Describes the use of narrative to encourage African American teacher education students to reflect on their personal, cultural, and familial experiences, examine their own beliefs about teaching and learning, and reflect on relationships between theory and practice in education. Includes some excerpts from the students' journals that reflect how…

Advocates teaching Braille to sighted children as a strategy for raising awareness and promoting a positive view of blindness. Explains what Braille is, and outlines a classroom lesson that can be used in the primary grades to teach about the use of Braille. Promotes the view that blindness is a characteristic rather than a handicap. (DR)

Suggests that the growing interest in project work in early childhood education is in response to the call for developmentally appropriate practices. Defines projects and discusses the beginning of a project. Discusses the three phases of the "construction site/house project" by four- and five-year olds and provides responses to frequently asked…

Notes that jump rope rhymes and street chants are part of an oral tradition that links communication and play. Although rarely incorporated into the elementary curriculum, they expose children to rhyme, rhythm, humor, and poetry. Discusses opportunities for student involvement and integration of rhymes and chants across the curriculum, and…

Notes that Logo, a computer programming language developed for children by Seymour Papert, constitutes a valuable learning environment for promoting higher order thinking skills and promotes development of flexible and creative thinkers. Introduces the concept of Logo microworlds. Stresses cooperative learning and the use of Logo to support…

Recounts an interview with Professor Amita Verma. Highlights Professor Verma's contributions to practice, research, and policy in early childhood education and development at the national level in India. Suggests sources of information and the influence of various leaders on early childhood education and care in India. Indicates that concern about…

Views school readiness as an ideological issue affecting American society and dominated by middle-class white values, which results in different treatment for middle-class students and "deficient students." Advocates moving away from a two-tiered system of education and toward a more democratic form of schooling that recognizes multiple…

Describes the children's museum movement, exhibits common to children's museums, and the role of children's museums in providing interactive environments for young children to complement the learning that goes on in classrooms and at home. Provides contact information for five children's museums. (DR)

Notes that the hobby of collecting is a way families can reinforce and expand a child's learning when not in school by encouraging development of classification, categorizing, and decision-making skills. Describes resources on and what can be learned by collecting rocks, seashells, cards, and stamps. (DR)

Reviews: "How to Get Your Teaching Ideas Published: A Writer's Guide to Educational Publishing" (Stangl); "Early Childhood Curriculum: Developmental Bases for Learning and Teaching" (Wortham); "Investigating Mathematics with Young Children" (Althouse); "When Children Write: Critical Revisions of the Writing Workshop" (Lensmire); and "Cooperative…

Summarizes eight recent ERIC documents and seven journal articles on mixed-age grouping. Includes discussions of teaching in the multiage classroom, Kentucky's Primary Program, developmentally appropriate practices in the primary grades, thematic instruction, attitudes toward mixed-age grouping, and questions and answers about mixed-age grouping.…

Reviews five articles on infants and toddlers and the adults who care for them. Includes discussions of caregiver stability and attachment behavior; infants' sensory abilities; alternative public schooling for pregnant teenagers; and the psychosocial, behavioral, and developmental characteristics of toddlers prenatally exposed to cocaine. (DR)

Reviews: "Child in the Family: Developing Child Series"; "Parents, Kids and Books: The Joys of Reading Together"; "Toys"; "Traits of a Healthy Family"; and "Excellent Beginnings: Helping Schools Reach Families." (DR)

Noting that today's economic, social, and scientific problems require creative solutions, points out the need for creative talent. Discusses how current thinking and educational practices in this country do little to encourage the development of creative individuals. Suggests that concentrating on developing the potential of each individual would…

Focusing on the United States as a case study, explores the nature of responsibility for children and families in America; attitudes toward responsibility for children and families; issues to be considered when shaping responsibility for children and families; and possible change if strategies for improving services to children and families are…