Aistear: The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework, was launched in Ireland in 2009. The framework is applicable in all settings where children in the 0-6-year range are present; this includes all early years settings and the first two years of primary schools, referred to as "infant classes" in the Irish context. This article shares the…

The objective of this study was to provide intensive, consistent experience in the following developmental areas: relation to objects and vocal and gestural imitation. The curriculum was developed in an inner city industry-based day care center with 14 infants aged 8 to 19 months initially. The Hunt-Uzgiris Scales measuring development in these…

Discusses the role of language development in educational achievement and the implications of this role for curriculum development. Children's preschool knowledge of language and its development in early school years is discussed. How their language experiences in school might enhance their language development also is outlined. Highlighted are…

Observed 37 pairs of low-income adolescent mothers and infants over a 6-month period to determine efficacy of clinical determinations of risk. Found that maternal-risk status was significantly associated with more sensitive parenting behaviors including responsiveness to infant cues and to infant distress, and social, emotional, and cognitive…

This report describes a comparative study of methods of home-based infant and parent education. The study involved 108 children, aged 1 to 2 1/2 years, in six groups of 18 each. In three groups a home visitor worked with the children and their mothers using a curriculum which focused on either play, language, or social development. In a fourth…

This curriculum was designed as a learning sequence for the adults in charge of a group care center for infants. For example, the sequence of the steps in the child's motor development (e.g., reaching) are described, and some activities and materials appropriate to each step are suggested. Other areas for developmental sequences and activities…

This book, a collection of articles by early childhood specialists, represents an attempt to identify issues and major concerns in the field, and analyze selected aspects of knowledge pertaining to early childhood education. The articles are: (1) "Introduction: From a Time of Plenty" by Bernard Spodek and Herbert J. Walberg; (2) "Affective and…

Designed for caregivers who work with infants in day care centers, family day care programs, Home Start infant programs, and programs for the developmentally disabled, this book provides guidelines for establishing a respectful, responsive, and reciprocal relationship between the caregiver and the infant. Ten principles for promoting this kind of…

This review of early childhood research examines what has been accomplished in the field and what questions now need to be answered. Project Head Start has had the effect of helping developmental psychology to become more comprehensive and less ethnocentric than previously. Developmental psychologists are now studying infants and toddlers and the…

This book's 15 chapters elaborate on specific educational practices in early intervention and early childhood special education, recommended by a task force of the Council for Exceptional Children's Division of Early Childhood. The selected practices were identified through a process involving analysis of expert opinions, professional consensus,…