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EXPERTS
SAY: PUT STRESS ON PLAY, NOT ON CHILDREN A new statement, issued by the Alliance for Childhood, condemns the increasingly academic curriculum in kindergartens and preschools, which is replacing child-initiated learning through creative play and hands-on activities. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/pdf_files/call_action_education.pdf |
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CICC, the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring, offers a web
site of numerous programs and materials to help parents become more
effective and numerous continuing education programs and materials
for professionals who work with children and families. http://www.ciccparenting.org/ Their monthly newsletter. http://www.ciccparenting.org/cicc_Breaking_News_Articles.aspx?id=14 |
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The
Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) is
a national center for research on early reading. www.ciera.org/index.html |
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A study released September, 2004 by the Commonwealth Fund in New York
and Child Trends, based in Washington, D.C., determined that children
with less-educated mothers and in minority households are less likely
to be talked to and read to, two strong characteristics of early literacy. http://www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/chartbook_quick_download.pdf |
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This is a series
of briefs on what works in various topics related to social-emotional
development. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/whatworks.html |
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This study "Head Start Families Sharing Literature" researched
the types of books read by Head Start families to their children,
the conditions for reading aloud at home, the perceived benefits of
reading aloud and children's responses to the books. http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v6n2/green.html Following a discussion of the demographic trends involving Latino children and families, this paper discusses the child care and early education needs of Latinos, including workforce issues, immigration, educational challenges, and English-language learners. http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v6n2/collins.html |
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EXCEPTIONAL
RETURNS Robert G. Lynch Economic, Fiscal, and Social Benefits of Investment in Early Childhood Development http://www.epinet.org/books/exceptional/exceptional_returns_(full).pdf |
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The
Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development is produced by
the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. It is intended
for policy-makers, service planners and service providers and for
parents.
It brings together articles written by internationally renowned experts on topics having to do with the psychosocial development of young children, from conception to the age of five. Each of the 33 topics addressed is explored from three perspectives: development, services and policies. In addition, for each topic there is a synthesis that provides, in a simplified format, the key points that will be most useful to practitioners and planners. This synthesis addresses three questions: What is the importance of this topic? What are the most up-to-date and conclusive data available on this subject? And what can be done to improve services, policies and research? |
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More
than 2,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and crime survivors dedicated to preventing crime and violence. All Kids Suffer When Some Are Denied Quality Pre-K http://www.fightcrime.org/ |
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"Complementary
Learning" from the Evaluation Exchange at the Harvard Education
webpage. The topic of this issue of The Evaluation Exchange is complementary
learning. Complementary learning posits that we can bolster children's
learning and achievement by linking and aligning both the school and
nonschool arenas in which children live, learn, and play. This means,
for example, linking schools with early childhood programs, out-of-school
time programs, and other programs based in the community. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval/issue29 |
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The
Power of Family Conversation Source: Harvard Education Letter - May/June 2008 The May/June 2008 issue of the Harvard Education Letter discusses recent research findings related to the significant difference parents can make in their children's literacy skills by increasing the quantity and quality of their conversations beginning at birth. The issue is entitled The Power of Family Conversation and is available online at http://www.edletter.org/insights/familyconversation.shtml |
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NEW
STUDY REVEALS MASSIVE SHORTFALL OF EARLY CARE & EARLY EDUCATION FOR WORKING FAMILIES http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/PressReleaseEarlyCare10-21-04.pdf |
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This
site from Kansas Action for Children has up-to-date information on
the status of children in Kansas. www.kac.org/index.htm |
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This
is information about protective factors to keep your family strong.
http://www.keepyourfamilystrong.org/index.html |
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Not
all types of parent involvement are equal when it comes to helping
preschool children learn, a recent study concludes. Researchers from
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that parent involvement
that takes place in the home is associated with better outcomes in
children than school-based involvement efforts. The researchers base
their findings on a six-month study of 144 urban preschoolers form
a Northeastern city who were enrolled in the federal head Start program
for disadvantaged children. The researchers found that children whose
parents provided them with learning space at home, asked them about
the school day, read to them, or showed interest in their learning
in other ways tended to have bigger vocabularies, longer attention
spans, fewer behavior problems, and more motivation to learn than
children whose families scored lower on the home-involvement scale. http://www.nasponline.org/publications/spr334fantuzzo.pdf |
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The
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) is encouraging
elementary school principals across the country to lead the way for
enhanced education at the pre-kindergarten level. The NAESP's new
report, Leading Early Childhood Learning Communities: What Principals
Should Know and Be Able to Do, was presented at its 84th annual convention
in Baltimore on April 16, 2005. According to NAESP executive director
Vincent Ferrandino, the report "offers principals valuable insights
to help them define quality in early childhood programs and engage
their communities in discussions and activities that reach beyond
the elementary campus." Read the full story at: http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=1579 |
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"Talk
to Your Baby" – In Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, and More The Literacy Trust in the UK has developed several one-page "Talk to Your Baby" tip sheets on how parents and caregivers can help children develop good speaking and listening skills. What's neat about these is that they're bilingual – available in Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, French, Tamil, and other languages. http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/quicktips.html |
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Ready
to Learn from Public Television has activities and resources to assist
parents in getting children ready for school. http://www.pbs.org/readytolearn/ |
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ReadyWeb:
A Resource for Parents and Educators ReadyWeb is an electronic collection of resources on school readiness sponsored by the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative, College of Education, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://readyweb.crc.uiuc.edu/index.html |
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About 10 years ago, Nancy Cadjan saw a program discussing signing
with hearing infants. She began doing her own research and reading
everything she could on signing with babies and even introduced her
friends to the information on signing. Along with the website listed
below are two PDF files describing some of the benefits to signing
with your infant. www.signbabies.com  Sign
Babies Success Guide 371 KBSign
Babies Flash Card Brochure 577 KB |
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Strategy
Briefs are lessons from the field: the policies, strategies and programs
that people are using to make meaningful connections that make a real
difference for students. To view, go to: http://www.sedl.org/connections/research-briefs.html |
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Together,
Target and Reach Out and Read are broadcasting the importance of reading
and reinforcing the parent's role and the first and most important
teacher. target.com/ready_sit_read/read_to_child.jhtml |
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Study:
Preschools Should Emphasize More Physical Activity Children ages 3 to 5 should participate in at least two hours of moderate to vigorous physical activity a day. However, a University of South Carolina public-health researcher found that many children aren't meeting that recommendation. As reported in the journal Pediatrics, the survey of nine Columbia, South Carolina, preschools shows that children are getting less than half the recommended amount over the course of a school day. Obesity among young children is on the rise in the United States, and a lack of physical activity is considered by many to be a principle cause. Read the full story at: http://uscnews.sc.edu/hlth275.html |