Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Using Toys To Support Infant-Toddler Learning And Development, Gabriel Guyton

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Being mindful of the basic principles of child development and the role of play, teachers can intentionally select toys to meet young children's unique needs and interests, supporting learning.

Work And Mexican American Parent-Adolescent Relationships: The Mediating Role Of Parent Well-Being, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

This study of Mexican American two-parent families (N = 246) examined the role of parents’ well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) as a potential mechanism through which parent occupational conditions (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity, work pressure) are linked to parent-adolescent relationship qualities (i.e., warmth, conflict, disclosure). Depressive symptoms mediated the links between maternal and paternal work pressure and parentadolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure. For mothers, depressive symptoms also mediated the links between self-direction and mother-adolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure; for fathers, role overload mediated the links between work pressure and hazardous conditions with fatheradolescent warmth.

Are We All On The M Squad? Murdering Schoolchildren In China, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the phenomena of violent attacks against schoolchildren in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and its relevance to political psychologists.

Parenting Self-Efficacy And Parenting Practices Over Time In Mexican American Families, Larry E. Dumka, Nancy A. Gonzales, Lorey A. Wheeler, Roger E. Millsap

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study used a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design and a structural equation modeling approach to evaluate parenting self-efficacy's reciprocal and causal associations with parents' positive control practices over time to predict adolescents' conduct problems. Data were obtained from teachers, mothers, and adolescents in 189 Mexican American families living in the southwest U.S. After accounting for contemporaneous reciprocal relationships between parenting self-efficacy (PSE) and positive control, results indicated that parenting self-efficacy predicted future positive control practices rather than the reverse. PSE also showed direct effects on decreased adolescent conduct problems. PSE functioned in an antecedent causal …

The Effects Of Cuento Therapy On Reading Achievement And Psychological Outcomes Of Mexican-American Students, Sylvia Z. Ramirez, Jain Sachin, Leila L. Flores-Torres, Roxanna Perez, Ralph Carlson

Human Development and School Services Faculty Publications and Presentations

This investigation evaluated the effects of cuento therapy (an intervention using Spanish-language tales) on children’s self-esteem, affect, and reading test performance. The sample was composed of 58 third-grade Mexican-American students who were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. The results showed a mean self-esteem gain score difference between groups in favor of the treatment group for Global, Academic, and General self-esteem scores. Following intervention, the treatment group reported less physiological anxiety than did the control group. The results also showed mean increases in the pre- and post-standardized high-stakes reading test scores for both groups. Other significant findings regarding …

Exploring Mothers’ And Fathers’ Relationships With Sons Versus Daughters: Links To Adolescent Adjustment In Mexican Immigrant Families, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Melissa Y. Delgado, Lorey A. Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Drawing on ecological and gender socialization perspectives, this study examined mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with young adolescents, exploring differences between mothers and fathers, for sons versus daughters, and as a function of parents’ division of paid labor. Mexican immigrant families (N = 162) participated in home interviews and seven nightly phone calls. Findings revealed that mothers reported higher levels of acceptance toward adolescents and greater knowledge of adolescents’ daily activities than did fathers, and mothers spent more time with daughters than with sons. Linkages between parent-adolescent relationship qualities and youth adjustment were moderated by adolescent gender and parents’ division …

Cortisol Reactivity Across The Day At Child Care: Examining The Contributions Of Child Temperament And Attachment To Mother And Lead Teacher, Lisa S. Badanes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has shown that full-day center-based child care is associated with increased physiologic stress for many young children (e.g., Tout, de Haan, Campbell, & Gunnar, 1998; Watamura, Sebanc, & Gunnar, 2002). Specifically, increasing cortisol from morning to afternoon at full-day child care in contrast to decreasing cortisol across the day for these same children at home has been repeatedly demonstrated for toddlers and preschoolers. Factors that have been related to rising cortisol across the day at child care include the child's age (rising cortisol at child care between 2 and 5 years, but not for infants or older children, …

Creating An Accessible Child Development Resource For Family Home Child Care Providers Focusing On Child-Initiated Play, Paula Buck

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this project was to create a newsletter for family home child care providers that presented easy-to-read, research based information regarding child-initiated play and developmentally appropriate practices and their incorporation in a family child care setting. The newsletter also addressed the need for creating and maintaining a balance between offering child-initiated opportunities and providing structure in a family child care setting.

A review of the literature revealed that nearly half of family home child care providers have no specialized training in the field of child care, child development, or early childhood education. Caregiver education and training is a …

Efficacy Of Early Literacy Intervention Project For Early Literacy Development In Family Child Care Homes, Gloria Ruth Kinzler

Theses Digitization Project

This project focused on the concept that family childcare providers who completed "Building Literacy Bridges" intervention project, which included interactive early literacy classes on phonological and print awareness, dialogic and shared reading skills, as well as providing a literacy rich environment, would implement those concepts into their daily care with children. Nine family childcare providers completed the four-hour per week, four-week intervention project.

Reactive Attachment Disorder: Challenges For Early Identification And Intervention Within The Schools, Kimberly K. Floyd, Peggy Hester, Harold C. Griffin, Jeannie Golden, Lora Lee Smith Canter

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Attachment is of key importance in childhood development. The quality of attachment relationship between the child and parent/primary caregiver may have an effect on the child and future relationships and social success (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998). When a child fails to bond with a caring adult, attachment becomes disordered and children may not be able to bond appropriately or at all with other people. This inability to relate and connect with others may disrupt or arrest not only children's social development, but also their overall development. The purpose of this review is to synthesize information and research on characteristics, …

Providing Appropriate Social Interventions For Preschool-Age Children With Mild Autism Spectrum Disorders, Angela M. Riesberg

Graduate Research Papers

This paper provides a variety of appropriate social interventions to use with preschool-age children with mild Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Regardless of his or her diagnostic label, each individual child requires an individualized approach to treatment. Typically, multiple interventions are necessary for a successful program.

The questions this project will address include: (a) What are some possible social interventions to use with preschool-age children who have mild autism spectrum disorders, (b) what research supports current successful social interventions, ( c) which social interventions could provide the most benefits and success, and (d) how can inclusion and interacting with typically developing …

Reconfiguring Childhood Boys And Girls Growing Up Global, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

Children are a spur, a commitment, a way of imaging the future—but all too often these sorts of phrases just rattle around a vacuum, their utterance the beginning and end of the commitment. We emphasize “the best interests of the child,”but this gloss provides a moral imperative to all manner of uncompleted projects and unfulfilled policies. Likewise, the use of children’s images or presence in public forums of all types gives a patina of honorableness to practices and plans that never actually make good on the promissory note of childhood. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit is a notable example. Such …

What Archetypes Of Representation Do Children Between The Ages Of Four And Seven Employ When Creating Route Maps Of Familiar Interior Spaces?, Christine G. Price

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigated the symbols of representation young children choose to incorporate when they draw route maps of familiar interior spaces, based on the premise that development of map-making skills might unfold in much the same stage-like manner as the development of the ability to draw the human figure. In this investigation, children between the ages of 4 and 7 enrolled in a small independent elementary school were each asked to draw a map showing the route a person unfamiliar to the school would take to travel from the child's classroom to the school gymnasium. Strategies during map-making were noted; …

The Well-Being Of Children As Viewed Through Their Conceptions Of Death, Jennifer Kampmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An explorative study was conducted to try and understand how young children’s emerging death concepts form including, (a) what family demographics and child factors contributed to family well-being, (b) did family well-being influence children’s social competence, and (c) did family well-being and children’s social competence influence children’s death conceptions. Although the subject of death contains many unique characteristics, it is not easily separated from other aspects of life; death is inseparable from the whole human experience (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2002). It was the assumption of this paper that children develop their conceptions of death based on the appreciation they hold …

Resilience Profiles Of Young Children In Special Education And Poverty-Related Programs: The Role Of Protective Factors, Evelyn Reed-Victor

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Head Start With And Without The Use Of A Newly Developed Resiliency-Based Curriculum, Elizabeth Holt Mcgee

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

An Extension Of Dyadic Counseling To Multi-Family Group Training With Application For Head Start Families, Janet J. Zanetti

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of one short-term training model, Parents and Children Together (PACT), on parent stress and child behavior for families enrolled in the Head Start program. PACT is a program of structured play activities designed to replicate the interactions between parents and children during the first developmental stage of life. PACT has been adapted, by the researcher, from a program called Theraplay developed for Head Start children by Ann Jernberg (1967).;Thirty families completed the study. Experimental and Control groups were formed from volunteer participants. Only Experimental subjects received training. Sessions were held …

The Effects Of Two Models Of Positive Feedback Of Children's Motivation, Judith Margaret Lynch

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the type of written or verbal positive comment regarding a child's accomplishment influences subsequent interest in a task. A preliminary investigation of literature revealed that often rewards and praise negatively alter children's behavior. The writer tested the hypothesis derived from this investigation that non- evaluative descriptive comments, commonly called encouragement, positively affect children more than evaluative praise comments. 32 kindergarten and 36 third grade children received evaluative praise comments and 31 kindergarten and 42 third grade children received non- evaluative descriptive comments on drawings for three days. The fourth day, children …

International Student Design Competition Of Two Community Elementary Schoolyards, Roger Hart, Cindi Katz, Selim Iltus, Maria Rosario Mora

Publications and Research

As part of the project for the Participatory Design of Two Community Elementary Schoolyards in Harlem, P.S. 185 and P.S. 208 (The Schoolyards Project), the Children's Environments Research Group of the City University of New York held an International Student Design Competition for the design of these schoolyards. The competition drew sixty entries from various countries. The jury met on October 10, 1990 and awarded one First Prize and five Honorable Mentions. A landscape architect was then hired to utilize the best ideas, together with the architectural program which had been produced with the school and the surrounding community.

The Parent Checklist For New Kindergarten Pupils: A Validation Study, Willis Glen Miller Jr.

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

State and federal guidelines for implementing programs for the gifted have required that placement into such programs being as early as kindergarten. In order to help determine whether a child was functioning significantly above age level on certain tasks through multiple sources, a checklist for parents was developed and validated.;The parent checklist was analyzed for reliability and validity. Analysis of pre-school scores on the instrument was also conducted to determine whether or not placement into programs for the gifted could be predicted from the results. Parental responses were also investigated in an effort to determine the reliability of parents as …

The Effects Of Self-Evaluation Procedures On The Numbers And Accuracy Of Alphabet Letter Writing Behavior Of Preschool Children, Kevin R. Coleman

Masters Theses

This study assessed the effects of self-evaluation procedures on the rate and accuracy of alphabet letter writing. Three preschoolers served as subjects. During Phase I, students were given instructions, and the experimenter modeled accurate letter writing. During Phase II, instructions and modeling were again presented. Additionally, the students were given a rule statement that instructed them to use a stamper and a stamp pad to stamp their paper after first writing each of a row of four letters. The results indicated that the introduction of self-evaluation procedures was associated with immediate increases in frequency of attempts, but a decrease in …

Teaching Self-Protective Behaviors To Preschool Children Using A Videotape Training Program, Paul James Yoder

Masters Theses

This study investigated the effectiveness of a videotape training program to teach self-protective skills to preschool children. Children were taught to say, "I have to ask my teacher/parent," and to run to their teacher/parent when presented with one of two lures commonly used by child molesters. The videotape incorporated the direct instructional techniques of active pupil responding; the model, lead, and test format; and use of minimally different stimuli to teach children to discriminate between correct and incorrect responses. The results showed that although none of the subjects showed any improvement in responding after only one viewing, five of the …

Characteristics Of Parents Involved In A Parent Child Center-Head Start Program, Rebecca Selove

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An exploratory study was conducted to provide information for the coordinators of the Parent Child Center and Head Start (PCC-HS) Program in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Staff concern for parent involvement led to a search for parent characteristics which correlate with amount of participation in program activities. Sixty-five families, which included 65 mothers, 47 fathers, and 121 children, constituted the study sample. Data were obtained from records maintained by the PCC-HS staff. Variables included number of hours volunteered, age and level of education of each parent, estimated family income, family size, mother's enrollment in PCC when pregnant, number of children in the …

A Hands-On Museum For Children, Stephanie Townsend

Graduate Theses

This paper concerns itself with the preparation for the development of a children's hands-on museum. Included is a definition of such a museum, a rationale for this type of museum, organizational considerations of a community museum, four exhibits intended to stimulate and guide children's cognitive processes, and a brief summation. The rationale for this children's museum is derived primarily from Piaget's theory of cognitive developmental psychology. Thus, the exhibits are exemplars of Piagetian curriculum. The organization section emphasizes Guthe's philosophy concerning museum organization.

"Project Dial": An Early Childhood Screening Program, Lewis S. Sarff

Masters Theses

This field study addressed the problem of "actively seeking" out and identifying children (ages 3 to 5 years) likely to develop late learning problems upon school enrollment. The procedures developed and reported in this paper deal with initial public relations, facilities, personnel, an evaluation instrument Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL), hearing and vision testing, and reporting of results to parents and school personnel.

The paper also includes means and standard deviations for DIAL subtest scores by one year age groups and by sex, as well as simple and multiple r's for each of the DIAL variables individually …

Efficacy Of Reinforcement In An Observational Paradigm, Charles M. Krizic

Masters Theses

Study investigated the effectiveness of reinforcement in an observational paradigm where the dependent variable was indicated by increased morphological resemblance of an observer (O) after viewing a model (M). The stimulus was a series of novel responses recorded on videotape with each child viewing the tape individually. The subjects were 32 Head Start males divided into four groups. The first group was administered verbal praise prior to the modeling session. The second served as the vicarious reinforcement condition and observed an adult praise the model. The third group received direct reinforcement during the test for acquisition. The control group received …

Toys For Tinies And Gifts For Children, O. Evans Scott

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Special care is needed in selecting toys for young children. Well-chosen toys can aid mental and physical development and give many hours of safe, satisfying play; ill-chosen toys can cause anxiety and frustration and may even be dangerous.

This article gives hints on selecting toys for various age groups and suggests some suitable options.