educational day care and health…

Based on the idea that parents are the first and most important teachers of their children's literacy, this booklet offers 101 practical and fun-to-do activities that children and parents can do together. The activities in the booklet are organized to fit the way parents tend to think about their time with their children: in the nursery; at…