This thesis answers the following questions: (a) Is the Play Assessment Scale a true measure of development? (b) Does the mother have a significant, positive influence on the child's level of development? (c) Does the mother's interactional style influence the child's development as measured by the Play Assessment Scale and the Battelle Developmental Inventory? The subjects were 13 visually impaired preschoolers. Development was measured with the Play Assessment Scale and the Battelle Developmental Inventory. Maternal interactional style was assessed with the Parent / Caregiver Involvement Scale. The study indicated that the Play Assessment Scale is a valid, reliable measure of development in the preschool child. Mother was able to significantly raise the child's developmental level through play. And, maternal interaction style appeared to be sensitive to the child's level of development . To highlight the developmental importance of interaction in the context of play, an interactive paradigm was used to answer the three questions posed by the study.

Due to the passage of Public Law 94-142 (1975), widespread attempts have been made to integrate children who have handicaps into settings with their nonhandicapped peers. Although integrated settings may provide the opportunity for social interaction to occur between children with and without handicaps, often interaction does not occur. In order to address the issue of how to best facilitate appropriate interactions in integrated settings, specialized programs such as the FMS buddy system (Quintero, Phelps, Striefel, & Killoran, 1987) have been developed to promote positive social interactions between children with and without handicaps. One important aspect programs such as the buddy system have not fully considered is the differential impact a nonhandicapped child could have on the level of social interaction of the child with handicaps. The impact the nonhandicapped buddy could make if constantly paired with the same child with handicaps may be different than the one a nonhandicapped child could make if paired, over time, in an alternating sequence with different children who have handicaps. In response to the question of possible differential impact, a single subject multiple baseline design was utilized to compare the effect constant buddies and rotating buddies had on the social interactions of 8 children who had handicaps. The intervention included training the buddies on how to interact with children who have handicaps and providing the opportunity for the children with and without handicaps to play together. Treatment effects were measured by direct observations of social interactions between the children with and without handicaps during free play and buddy sessions, sociometric measures, and attitude measures. Results indicated that pairing children who have handicaps with a nonhandicapped buddy increased social interactions between children with and without handicaps during buddy sessions. The level of interaction achieved during buddy sessions was not fully generalized to subsequent free play sessions. Buddies from constant dyads rated their playmates who had handicaps sociometrically higher than buddies from rotating dyads. Non handicapped children who served as buddies rated their buddy experience favorably. Suggestions for future research in this area are made.

The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a brief screening instrument to support parent(s) and preschool/kindergarten teachers in monitoring and screening for cognitive impairment and/or delay in preschoolers. The target population of interest is all preschoolers <i>at-risk</i> for poor psychosocial and school outcomes due to chronic and acute dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). The accessible populations of interest to the present study are pediatric cancer survivors, preschoolers with alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), being preterm low birth weight, and/or diagnosed with various learning disabilities. The past practice of waiting until an <i>at-risk</i> child experienced poor school outcomes before being referred for cognitive assessment toward tailoring an intervention is no longer defensible. For the present study, a 61-item screening instrument (18 memory items, 19 verbal ability items, 15 attention items, and 9 demographic items) was pilot tested with parents, playschool teachers, and kindergarten teachers to rate preschoolers on overt behaviours associated with cognitive functioning. A criterion-referenced framework was used to establish a performance standard and set a cut score based on a sample of 151 normally functioning preschoolers aged 4:0- to 5:11-years. The various empirical and substantive analyses conducted resulted in a revised scale of 28 items (10 memory, 11 verbal ability, and 7 attention) titled, <i>Screening Test for the Early Prediction of School Success</i> (STEPSS). Given the need for a future study to validate the STEPSS with clinical groups of preschoolers, the screening instrument is intended to provide the empirical evidence needed to refer <i>at-risk</i> preschoolers for assessment with more comprehensive cognitive batteries. Constructing and validating the STEPSS is important for two reasons: 1) to fill a gap in the types of instruments available for monitoring and assessing cognitive functioning in <i>at-risk</i> preschool populations; and 2) to alleviate the current delay in targeting interventions for preschoolers because of the practice of depending upon the school system to monitor and identify poor cognitive functioning.

Individual differences in early literacy skills can be attributed to children’s previous history of emergent literacy experiences during their preschool years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about the emergent literacy experiences of one Libyan American preschooler and one Syrian American preschooler and how their families support these experiences in their bilingual homes. Through the lens of social theory of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) and sociocultural theory (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978), this multi-case study was designed to explore family literacy practices with a preschooler in a naturalistic setting. The questions guiding this study were: (1) How did the texts, tools, and technologies available in two bilingual home settings impact the emergent literacy practices of a Libyan American child and a Syrian American child? (2) What support did family members provide for these two children as they developed emergent literacy practices in their bilingual home settings? Data sources included a demographic questionnaire, digital-recordings of family literacy practices with a preschooler, audio-recorded in-depth interviews with the parents, home visits, the preschoolers’ writing samples, and photographs of literacy activities, materials, and the home environment. The recorded family literacy practices and interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify emerging themes. Both within-case analysis and cross-case analysis were conducted. Findings revealed that the preschoolers in both families use a multimodal process such as talking, drawing, singing, chanting, recitation, technologies, and sociodramatic play in their daily literacy experiences. The parents are not concerned with teaching their children specific literacy skills; but they naturally use techniques for keeping them on task and questioning skills to enhance oral language and comprehension development. These families’ home literacy practices are Americanized by living in the mainstream social group, and English is frequently used among the family members. However, their bilingualism and religious literacy practices enrich and vary their children’s emergent literacy experiences and their family literacy practices. The significance of this study resides in the importance of getting to know individual families’ backgrounds to better understand and respect the cultural practices of family literacy.

An understanding of ownership is an important aspect of child development because it helps to promote harmonious social interactions. People are typically restricted from using objects belonging to others. Respecting others’ ownership rights is necessary for socially appropriate behaviour. Because of the frequent property disputes that children engage in, it might be expected that preschoolers’ appreciation for ownership is limited and that adult input is needed to teach children about ownership rights. In three experiments, I demonstrate the opposite. Preschoolers value ownership rights more strongly than do adults and support ownership rights in property entitlement disputes between a possessor and an owner. An additional two experiments demonstrate that although children strongly value ownership rights above other principles of entitlement, they show some flexibility in their reasoning about ownership rights when provided with sufficiently compelling reasons to consider disregarding these rights. These findings show developmental differences in children’s ability to determine when ownership rights should be disregarded. Older children and adults disregard ownership rights when they are provided with compelling enough reasons do so, whereas younger children often uphold owners’ rights to the exclusion of all other factors. Together, these studies challenge the intuitive view that children learn about ownership from adult input. Rather than strengthening children’s appreciation of ownership rights, adult input may serve to teach children about situations where it is socially appropriate to disregard ownership.

The purpose of the present study was to construct and validate a brief screening instrument to support parent(s) and preschool/kindergarten teachers in monitoring and screening for cognitive impairment and/or delay in preschoolers. The target population of interest is all preschoolers <i>at-risk</i> for poor psychosocial and school outcomes due to chronic and acute dysfunction of the central nervous system (CNS). The accessible populations of interest to the present study are pediatric cancer survivors, preschoolers with alcohol related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), being preterm low birth weight, and/or diagnosed with various learning disabilities. The past practice of waiting until an <i>at-risk</i> child experienced poor school outcomes before being referred for cognitive assessment toward tailoring an intervention is no longer defensible. For the present study, a 61-item screening instrument (18 memory items, 19 verbal ability items, 15 attention items, and 9 demographic items) was pilot tested with parents, playschool teachers, and kindergarten teachers to rate preschoolers on overt behaviours associated with cognitive functioning. A criterion-referenced framework was used to establish a performance standard and set a cut score based on a sample of 151 normally functioning preschoolers aged 4:0- to 5:11-years. The various empirical and substantive analyses conducted resulted in a revised scale of 28 items (10 memory, 11 verbal ability, and 7 attention) titled, <i>Screening Test for the Early Prediction of School Success</i> (STEPSS). Given the need for a future study to validate the STEPSS with clinical groups of preschoolers, the screening instrument is intended to provide the empirical evidence needed to refer <i>at-risk</i> preschoolers for assessment with more comprehensive cognitive batteries. Constructing and validating the STEPSS is important for two reasons: 1) to fill a gap in the types of instruments available for monitoring and assessing cognitive functioning in <i>at-risk</i> preschool populations; and 2) to alleviate the current delay in targeting interventions for preschoolers because of the practice of depending upon the school system to monitor and identify poor cognitive functioning.

Receptive and expressive vocabulary skills in preschoolers are predictors of later literacy skills. Research shows that children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are generally behind their peers in the area of vocabulary skills when they enter school. Many preschool programs now focus on increasing these skills through shared book reading interventions. The purpose of the current research is to study the efficacy of a specific shared book reading intervention, dialogic reading, with low-income preschoolers in the area of vocabulary development. The search yielded 10 intervention studies that utilized dialogic reading strategies in interventions with the target population. Studies yielded mixed results but generally found that dialogic reading intervention does have significant positive effects on receptive and expressive vocabulary. Limitations and implications for practice are discussed. / text

This thesis explores how activities that young children are engaged in within the preschool environment, can be understood in terms of early language and literacy processes. The overall aim is to construct knowledge about young children’s spontaneous sign processes as well as meaning making and early literacy processes in preschool. A wider aim is to contribute to the theoretical understanding of young children’s multimodal use of language. More specifically, there is an interest to show how preschool educators describe and analyse young children’s literacy and how young children construct language in interaction with other children and technology. The overall theoretical view of is a social constructionist perspective of language and knowledge. Young childrens’ early literacy is seen from Early Childhood Literacy and multimodal views. The results are presented in four studies that together construct knowledge about the overall aim. The first two studies, based on focus groups, give insight into preschool educators’ views, and professional language about young children’s literacy. Young children’s interactions with each other and an interactive board (IWB), were then explored by video recordings in the third and fourth studies. The interactions are discussed in relation to sign- and meaning making, imagination and creativity. The professional language of Swedish preschool educators is eventually discussed as a dialogism of earlier theoretical and leading voices. The use of concepts such as bodily alliterations and pictographic writing are proposed as ways to expand the theoretical approach to young children’s literacy processes in preschool. By observing childrens interactions and view their bodily activities and their use of resources as doing literacy- and language their literacy could be challenged in preschools in its own right, and seen as literacy education.

Children who have experienced developmental, social, or economic risks may benefit more from attending high-quality preschool intervention programs than their more advantaged peers; thus, programs that have delivered high-quality experiences may have served as a protective factor for these children to help reduce the achievement gap that has existed at school entry. The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to examine best practice in providing systemic early literacy interventions as a protective factor against school failure for young at-risk children. The three studies comprising this dissertation included analyses of systemic early literacy interventions for young children at risk of reading and school failure due to (a) developmental delays, (b) low socioeconomic status, or (c) English language learner status. Consistent with previous literature, the researcher found that children participating in a responsive early literacy intervention program were better prepared for kindergarten than were non-participating peers. Responsive early literacy interventions were defined as purposeful instruction designed to meet the educational needs of children by implementing an embedded-explicit or balanced approach to teaching. Attendance in high-quality early education programs - especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds - was linked to lasting effects on indicators related to student achievement.

Mothers play a vital role in providing healthy food choices for their preschool children. This role has become more complex in the present obesity-producing environment that has contributed to the increasing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in Canada. Childhood overweight and obesity is a significant public health issue in Nova Scotia where the percentage is higher than the national average. The purpose of this study was to generate a theoretical understanding of the process in which 18 mothers living within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality engaged while making food choices for their preschool children. Constructivist grounded theory methodology informed by sensitising constructs from symbolic interaction and the socio-environmental health promotion perspective facilitated a multilevel exploration of the factors that affect mothers’ food choice practices for their preschoolers. Data collection took place over 16 months. Thirty-five interviews were completed. Grounded theory methods were used to analyze the data and a substantive theory of how mothers made food choices for their preschool children was co-constructed with the participants. The substantive theory, Persistent Optimizing, consists of three main integrated conceptual categories. In the first conceptual category, Acknowledging Contextual Constraints, mothers acknowledged various individual, interpersonal, and socio-environmental contextual factors that hindered their ability to make intended, healthier food choices for their children. In the second conceptual category, Stretching Boundaries, mothers developed and enacted moderating strategies to lessen the impact of contextual constraints, thereby increasing the number of food choices available to them. In the third conceptual category, Strategic Positioning, mothers developed and enacted a variety of optimizing strategies to get them closer to making the optimal food choice for their children in a given situation. Mothers in this study struggled continuously with varying degrees of success to provide the foods they believed their children needed. The findings suggest that in practice, policy, research, and education, community health nurses must work independently and collaboratively at all levels of influence to facilitate, mediate, and advocate for social, economic, and physical environments that improve mothers’ ability to make food choices that promote their children’s health and reduce their risk of becoming overweight and obese.