Provides examples of age-appropriate saving and spending activities that teachers can encourage in students to help them develop wise consumer behaviors. Suggests that younger children can save money in piggy banks or savings accounts, and older students can utilize checking accounts and mutual funds. All students can donate unneeded possessions…

Reviews four professional books: (1) "Changing Teaching, Changing Schools. Bringing Early Childhood Practice into Public Education: Case Studies from the Kindergarten" (O'Connell); (2) "Whole Language Plus: Essays on Literacy in the United States and New Zealand" (Cazden); (3) "Audacious Kids: Coming of Age in America's Classic Children's Books"…

Reviews two computer software programs for children: (1) "Ready, Set, Read with Bananas and Jack" (Sierra Discovery Series), available for Windows or Macintosh systems, which uses animation and sound to teach early reading skills; and (2) "Word Connection" (Action Software), a Macintosh program that creates word puzzles. (MDM)

Compares and contrasts four curricular models: prescriptive, thematic, KWHL, and inquiry. Diagrams characteristic features of each and discusses progressive patterns revealed and basic divisions between models of linear sequential learning versus circular recursive learning. Focuses on the latter models, especially inquiry, and on its practical…

Recognizes that the current contentious climate in school reform efforts is the product of broad social, economic, religious, and political discontent, and that this climate has immobilized meaningful reform and discouraged quality teaching. Suggests likely outcomes if this climate remains unchecked. Provides recommendations and suggestions on how…

Recounts the experiences of starting a new school designed, built, staffed, and programmed around the following beliefs: all students can be successful learners; all can learn at significantly high levels; research should inform the instructional process; and curriculum content must reflect high expectations for students, though instructional time…

Examines technology available to educators and the current trend toward school change. Sees complementary paths for both. While computers are changing thought organization and opening new avenues for learning, schools are reorganizing to give children a sense of ownership and control over what they are doing. Overall, sees use of computers as a…

Supports year-round education in lieu of the traditional, agricultural economy-based school calendar, noting the advantages for teachers, students, and administrators. Describes one school's implementation experiences over several years. Includes detailed discussions of the single-track calendar, child care before and after school, intersession…

Focuses on two-way multicultural exchange in the classroom and materials and experiences that allow students to see their own culture from the perspectives of outsiders and see and understand another culture's point of view. Suggests using multicultural literature, integrated across the curriculum, to help students make this personal journey. (ET)

Defines the term "empowerment" as it applies to teachers and to children. Suggests the foundation needed for empowering includes respect, validation, and success. Also discusses the characteristics of ownership, choice, decision making, intrinsic motivation, responsibility, independence, risk taking, collaboration, and self-evaluation as factors…

Examines the formation of a solid and lasting parent-teacher connection. Provides teachers a list of experiences that can be shared with parents to help build strong links in the home-school chain. Includes list of recommended reading and resources. (ET)

Reviews five selections from childhood and education periodicals on parent role characteristics, parent education and student achievement, father's child-care involvement, parenting gifted children, and family leisure and social support. (ET)

Summarizes 16 recent ERIC documents and journal articles on children's social difficulties. Topics of the articles include social-cognitive processes of withdrawn children; genetic and environmental influences on inhibition; anxious-withdrawn preschoolers; helping children grow up in the 1990s; development of inhibition; behaviors of parents of…

Disagrees with Whitson's central point that the creative element in schools is in the minority. Also takes issue with Whitson's perception of the historic role of education in this country, using data that show how education has been viewed, since the nation's founding, as an endeavor to direct students' behavior toward compliance, not…

Encourages parents to be aware of how natural exploration and play can facilitate learning in their children. Gives activities, adjustable in difficulty depending on developmental age of child, such as cooking that can be used to develop readiness for reading, writing, and math. Includes suggestions for inexpensive materials. (ET)