A product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds (Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool, or MECEP) was conducted in 1993-94. The Piaget-based program, which served approximately 280 children at 9 elementary schools, involves 7 component areas: cognitive,…

A product evaluation of the Saginaw, Michigan School District's state-funded prekindergarten program for at-risk 4-year-olds (Michigan School Readiness Program, formerly Michigan Early Childhood Education Preschool, or MECEP) was conducted in 1994-95. The Piaget-based program, which served approximately 302 children at 9 elementary schools,…

More mothers than ever are now entering the work force and leaving greater numbers of preschool children and infants with less maternal supervision. How this phenomenon affects the development of infants and preschoolers has been the focus of much research, and research results have been mixed. A review of the research related to maternal…

Results of a longitudinal study provide several insights into the idealization of motherhood, the idealization of mothers' relationships with their children in the years from 1 to 4, and the development of children of women who idealize motherhood. In the mother, idealization is associated with low self-esteem, denial of ambivalent feelings and…

This paper provides an overview of a project (now in its formative stages) to develop Head Start measures of program effects on children 3 to 7 years of age. The program approach is distinctive in emphasizing evaluation of all aspects of children's development that may affect their overall competence in reflecting the concerns, views, and values…

This booklet presents a description of the Responsive Education Program (REP) by summarizing the book entitled "The Responsive Education Program." Each of the 12 parts of the summary is a two-page abstract of a paper in the book. The papers summarized describe the program's goals, objectives, principles, and application to the classroom…

This preschool resource curriculum, intended for use in a Head Start center, was written to correspond with a work plan and curriculum for children 3 to 5 years of age. The units included in the curriculum guide are aimed at integrating growth experiences with the learning of basic skills. Each of the 16 units contains material related to each of…

This paper discusses some commonly recognized characteristics of preadolescent and early adolescent youngsters and the needs which underlie them, and describes the variety of resources available to the parent who seeks to understand, guide, and live in harmony with a young person who has begun the transition from child to young adult.…

This paper compares the effects of television viewing to the effects of imaginative play on children's cognitive development. The major developmental tasks which confront the growing child are presented and the significance of imaginative play as a critical feature of the child's cognitive and affective development is discussed. The cognitive…

Papers and discussants' comments from a symposium on issues concerning infants' reactions to strangers are presented. Researchers agreed that there is a developmental shift in infant behavior at 7 to 9 months of age when the infant becomes more cautious in approaching strangers. However, investigators hypothesize that the presence of the mother,…

This paper presents a brief critique of the current failures of schooling to produce healthy psychological growth as well as a rationale for needed new forms for education. A new curriculum for secondary schools is presented, the result of a three year project in public schools. Employing a combination of practicum and seminar experiences in…

The Self-Schedule System is an instructional-learning management "tool" designed to implement the curriculum components of an individualized early learning program. The overall concern of the system is to provide ecological supports which enable the teacher to adapt instruction to individual students, and encourage students to assume…

Described in this report is a home-based, cognitive-affective intervention program involving 93 mothers and their children. This demonstration program sought to show that the principal cognitive element missing from the experience of low-income children in preparation for schooling is a sufficient amount of concept-building verbal interaction in…

A 5-year longitudinal study of infant day care programs in New York City is described. Emphasis is on the effects of day care on the child and family, particulary with regard to mother-infant separation. The study is large scale (involving 550 children and families), and it focuses on service-oriented programs that have been developed in the past…

This paper investigates the evidence for adult-infant ratios in day care centers, finding that current evidence is based largely on the premise that a low number of infants per adult should result in greater interaction between the adults and the infants, and, thereby, better infant care. Support for this premise is derived from three main…