Used a life-world theoretical perspective as basis for examining how moral values and norms are expressed in interaction between Swedish toddlers and their preschool teachers or caregivers. Found that teachers/caregivers related morality to children's emotional and cognitive ability; to children's feelings of empathy, guilt, and shame; and to…

This review searched English-language journals from the United Kingdom and other countries to assess empirical evidence concerning good practice in the provision of out-of-school child care. Findings suggest that quality in out-of-school provision is linked to staff training, program structure, and appropriate adult-child ratios and group sizes.…

Examined social behaviors of Head Start children from high- or low-quality classrooms in urban or rural settings. Found that maternal depression related to fewer parent-reported positive social behaviors and more problem behaviors. Parent-reported home violence related to fewer teacher-reported disruptive behaviors. Higher quality classrooms had…

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) provided descriptive data on the speech and language of 25-month-olds. Findings indicated great range in the stage of expressive language development achieved. Girls showed more advanced skills than boys. A clear pattern was identified in use of sound classes. Child verbal comprehension…

Investigated the effect of a 3-week school-based nutrition education program on nutrition knowledge and healthy food choices of fifth graders randomly assigned to experimental or control group. Found that the experimental group exhibited a significant increase in nutrition knowledge from pretest to posttest and significant change in compliance in…

Describes a developmental screening project conducted by Oregon Healthy Start, a home visiting program for first-time parents. Explains procedures of the project, and describes the Ages and Stages Questionnaires, a parent-completed screening tool used as an outcome measure. Presents outcomes of the project, including recommendations for using…

Examined performance of Canadian French- and English-speaking preschoolers on four number tasks. Found that French-speaking preschoolers performed more poorly on rote-counting and number-recognition than English-speaking preschoolers. Found no difference between groups on counting objects. Variability in counting and number recognition was…

Examined predictors of compliance in 51 mother-toddler (15 to 31 months) dyads. Found that emotional availability (especially sensitivity and structuring) assessed during a laboratory free play period was the strongest predictor of compliance. High-compliance toddlers were perceived by their mothers to be less socially fearful and less prone to…

Reviews literature on music perception and cognition in the first year of life and examines their contribution to domains such as child development and music education. Focuses on studies examining musical features and the uses of music in the everyday life of infants and their caretakers. Critiques previous and current literature. Discusses…

Examined the experiences of preschool and school-age child care providers regarding sick child care. Found that providers repeatedly described sick children whose health problems made it impossible to provide adequate care for sick and well children in their care. Findings pose international public health policy implications for child care and…

Analyzed influence of diverse variables on theory of mind development in preschoolers. Assessed development levels in diverse areas, along with the quality of family interaction, quality of attachment, and the children's performance with a series of mind tasks. Developed a multi-causal model to aid research into the optimum family environment for…

This study examined the importance of roles teachers undertake to promote literacy in kindergarten classrooms. Content analyses of videotaped play identified, defined, and described the roles teachers assumed in promoting children's literacy development in the context of play, including discussion leader, storyteller, examiner, instructional…

Determined the characteristics of established methods for measuring a child's self-perception and investigated the psychometric properties of Self-Perception for School Children (SPSC). Found that girls rated themselves higher on academic competence and artistic aesthetic competence, whereas boys rated themselves higher on negative behavior and…

Examined impact of a professional development school (PDS) partnership between a university and two early childhood centers on the quality of care and education within programs. Found that the partnerships increased quality of care and education in both programs. Findings suggest that universities can have an impact at a local level if they reach…

Studied infant temperament in low birth weight (LBW) and full-term (FT) healthy infants in relation to infant temperament and child-rearing stress. Found that although differences between child-rearing stress scores were not significant between mothers of LBW and FT infants, a higher proportion of child-rearing stress could be explained by the…