Describes Project GLEAN (Gain Leverage and Empowerment through Adequate Nutrition), a partnership between a university, a food bank, and a K-8 elementary school to distribute food to the school's children, all of whom were eligible for free school meals. Reports that nearly 55 tons of food were distributed in 2001-2002 and that low-income children…

Summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles, and highlights some World Wide Web resources that describe, evaluate, or compare various curricula or instructional methods, such as Creative Curriculum, High/Scope, the Montessori Method, Waldorf Schools, and Direct Instruction. (Author)

Uses the example of a fourth-grade class working to have the firefly declared as Pennsylvania's state insect to highlight the effectiveness of dynamic social studies in elementary school. Discusses how dynamic social studies maintains a balance between seriousness and fun by offering a blend of variety, active involvement, and excitement while…

Describes the enthusiastic support of parents and early childhood educators for including computer activities in programs for young children in Hong Kong. Describes the current status of computer environments in Hong Kong kindergartens, noting the lack of curriculum guidelines for integrating computers into classrooms, the lack of resources to…

Focuses on ways to ensure sustained parental participation in the school's multicultural educational efforts. Includes suggestions for identifying parents' multicultural education needs, interests, and expertise; for supporting parents in fostering a multicultural home environment, extending children's multicultural literacy, participating in the…

Describes how the use of haiku in elementary level writing instruction can develop writing and cognitive skills. Focuses on both traditional haiku with syllable pattern limits and nontraditional adaptations keeping with the intent of haiku to evoke a mood. Highlights how improvements in students' haiku writing benefited other types of writing.…

Notes societal weaknesses in children's care/education and highlights ways to reach children's hearts and minds. Highlights problems, including childhood obesity, high stakes testing, increasing use of psychiatric drugs for children, exposure to crime and violence, increasing child aggression, and increasing willingness to cheat and lie. Urges…

Explores how teachers can use picture book illustrations to teach children the art of collage. Focuses on three children's picture books and offers art activities showcasing three collage techniques: (1) cut and torn paper collage; (2) photomontage; and (3) texture collages and collage constructions. Relates each activity to the National Standards…

Raises concerns about whether literacy-enriched play in early childhood settings is really play. Presents a vignette to illustrate how a teacher can model literacy unobtrusively, thereby enhancing literacy, but unwittingly draw children away from meaningful play activities. Differentiates the cognitive processes involved in play and literacy…

Differentiates behaviors of peer-rejected and peer-neglected children at the early childhood level. Offers suggestions for teaching alternative behaviors to aggressive or withdrawn children, direct entry behaviors, positive responses to peers' initiation, verbal assertiveness, engagement in complex pretend play, and ways to show positive affection…

Cites examples from Pacific Rim countries to illustrate concerns about the ongoing process of continuity between early childhood programs. Includes discussion of philosophical, curricular, developmental, physical, organizational, and administrative continuities. Reiterates that the challenge of maintaining continuity among early childhood programs…

Offers suggestions for ways parents can participate in schools. Suggestions include individual activities, such as reflecting on one's assumptions about school, activities with children, such as providing a space and time for homework, cooperation with teachers by asking for needed resources to help in homework supervision, activities at school…

Points out that early childhood development research is fraught with questions about researchers' ability to understand the mind of the child and the feasibility of true collaboration with children in the research process. Delineates common complications in the research process and summarizes responses to a survey of early childhood researchers…

Asserts that the same positive outcomes associated with reading aloud to children also apply to oral storytelling, and encourages parents to share their culture, values, and beliefs through storytelling to their children. Presents specific ideas for storytelling, including "me" stories, story starters, nursery rhymes, books, cooking, make-believe,…

This column summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles, and highlights some World Wide Web resources, that discuss issues related to the problem of children biting in preschool. (Contains 13 annotated summaries.) (SD)