Describes development of the Early Head Start program for low-income pregnant women and families with children from birth to age 3. Discusses the program's goals and the creation of Early Head Start when Head Start was reauthorized in 1994. Describes the Early Head Start model programs, addressing the confusion about the relationship between Head…

Outlines a method of storytelling and movement whereby the teacher tells a story and the children rework and dance the story. Describes supporting scholarly and philosophical concepts; classic myths of many cultures are noted as most appropriate for this process. Suggests that this method enhances cognitive function, stimulates imagination,…

Describes the sociocultural context of Greek education, especially foreign language learning, as well as teaching practices and approaches. Describes a foreign language program (Teaching English) in a Greek preschool, and notes positive reactions to the program. (SR)

Examines the extent to which preschool children are aware of and acquire the phonemic structure of the spoken word. Tests 4-year-old nonreaders, assessing product name reading ability, knowledge of the alphabet, rhyme skills, and explicit phonemic awareness ability. Finds subjects acquired knowledge of the alphabet before they showed explicit…

Posits that alphabet books might be one connection between success in phonemic awareness tasks and high levels of alphabet knowledge. Gives three treatments to different groups of prekindergartners. Finds that all groups gained in print concept and letter knowledge, but the conventional alphabet group gained most in phoneme awareness. (PA)

Results of 3 sentence-interpretation experiments involving 180 preschoolers suggest that very little explicit syntactic knowledge is needed to give children some structural clues to verb meaning. Sentence structure appears to have a meaning of its own that can be applied by analogy to the child's conceptual representation. (SLD)

Recounts the experience of one family whose son's August birthday was close to the September kindergarten cutoff date and their decision to delay his kindergarten entry. Discusses the family decision to enroll the child in an alternative kindergarten program designed for children with summer birth dates. Reports that although the decision was…

Contains four workshop presentations on meals in child care: (1) "Enjoying Family-Style Meals in Child Care" (Sarah A. Mulligan Gordon); (2) "The Making of a Healthy Eater: Winning the Finicky Eater Battle" (James M. Thomas and others); (3) "Food for Thought: Mealtimes can be Educational and Enjoyable, Too" (Karen…

Presents strategies for child care directors' professional development: (1) experience the concept of balance physically through yoga or another activity; (2) think of roles as a triangle comprised of managing and overseeing tasks, teaching and coaching, and building and supporting community; (3) get out of isolation through networking; and (4)…

Describes five basic understandings involved in rational counting: (1) groupings of same or different items may be counted; (2) there is a stable order of the counting numbers; (3) one-to-one correspondence; (4) it does not matter which item is counted first; and (5) the cardinal principle. Discusses the importance of rational counting ability and…

Discusses the new Program Performance Standards for Head Start, including the inclusion of guidelines for Early Head Start, the integration of program services, and family partnerships. Examines the impact of new standards on non-Head Start programs. Includes a quiz for early childhood programs to assess how their program rates on the new…

Two experiments compared preschoolers' awareness of knowledge transitions involving behavioral changes to those involving vocabulary or general knowledge changes. Found that children tended to report they had learned something new when novel information was behavioral (e.g., counting in Japanese) and tended to claim prior knowledge when the novel…

A study examined the use of structural analysis as part of an assessment-based intervention of a 4-year-old boy whose noncompliance and aggressive behavior put him at risk for behavioral disorders and expulsion from his childcare center. The intervention was found to reduce immediately the noncompliance and aggressive behavior. (Author/CR)

Two studies examined whether effects of attention to rewards during a delay of gratification task in waiting situations affects preschoolers' ability to delay gratification in working situations. Findings show that when work provides distraction, attention on rewards reduces delay time whether working or waiting; when work is not engaging,…

Examined whether activities in the preschool curriculum across Northern Ireland are more adult-directed or child-directed. Findings from observations of 71 preschool settings showed that the curriculum of most reception settings was more adult-directed, while most nursery schools, play groups, and private day nurseries adopted a child-initiated…