Exploring the Dynamics of Teacher Perceptions of Homeless Children and Families during the Early Years

The perceptions teachers have of homeless children and their families are a significant influence on children and parents. These perceptions of teachers are explored from a social justice view and in relation to barriers that may impede teacher development of nurturing and supportive perspectives. Effective strategies for helping teachers strengthen their perspectives of homeless children and families are presented and discussed.     

Starting School: Welcoming Young Children and Families into Early School Experiences

Throughout the world, young children and their families anticipate the start of school with expectations and hopes, as well as concerns. Although the approaches and customs differ from one nation, region, or culture to another, one constant is the recognition that a collaborative effort is needed to welcome young children and their families into formal schooling experiences. The transition process should be proactive and responsive to the children’s needs. This article addresses four key components of appropriate support for young children who are starting school: (1) a consideration of the developmental characteristics of young children, (2) a recognition of factors that affect adjustment to new situations, (3) the establishment of relationships with families, and (4) the implementation of strategies that assist young children in making this important transition. Strategies for assisting children who are beginning their school careers are shared.     

Transforming Teacher Constructs of Children and Families Who Are Homeless

The focus of this article is on articulating the importance of teacher development of constructs about homeless children and families and examining factors that influence teachers’ perceptions of children and families who are homeless or at high-risk of becoming homeless. The article also explores some strategies to support teachers in transforming their perceptions of homeless children and provides case examples of how this process can work. Three case studies explore how teacher educators and practicing teachers can work together to reflect on their own perceptions of homeless children from high-poverty backgrounds and how educators were able to transform their own perceptions in being able to better serve their students.     

Strengthening Homeless Parents with Young Children Through Meaningful Parent Education and Support

Homeless parents of young children confront several barriers to developing effective parenting skills and dispositions. Perhaps the major barrier is that of the negative stereotype that many people use to label them. They also often have not had positive parent role models and in many cases have had to deal with the issues of violence. Parent education and support strategies can play a key role in helping homeless parents develop positive and nurturing parenting skills.     

Exploring Estimation in Young Primary School Children

There is an increasing emphasis in mathematics education on the importance of estimation abilities in children. This study investigates the role of context upon primary‐aged children's estimation skills. Children in three age groups (from aged 5 to 8 years) were asked to carry out a range of estimation tasks involving distance, area and volume measurements. The tasks varied in type and complexity and were either of a ‘real‐world’ or ‘mathematics task’ form. In addition to performance measures the children's answers to questions on how they carried out the estimates were recorded and analysed. Quantitative and qualitative analyses found significant effects for context and child strategy. Estimates in contexts perceived as mathematical were different, both in that they changed with age and in their error patterns, from contexts involving perceptual‐motor skills. The children's answers highlight the importance of imagery and classroom experience. The results are discussed within a model of estimating.     

幼儿探究学习研究综述

1999～2006年这八年间关于幼儿探究学习的研究可归纳为四个方面:教师引导下的幼儿探究学习过程的研究,幼儿探究学习的教师指导策略研究,幼儿探究学习中教师角色的研究以及对幼儿探究学习评价问题的研究.通过对以往研究的梳理和评述,我们可以发现这一领域研究中存在的不足:(1)研究内容多聚焦于科学领域及主题活动,不够全面.(2)研究方法多侧重于实证研究,且内容较为粗浅,缺乏理论的提升.这是我们今后在研究中需要注意的问题.     

Communicating Effectively with Parents and Families Who Are Homeless

Parents and families who are homeless need positive communication experiences with early childhood programs. This article provides several examples of ways to connect with families who are homeless and to meet their needs through continuous communication. Staff development ideas, parent and family involvement, and school-community support strategies are especially noted.     

Television and Families: What Do Young Children Watch with Their Parents?

A sample of 271 3- and 5-year-olds and their families participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of television viewing patterns. 5 1-week diaries for all family members were collected at 6-month intervals. Programs were categorized as: (1) child informative, (2) child entertainment, (3) news and informative, (4) sports, (5) comedy, (6) drama, (7) action-adventure, and (8) variety-game. The majority of child programs were viewed without parents, while the majority of adult programs were watched with parents. Coviewing patterns of adult programs were predicted from parents' individual viewing habits, but not from the child's. Coviewing declined with age. Parental encouragement and regulation of viewing were orthogonal. Children whose parents encouraged viewing watched more child informative programming; children of restrictive parents watched less entertainment programming. Encouraging parents coviewed more than nonencouraging parents. Results support the assertion that parental viewing preferences, habits, and orientations toward television influence children's viewing, both with and without parents.     

Digital Technology Usage of Young Children: Screen Time and Families

Early Childhood Education Journal - This study aimed to explore the digital environments of 3–6-year-old children within the home setting. A total of 537 children aged...     

Lap Reading for Young at-Risk Children: Introducing Families to Books

Many at-risk children do not experience lap reading to the degree their more advantaged peers do. To investigate the effects lap reading might have on such children, three families with at-risk children were taught lap reading techniques and were provided with books for lap reading over a 12- to 16-week period. Changes in the children's behavior included choosing books and reading as free-time activities, developing positive attitudes toward books, and persisting in attending to books in the face of other activity choices. Additional outcomes included an increase in higher level questions asked by the children, some improvement in their oral language, and an increase in literacy-specific knowledge. Lap reading is recommended as a tool for parents to increase instructional motivation for their at-risk children.     

面向外来务工人员的育儿支援行动--以北京四环游戏小组为例

由于隔绝于城市和艰难的生活状态,外来务工人员家庭尚未意识到其子女的学前教育需求。外来务工人员在城市居住多呈聚落状态,能不能以非正规形式为这些儿童提供一定的学前教育呢?本文以在北京四环市场创办一个非正规的游戏小组的实践及体验,探讨非正规形式学前教育的可能与意义。     

Stress in Families of Young Children with Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, and Smith-Magenis Syndrome

This study examined whether stress levels differ in families of young children with three different genetic etiologies of mental retardation, and whether child characteristics associated with those genetic etiologies may help explain these differences. Participants were sixty families of young children with Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and Smith-Magenis syndrome. All children were between the ages of 3 and 10 years. Parents completed Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist, the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress-Friedrich edition, and a demographic questionnaire. Families of children with Down syndrome experienced significantly less Pessimism than the other two etiology groups and significantly less Parent and Family Problems than families of children with Smith-Magenis syndrome. The strongest predictor of Parent and Family Problems was maladaptive behavior in Smith-Magenis syndrome, younger age in Down syndrome, and both maladaptive behavior and younger age in Williams syndrome. Maladaptive behavior predicted Pessimism in families of children with Smith-Magenis syndrome, but none of the variables examined significantly predicted Pessimism in the other two syndromes. The importance of behavioral phenotype research is discussed for practitioners working with young children with mental retardation and their families.     

Building on the Hopes and Dreams of Latino Families with Young Children: Findings from Family Member Focus Groups

In the past, Latino families were often regarded as being uninvolved in their child’s education, particularly within the parent involvement literature. More recently, authors are encouraging educational professionals to look at a family’s “funds of knowledge” to encourage their involvement. This expression takes into account the knowledge a teacher can gain from a family and child, including awareness of culture, familial background, and other contributions the family can add to the child’s education. This article reviews findings from the analyses of focus groups conducted with Latino family members who have a child(ren) enrolled at a Head Start Center. Findings indicate that Latino families openly communicated strengths, interests, aspirations and learning opportunities for their child and family yet often faced barriers in conveying these to teachers and other staff in their child’s life. Implications for using inquiry-based approaches to bridge this gap in family-school communication are discussed.     

Using the Multiple Intelligences to Enhance Instruction for Young Children and Young Children with Disabilities

The theory of the multiple intelligences are discussed in relation to working with young children and young children with disabilities. A rationale for the use of the multiple intelligences is discussed as well as practical suggestions on how they can be incorporated into early childhood programs.