Notes that many states are establishing educational and training systems to form a coordinated early care and education professional development system that allows professionals to access easily advanced levels of education without redundancy of content or expenditure of unnecessary time and money. Discusses New Mexico's establishment of core…

Discusses benefits of sidewalk or on-the-run conferences when teachers can talk to reticent parents, helping them feel welcome at school. Explains how to approach a sidewalk crowd, possible results of conferences, and what professionals can learn from off-the-record conferences. Suggests alternative ways to meet informally with parents to inform…

Examines the impact of feminist theory on instructors and students of early childhood education. Finds that content and pedagogy together impact the classroom by emphasizing participatory, nonauthoritarian, and experiential teaching techniques and subjective, student-centered learning. Reviews research on the phases of feminist teaching and…

Argues that many disabilities among children are increasingly attributable to environmental variables such as violence, poverty, toxic exposure, and family dysfunction. Notes that special education professionals have had primary responsibility for providing specialized services to disabled children and are uniquely qualified to provide resources,…

Child care directors as supervisors are called on to develop, train, evaluate, and appraise child care workers, having varying levels of experience and training in these functions. The professional literature shows commonality in supervisory models in early childhood settings and that directors benefit from in-service training. (SD)

Describes the role of mental health and educational consultants working with a five-year-old selectively mute child in Head Start. Describes strategies implemented in the interdisciplinary work with the teachers, parent, speech therapist, and child. Suggests that the more flexible and adaptive the consultant, the more accepted he or she will be…

Suggests that children involved in the process of creating games from other cultures gain an increased interest in learning about other cultures and increased cognitive, social, and interpersonal skills. Notes that stressing commonalities by making games rather than focusing on differences fosters sensitivity and a greater understanding of others.…

Describes how "being fully in the present" by providing quality time--defined as a combination of addressing needs and providing activities--provided a better learning environment for very young children, and for teachers, the ability to appreciate the uniqueness of children. Discusses and evaluates three types of quality time. (SD)

Describes the Reggio Emilia (Italy) model for preschool education. Addresses the perceived difficulties of transferring the program to U.S. schools, focusing on differences in patterns of thinking, educational attitudes, and cultural conventions between the two cultures. Provides perspectives for change and adaptation. (SD)

Argues that computers in early childhood classrooms serve to raise young children's self-esteem, self-concept, and place in the classroom community. Provides examples of specific computer exercises including storytelling, journals, autobiographies, classroom data collection and recording, and classroom activities. Notes that these computer…

Notes that, increasingly, young children with visual impairments are educated in community settings with nondisabled peers. Suggests information for the child care and preschool teacher to facilitate the development of children with visual impairments within inclusive settings. Specific suggestions are provided for addressing environmental…

Discusses the health-related implications of environmental hazards for children. Argues that low-income, minority communities are disproportionately affected, thus spurring the environmental justice movement which calls for equitable dealing with hazards. Suggests that children are at the greatest physical health risk, and that educators are in a…

Reviews current research on infant and toddler physical development, cognitive development, and language acquisition. Provides a list of suggested activities, safety concerns, and opportunities for caregivers to enhance child development. (SD)

Discusses two current monograph publications that provide frameworks for adult learning approaches that stress active, participatory, and reflective learning experiences for early care and education professionals, in an effort to eliminate passive learning by adults. A constructivist teacher-education approach is drawn from both works. (SD)

Recounts author's life as wife of an abusive alcoholic and mother of three preschool children. Describes how, through exposure to Head Start, the author provided her children with a preschool education, gained personal self-esteem, educated herself, left the abusive relationship, and ultimately returned to Head Start as a teacher. (SD)