This paper presents a review of the literature on toy play in infancy and early childhood, with an emphasis on both normal development and special considerations for young children with disabilities. Specifically, it describes children's encounters with toys within a developmental framework, identifies characteristics of the child and aspects of…

This annual report discusses several topics related to the work of the Research and Clinical Center for Child Development. Six topics are covered in the report. The articles are: (1) "Development of Intentional Behavior in Early Infancy" (Hongtu Chen); (2) "An Investigation of the Differences of Social Space in the Playroom: Through…

This book is an attempt to situate Canadian child-rearing advice in its historical and social context in 21st century and the origins and changes in this advice. The volume addresses the untold story of the experience of mothering that largely has been omitted from traditional accounts of history. This account of education for motherhood begins in…

This volume documents the rise in violence in our communities and explores its impact on children's physical, psychological, and social development. Focal themes are: the necessity for better information about the kinds of violence to which children are exposed, the necessity of beginning to build intervention strategies aimed at violence, and the…

This document evaluates a series of weekly activity guides developed for families of at-risk preschool children. The purpose of the guides was to increase communication between teachers and families, the amount of time families spent with their children on developmentally appropriate learning activities, and parental understanding of…

This study examined the assumption that all caregivers have a set of beliefs which represent their own underlying theory of child development and tested one strategy for identifying the beliefs that preschool caregivers hold. In order to classify caregivers' beliefs about children's social development, an adaptation of McGillicudy-DeLisi's (1992)…

This volume provides the latest research and theory in the area of children's play with their parents. It includes discussions of the basic processes involved in parent-child play, parent-child play in atypical populations of children, and parent-child play from a cross-cultural perspective. Fifteen chapters follow the introduction, "Parents and…

This longitudinal study examined consistency and change in human personality. Rather than studying the consistency of individual differences over time, an approach which considers only the stability of a variable at the group level and ignores differences in stability at an individual level, this study used a person-centered approach to study…

These three newsletter issues provide organizational news from the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition, the organization that administers the program that awards the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential to caregivers. Each issue provides a CDA profile of an exceptional educator or caregiver and a listing of CDA training…

This book explores the extent to which the development and socialization of minority children can be seen as continuous with their ancestral cultures. Whether cultural and political conditions in the United States have modified development and socialization processes, and the extent to which ancestral cultures have changed are examined in the 19…

Two studies evaluated cross cultural perspectives of children's moral and ecological reasoning as well as values about nature. The first study was conducted in Houston, Texas, with an inner city black community. Subjects were 72 children from impoverished families. The results suggested that the serious constraints of living in an inner-city…

This paper deals with the psychological processes and emotional experiences of children whose parents are going through the process of divorce and the complications posed by divorced or divorcing parents moving to new locations. The paper begins with a discussion of the implications of divorce, claiming that divorce is a change that affects…

Noting that the physical and mental growth of children are influenced by many environmental and familial factors, this paper explores improving the well being of children. The first part of the paper discusses child rearing, emphasizing three fundamental themes: creating an environment where children are born healthy and wanted; helping children…

This report describes a project that developed and implemented a curriculum to teach young parents parenting skills through themes presented in children's literature. Parenting/child development issues were researched, comparable children's literature was located, and short brochures were written to accompany each lesson. The program was delivered…

Although public acceptance of Head Start is high, public understanding of what the program does remains limited. Studies of Head Start to date have been insufficient in quantity and scope. In November 1994, the Roundtable on Head Start Research began a series of discussions of new directions for Head Start research. The roundtable looked at…