This paper examines the effect of alternative family forms on children's personalities, social behavior, and school achievement. Presented at the Sixth Annual Family Research Conference, Brigham Young University, February, 1977. (Author)

Several early and contemporary theories of the role of play and make-believe are discussed. Studies which have examined the antecedents of social class differences in the young child's play are also explored and their implications for later development and education are analyzed. (Author/AM)

Based on the presumption that art teachers ought to be able to describe the value of what they do and place it within a framework for rationalizing the contributions of their work to the educational development of the students they teach, this research is an attempt to describe what children learn when they paint, draw, or make three-dimensional…

This essay is a critical overview of the ideology, politics, and implications of recent federal initiatives in parent education. (MM)

Recommends the introduction of social studies/social science content into early childhood and elementary grade curricula. Gives examples of activities based on simple concepts in history, psychology, and geography. (AV)

Suggests that children need the "least restrictive environment" in order for them to learn effectively and develops this concept, embodied in PL94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Also discusses the teacher's role in making certain that physical space is planned to stimulate learning. (RK)

The author replies to the article titled "Controversial Medical Treatments of Learning Disabilities" (R. Sieben), and reviews the use of treatments for learning disabled (LD) children based on theories in developmental optometry. (IM)

Just because they're not professional teachers is no reason for parents to infer that they are unable to help their preschooler learn the fundamentals of reading. (Editor)

Describes development and use of creative drama with 30 children over a six month period. Over time, the dramas evolved through four stages: chaos, control and chaos; control; and flexibility. Certain developmental and psychological themes also emerged: narcissism, exhibitionism, activity, orality, dominance, morality, social themes, comedy and…

A competency-based training model is presented which specifies competencies, achievement methods, and evaluation procedures for a clerkship in mental retardation. Focus is on developing practical skills and a positive orientation toward developmental problems. Evaluative measures for 12 students showed positive knowledge and attitude changes.…

Children in grades 1-3 were asked to retell and explain a series of riddles. Ability to recall riddles was not predictive of ability to explain them. Three cognitive factors seemed to determine level of riddle competence. Implications concern the relationship of riddle competence to reading ability and metalinguistic facility. (CHK)

An experiment on children aged 2 to 7 led to a critical evaluation of Piaget's implicit contention that young children use determiners anaphorically. It is suggested that the importance of young children's processing procedures on the linguistic environment has been underestimated in Piaget's interactive epistemology. (CHK)

States that most of the current research in the area of television advertising for children excludes black subjects; reviews major studies of television and children and black versus white child development. (MB)

Introduces the concept of "developmental niche" as a framework for examining the cultural structuring of child development. Focuses on (1) anthropological perspectives on human development, (2) psychology and the environment, (3) subsystems and other aspects of the developmental niche, and (4) changes which occur in niches as individuals…