This program evaluation focused on the Palcare Literacy Innovation Project. The general research problem was to see if the enhanced preschool literacy project would show an improvement in the preschool classroom literacy environment, overall parent participation and a deeper connection to the community over a three-year period. The specific gap in…

This practical text explores contemporary case scenarios that arise in school counseling with children and adolescents. Throughout 30 chapters on a diverse range of topics, several school counseling experts analyze and discuss each incident from a best practices perspective. Topics are organized around the CACREP Standards and incidents include a…

Global Family Research Project joined with four other organizations as part of the LEGO Idea Conference to take an in-depth look at letting families guide the creation of programs and services that best meet their needs. This summary of the event session, held in Billund, Denmark, includes international examples of collaborating with families and…

Children in the 21st century are avid users of technology--more so than generations past. This rise in use has led to much attention on the consequences of technology use, and how this impacts children's brains and their socio-emotional, cognitive and physical development. Much of the research in these fields, especially brain-based research, is…

After decades of rapid evolution and groundbreaking research, the field of early intervention can be understood within a common framework: the Developmental Systems Approach (DSA). Created by a highly influential leader in the field, Michael Guralnick, this evidence-based, relationship-oriented, family-centered framework focuses on strengthening…

Among families with an infant or toddler, health and high-quality care are top concerns. How those who study children think about these needs has evolved in recent years, especially with recent understandings from brain science. In the first three years of life, more than one million brain connections are formed every second. This remarkable brain…

"Let's Play! Activities for Families" has been developed by the B.C. Ministry of Education for families and caregivers to support children's early learning experiences through playing and having fun. Each play activity connects with one of the Living Inquiries described in the "B.C. Early Learning Framework," which are: (1)…

Expanded with timely new content and consistent with DEC Recommended Practices, the third edition of this bestselling book will fully prepare a new generation of early childhood educators to teach and include every child. Like the groundbreaking previous editions, this updated "Building Blocks" guide gives pre- and inservice teachers…

Most practitioners and scholars agree that critical and reflective early childhood and elementary teachers are foundational for children's holistic growth and development. Yet current policies focused on elevating testing and performativity are contributing to student and teacher anxiety and alienation. This book offers a counternarrative to…

Analyses of elicited pantomime, primarily of English-speaking children, show that preschool-aged children are more likely to symbolically represent an object with gestures depicting an object's form rather than its function. In contrast, anecdotal reports of spontaneous gesture production in younger children suggest that children use multiple…

Childhood is a particularly sensitive time when it comes to pollution exposure. Allison Larr and Matthew Neidell focus on two atmospheric pollutants--ozone and particulate matter--that can harm children's health in many ways. Ozone irritates the lungs, causing various respiratory symptoms; it can also damage the lung lining or aggravate lung…

One avenue substantially researched and supported in early childhood research is the importance and the cultivation of self-regulation skills in the classroom. Most educational research on self-regulation skills has illustrated the importance between the enhancement of these skills and long-term academic success. Notwithstanding, there is little…

Schools seem firmly rooted in the emphasis on computational mastery, and seldom seem to have time to develop other areas of mathematical thinking, such as real-world problem solving and the application of mathematical concepts. All too often, children seem to do well in math in the early grades because they easily memorize the facts and the…

This article focuses on senses, emotions and cultural practices such as writing, reading and speaking in West Germany after 1945. The period immediately following the end of the Second World War--the so-called "Stunde Null", or "zero hour"--has generally been seen as a time of new beginnings, also with regard to cleansing the…

Detecting self-generated actions and imitating other-generated actions are important abilities in order to interact with others. The relationship between these domains was investigated in 6-8-month-old infants. In a contingency-preference task, infants observed their own legs on a real-time and a delayed video display. In an imitation task, the…