Creativity,magic and morality: The dilemma of the young gifted child

Gaming is one method for teaching formal thinking processes that is particularly well suited to the gifted student.     

Computers and the thought-producing self of the young child

This paper extends a new, informational-based cybernetic conception of the early development of child consciousness. A solution is suggested to the fundamental problem of formulating and creating the optimal cognitive preconditions of successful child-computer interaction. Some negative aspects of using intelligent computer and communications technology at school and in everyday life are analyzed. The concept of the 'Thought-Producing Self' of the child is introduced. A way of realizing the 'Thought-Producing Self' of average 7-9 year olds is outlined. The key idea is the early development of children's symbolic information processing skills. The first element is natural-language-processing abilities. The suggested approach has been successfully used during more than 9 years of teaching more than 360 4-19 year old pupils in languages (mainly English and also Russian), literature, poetry, and art. Underpinning this approach are the Theory of Dynamic Conceptual Mappings (the DCM theory) and the System of Emotional-Imaginative Teaching. The DCM theory is based upon ideas drawn from Artificial Intelligence (mainly), Philosophy of Language, Cognitive Science and Semiotics.     

Helping the young child cope with death

Justin and Jenny had prepared for the space shuttle launch by cutting out pictures of Christa McAuliffe from the Weekly Reader. Their mother was a teacher, just like the new astronaut. During the televised launch, the three-year-old boy marched and twirled around. His five-year-old sister stood still and observed intently.Judy Ansell Ketchel is a second-grade teacher in the Southmoreland School District, Scottdale, Pennsylvania.     

论当前的婴幼儿营养与保健研究

婴幼儿时期的营养与保健是孩子健康成长的重要组成部分,婴幼儿时期的营养问题可能会导致儿童不可逆转的生长和认知发育迟缓,以及近期和远期的不良后果。因此,当前婴幼儿营养与保健问题成为家长普遍关注的话题。其中母乳喂养和合理的添加辅助食品是预防儿童营养不良的重要举措。本文将分析当前婴幼儿营养与保健方面存在的问题,进而提出婴幼儿营养与保健的方法。     

Infant and young child feeding in developing countries

Feeding practices are important determinants of growth and development of children. Using infant and young child feeding indicators and complementary feeding guidelines, 7 practices in 28 countries are described, showing substantial variation across countries. Only 25% of 0- to 5-month-olds were exclusively breastfed, and only half of 6- to 8-month-olds received complementary foods the previous day. Median duration of breastfeeding and increase of fluid intake during diarrhea were low among countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI). Living in high-HDI countries may not translate to positive feeding practices. Across countries, there is a need for promotion, protection, and support of optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices as well as better adherence to recommendations for feeding during illness.     

Images of the young child in history: Enlightenment and romance

Contemporary Western views of the child and of childhood call for a historical inquiry into the ontological and epistemological preunderstandings from which these views have arisen. From the ancient mythological motif of the divine child to the perspectives of Freud and Piaget, this study traces the philosophical images of the young child in Western thought. Given special attention is the image of “holy childhood,” which views the young child as possessed of a psycho-spiritual unity that is often translated into a goal of adult development. This notion of the young child as exemplar for adults was carried into the secularized West of the Enlightenment by the latter's mirror image, the Romantic Movement. Although Enlightenment thinking tends to dominate the modern world view, both traditions—En-lightenment and Romance-still live in tension in contemporary images of the young child.     

创新机制与创新教育

把握创新机制必须明确四个关来：创新与继承的关系；创新与遁规的关系；创新与破旧的关系；创新与求是的关系。进行知识创新必须具备四大因素：创新的知识结构；创新的思维方式；创新的个性特征；创新的价值取向。加强创新教育必须实现四个转变：改进知识传授，变重技能教学为重智慧教学；加强思维训练。变重结论教学为重过程教学：突出个性培养，变重共性教学为重个性教学；优化价值导向，变重理论教育为重人格教育。     

Unstable and multiple child care arrangements and young children's behavior

Growing evidence suggests that child care instability is associated with child behavior problems, but existing studies confound different types of instability; use small, convenience samples; and/or control insufficiently for selection into child care arrangements. This study uses survey and calendar data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study to estimate the associations between three different types of child care instability—long-term instability, multiplicity, and the use of back-up arrangements—and children's internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors at age 3, controlling for a large number of child and family background characteristics. Long-term instability between birth and age 3, as measured in both the survey and calendar data, is associated with higher levels of externalizing behavior problems. Current multiplicity at age 3 (as measured by survey data) is associated with higher levels of both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, but stable multiplicity over time (as measured using calendar data) is not. Finally, the use of back-up arrangements at age 3 is associated with higher levels of internalizing behaviors. We find no consistent differences in these results by the timing of instability, child gender, family income, or type of care.     

Literalism in the young child’s interpretation of pictures

This article describes four studies concerned with the young child’s response to the illusion of incompleteness in pictures. A substantial proportion of the children, aged 4 to 7 years, responded as if an element “out of sight” in a picture either did not exist or was incomplete. This mode of responding, termed “literalism,” was found to be related to age and proved to be little influenced by training and one other form of structured experience. The work reported in this article was funded by a grant from the Education Research and Development Committee, Commonwealth Department of Education, Canberra, Australia. The author acknowledges with gratitude the assistance of Ann Ring, June Sleet, and Janette Muir in the execution of these studies.     

Intergenerational preschool experiences and the young child: Potential benefits to development

We conducted an exploratory study evaluating the potential impact of intergenerational programming (IG) on children's socio-emotional development, behavior, school performance, and attitudes and behavior toward older adults. Children currently in kindergarten through second grade (age range: 6–8 years old) who previously attended one of two preschools of comparably high quality and serving families of similar demographic profiles were compared 1–3 years after graduating from their respective programs. One program offered intergenerational (IG) programming while the other was a traditional single-generation program (SG). Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the child and one of his/her parents in their home. In addition, a mail survey was sent to the child's school teacher. The study explored whether children exposed to IG had differential outcomes on specific measures as compared to children who attended the SG program. Results showed that children from the IG program had higher levels of social acceptance, a greater willingness to help and greater empathy for older people, slightly more positive attitudes, and better able to self-regulate their behavior than children from the SG program. Although limited by the lack of a pre–post experimental design, these results provide initial evidence that an IG program can offer additional benefits to children's development whose impact can last into the their early school age years.     

Resilience in young children involved with child protective services

Child maltreatment increases the risk of poor developmental outcomes. However, some children display resilience, meaning they are high-functioning despite their adverse experiences. To date, few research studies have examined protective factors among very young maltreated children. Yet, domains of resilience, and the protective factors that promote resilience among maltreated children, are likely to differ by developmental stage. Drawing on ecological systems theory and life course theory, we examined how protective factors at multiple ecological levels across early childhood were related to social and cognitive resilience among very young children involved with child protective services. The results demonstrated that the buffering effects of protective factors varied by social or cognitive resilience and the cumulative effects of protective factors were more consistently related to later resilience than protective factors at specific time points. In addition, the influence of specific protective factors on resilience slightly varied by initial in-home or out-of-home placement. These findings have important policy and research implications for promoting optimal development among children involved in child protective services.