Discusses the options for securing funding to provide assistive technology devices and services in service settings. Options include Medicaid, The School Health and Related Services Program, and The Early Periodic, Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment Program. Considers Medicaid payment requirements and private insurance as a funding source.…

Examined caregiver reading patterns with infants in metropolitan day care centers. Found effects for infant age, group size, and gender on caregiver's reading habits. Found that caregiver reading was quite brief for all ages and that caregivers found it easier to read to female than to male infants. Findings suggest the need for reading courses…

Examined the practices teachers employ to help children and families make the transition to school, and the links between school, teacher, and classroom characteristics and transition practices. Discusses findings on factors influencing transition practice, including teacher experience and training, teacher race or ethnicity, class size, and the…

Focus groups were used to explore emergent issues for men in early childhood education. Preservice teachers, classroom teachers, and male professors identified six categories of issues, including low salaries, family and other influences on entering the field, teaching beyond the basics, improvement of preservice education, recruitment of males,…

Presents questions that will assist early childhood teachers in evaluating their own views and behaviors toward various ethnic groups. Provides resources for teachers to educate themselves, parents, and students. Asserts that teachers can promote more positive attitudes among students and educate children to be respectful and accept the…

Investigated changes in mathematics anxiety among future teachers in two mathematics materials and methods classes incorporating Bruner's framework of developing conceptual knowledge before procedural knowledge and the use of mathematics manipulatives. Pretest-posttest comparisons showed significant reductions in overall mathematical anxiety,…

Highlights points that guide the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education: the learner is a social being who possesses rights and is an active constructor of knowledge; the instructors' role is one of collaborator and co-learner, guiding and facilitating, as well as researching; and knowledge is socially constructed, encompassing…

Highlights considerations in designing high-quality, developmentally appropriate indoor play environments for all children. Suggestions for arranging classroom space focus on arrangement and accessibility of play areas. Tips for selecting and arranging play materials relate to ensuring diversity of play materials, increasing and maintaining…

Investigated how play in the natural environment of three Norwegian kindergartens might stimulate 5- to 7-year-olds' motor fitness, focusing on the affordances of the landscape for versatile play. Found that children using the forest as a playscape performed better in motor skills than children on a traditional playground. Play activities related…

Child care professionals in Hawaii were surveyed to assess health training needs. Respondents reported a high degree of comfort in managing common health conditions. The most commonly requested health services involved speech/language testing and vision/hearing screening. The most requested health/safety workshop topic was behavioral problems. The…

Presents the elements of a scaffolding model in early childhood teacher preparation programs. Describes the theoretical foundations provided by Piaget, Vygotsky, and Dewey. Discusses supports in the scaffold for preservice teachers including child development knowledge and national standards, the role of technology, modeling appropriate…

Describes the dispositions comprising decency. Discusses how children acquire a sense of decency through the learning cycle of caring and serving, and describes how serving and caring strategies in family and school can promote decency through caring for self, others, the environment, and through service to others. Emphasizes the importance of…

Emerging Literacy Technology Curriculum (ELiTeC 2, [referred to as E2 in this report]), housed at the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood at Western Illinois University, was funded in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) as a 3-year Phase 3 Steppingstones of Technology Research on…

The Expressive Arts Outreach (EAO) project, housed at the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center) at Western Illinois University, was funded in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) as a 3-year outreach project. The target population was 3-8 year old children with a wide range of…

The toolkit contains print and electronic resources, including (1) "eMERGing Literacy and Technology: Working Together", A 492 page curriculum guide; (2) "LitTECH Interactive Presents: The Beginning of Literacy", a DVD that provides and overview linking technology to the concepts of emerging literacy; (3) "Your Preschool Classroom Computer Center:…